--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Schools were designed by Horace Mann and…" description: "\"Schools were designed by Horace Mann and Barnard Sears and Harper of the University of Chicago and Thorndyke of Columbia Teachers College and some othe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/john-taylor-gatto-4736_application_schools-were-designed-by-horace-mann-and_182502.jpg" --- # Schools were designed by Horace Mann and Barnard Sears and… ![“Schools were designed by Horace Mann and Barnard Sears and Harper of the University of Chicago and Thorndyke of Columbia Teachers College and some other men to be instruments of the scientific management of a mass population. Schools are intended to produce through the application of formulae…” quote by John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/john-taylor-gatto-4736_application_schools-were-designed-by-horace-mann-and_182502.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/john-taylor-gatto-4736_application_schools-were-designed-by-horace-mann-and_182502.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fc/john-taylor-gatto-4736_application_schools-were-designed-by-horace-mann-and_182502.jpg) > “Schools were designed by Horace Mann and Barnard Sears and Harper of the University of Chicago and Thorndyke of Columbia Teachers College and some other men to be instruments of the scientific management of a mass population. Schools are intended to produce through the application of formulae, formulaic human beings whose behavior can be predicted and controlled.” [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques education as a system designed to standardize and control individuals, turning them into predictable, formulaic beings. **In simple terms:** Schools aim to shape predictable, controlled citizens. Key Takeaway Question and reshape educational norms. Themes education control standardization social engineering Mood critical skeptical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - policy reform - parental advocacy - alternative schooling - community workshops - teacher training Key Concepts critical theory institutional critique Questions to Reflect On - How can education balance structure with creativity? - What alternatives could foster genuine learning? A Different Perspective It may ignore the benefits of shared knowledge and social cohesion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Application](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/application/) [Behavior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behavior/) [Chicago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chicago/) [College](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/college/) [Columbia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/columbia/) [Columbia Teachers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/columbia-teachers-1947613/) [Controlled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/controlled/) [Designed Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/designed-horace-1947612/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harper/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horace-mann/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Instruments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instruments/) [Management](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/management/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Population](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/population/) [Population Schools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/population-schools-1947611/) [Produce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/produce/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Schools Designed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schools-designed-678134/) [Schools Intended](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schools-intended-1947610/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Sears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sears/) [Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) ## Related quotes > [Schools are not intended to moralize a wicked world, but to impart knowledge and develop intelligence, with only two social aims in mind: prepare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/schools-are-not-intended-to-moralize-a-wicked-world-but-to-impart/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [“Independent study, community service, adventures and experience, large doses of privacy and solitude, a thousand different apprenticeships — the one-day variety or longer —…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/independent-study-community-service-adventures-and-experience-large/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [“Schools were designed to produce good employees instead of employers”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/schools-were-designed-to-produce-good-employees-instead-of-employers/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [Public schools were designed as the great equalizers of our society - the place where all children could have access to educational opportunities to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-napolitano/public-schools-were-designed-as-the-great-equalizers-of-our-society/) [Janet Napolitano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-napolitano/) > [Schools are designed on the assumption that there is a secret to everything in life; that the quality of life depends upon knowing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/schools-are-designed-on-the-assumption-that-there-is-a-secret-to/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [The first generation of school reformers I talk about - nineteenth century education reformer Horace Mann, Catharine Beecher - they are true believers in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-goldstein/the-first-generation-of-school-reformers-i-talk-about-nineteenth/) [Dana Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-goldstein/) > [“Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the determination to make the right things happen. —Horace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleatha-romig/let-us-not-be-content-to-wait-and-see-what-will-happen-but-give-us/) [Aleatha Romig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleatha-romig/) > [A music teacher. It was in the inner city at a school called Horace Mann. I think I was most effective when the kids…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-robinson/a-music-teacher-it-was-in-the-inner-city-at-a-school-called-horace/) [Craig Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-robinson/) > [“The industrialized mass nature of school goes back to the very beginning, to the common school and the normal school and the idea of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/the-industrialized-mass-nature-of-school-goes-back-to-the-very/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [“Until you have done something for humanity,” wrote the great American educator Horace Mann, “you should be ashamed to die.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/until-you-have-done-something-for-humanity-wrote-the-great-american/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“I hadn’t gone to Andover, or Horace Mann or Eton. My high school had been the average kind, and I’d been the best student…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-peterfreund/i-hadn-t-gone-to-andover-or-horace-mann-or-eton-my-high-school-had/) [Diana Peterfreund](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-peterfreund/) > [“Public education does not serve a public. It creates a public. And in creating the right kind of public, the schools contribute toward strengthening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/public-education-does-not-serve-a-public-it-creates-a-public-and-in/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [In 1847 I gave an address at Newton, Mass., before a Teachers' Institute conducted by Horace Mann. My subject was grasshoppers. I passed around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-agassiz/in-1847-i-gave-an-address-at-newton-mass-before-a-teachers-institute/) [Louis Agassiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-agassiz/) ## More by John Taylor Gatto > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/we-could-encourage-the-best-qualities-of-youthfulness-curiosity/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [There isn't a right way to become educated; there are as many ways as there are fingerprints.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/there-isn-t-a-right-way-to-become-educated-there-are-as-many-ways-as/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [The truth is that schools don't really teach anything except how to obey orders. This is a great mystery to me because thousands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/the-truth-is-that-schools-don-t-really-teach-anything-except-how-to/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [“Any economy in which the most common tasks are the shuffling of paper, the punching of buttons, and the running of mouths isn’t an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/any-economy-in-which-the-most-common-tasks-are-the-shuffling-of-paper/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [This was once a land where every sane person knew how to build a shelter, grow food, and entertain one another. Now we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/this-was-once-a-land-where-every-sane-person-knew-how-to-build-a/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Self-knowledge is the only basis of true knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/self-knowledge-is-the-only-basis-of-true-knowledge/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [You need experience, adventure, and explorations more than you need algebra!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/you-need-experience-adventure-and-explorations-more-than-you-need/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [A lot of the strings that hold us like puppets are really inventions of our own minds. I'm not saying that there aren't armies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/a-lot-of-the-strings-that-hold-us-like-puppets-are-really-inventions/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Is there an idea more radical in the history of the human race than turning your children over to total strangers whom you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/is-there-an-idea-more-radical-in-the-history-of-the-human-race-than/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [School is a twelve-year jail sentence where bad habits are the only curriculum truly learned. I teach school and win awards doing it. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/school-is-a-twelve-year-jail-sentence-where-bad-habits-are-the-only/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [“Pick up a fifth-grade math or rhetoric textbook from 1850 and you’ll see that the texts were pitched then on what would today be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/pick-up-a-fifth-grade-math-or-rhetoric-textbook-from-1850-and-you-ll/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [I feel ashamed that so many of us cannot imagine a better way to do things than locking children up all day in cells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/i-feel-ashamed-that-so-many-of-us-cannot-imagine-a-better-way-to-do/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [The shocking possibility that dumb people don't exist in sufficient numbers to warrant the millions of careers devoted to tending them will seem incredible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/the-shocking-possibility-that-dumb-people-don-t-exist-in-sufficient/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [I taught public school for 26 years, but I just can't do it anymore. 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