Homeschooling used to be scrappy—figuring things out, using what you had, and trusting the process. Now, it’s polished, packaged, and pressured. More curriculum, more programs, more comparison. What happened? In this episode, we dig into the shift from DIY homeschooling to consumer-driven schooling and how to reclaim the freedom to educate with confidence—without all the…
This episode is just a soapbox for Mystie, who is convinced that the next evolution in classical education is to deinstitutionalize education, Education shapes not only the minds of individuals but also the culture of entire societies. For decades, institutionalized education has dominated the landscape, with public and private schools adhering to rigid structures. These…
Let’s talk about two totally different approaches to education: the strict, efficient Prussian model and the classical approach, which fosters both wisdom and joy in learning. If you’ve ever felt that something is off in the way schools typically handle education, the Prussian model might be to blame. The Scholé Sisters Podcast listen on: Apple…
John Taylor Gatto’s Weapons of Mass Instruction focuses on mechanisms of traditional education which cripple imagination, discourage critical thinking, and create a false view of learning as a byproduct of rote-memorization drills. Gatto’s earlier book, Dumbing Us Down, introduced the now-famous expression of the title into the common vernacular. Weapons of Mass Instruction adds another chilling metaphor to the brief against conventional schooling.
Gatto demonstrates that the harm school inflicts is rational and deliberate. The real function of pedagogy, he argues, is to render the common population manageable. To that end, young people must be conditioned to rely upon experts, to remain divided from natural alliances and to accept disconnections from their own lived experiences. They must at all costs be discouraged from developing self-reliance and independence.
Escaping this trap requires a strategy Gatto calls “open source learning” which imposes no artificial divisions between learning and life. Through this alternative approach our children can avoid being indoctrinated-only then can they achieve self-knowledge, good judgment, and courage.