--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The truth is that schools don't really…" description: "\"The truth is that schools don't really teach anything except how to obey orders.\" — John Taylor Gatto" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/john-taylor-gatto-4736_education_the-truth-is-that-schools-don-t-really-t_874458.png" --- # The truth is that schools don't really teach anything… ![“The truth is that schools don't really teach anything except how to obey orders.” quote by John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/john-taylor-gatto-4736_education_the-truth-is-that-schools-don-t-really-t_874458.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/john-taylor-gatto-4736_education_the-truth-is-that-schools-don-t-really-t_874458.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66c/john-taylor-gatto-4736_education_the-truth-is-that-schools-don-t-really-t_874458.png) > “The truth is that schools don't really teach anything except how to obey orders.” [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. Schools often prioritize obedience over critical thinking and genuine learning. **In simple terms:** Schools teach obedience more than real knowledge. Key Takeaway Encourage questioning and independent learning. Themes education authority critical thinking Mood reflective critical Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - classroom - parenting - policy reform - student activism Key Concepts pedagogy social control Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance order with creativity? - What role does discipline play in learning? A Different Perspective May overlook the value of structured knowledge and safety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [“I've noticed a fascinating phenomenon in my thirty years of teaching: schools and schooling are increasingly irrelevant to the great enterprises of the planet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in-my-thirty-years-of-teaching/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [I’ve noticed a fascinating phenomenon in my twenty-five years of teaching - that schools and schooling are increasingly irrelevant to the great enterprises of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/i-ve-noticed-a-fascinating-phenomenon-in-my-twenty-five-years-of/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Most owners are at length able to teach themselves to obey their dog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-morley/most-owners-are-at-length-able-to-teach-themselves-to-obey-their-dog/) [Robert Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-morley/) > [I taught public school for 26 years, but I just can't do it anymore. For years I asked the school board to let me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/i-taught-public-school-for-26-years-but-i-just-can-t-do-it-anymore/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Youths are passed through schools that don’t teach, then forced to search for jobs that don’t exist and finally left stranded in the street…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-newton/youths-are-passed-through-schools-that-don-t-teach-then-forced-to/) [Huey Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-newton/) > [Schools don't teach American history that well, especially a lot of black American history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/schools-don-t-teach-american-history-that-well-especially-a-lot-of/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [To get salvation we must not only do some things, but everything which God has commanded...The object with me is to obey and teach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-smith-jr/to-get-salvation-we-must-not-only-do-some-things-but-everything-which/) [Joseph Smith, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-smith-jr/) > [Parents, do you wish to see your children happy? Take care, then, that you train them to obey when they are spoken to, -to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/parents-do-you-wish-to-see-your-children-happy-take-care-then-that/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [The audience will teach you how to act and the audience will teach you how to write and to direct. The classroom will teach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/the-audience-will-teach-you-how-to-act-and-the-audience-will-teach/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [Sometimes the worst things that you can say really teach you a lot about what you can learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-miz/sometimes-the-worst-things-that-you-can-say-really-teach-you-a-lot/) [The Miz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-miz/) > [“You can't really teach a kid anything: you can only show him the way and motivate him to learn it himself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-cullen/you-can-t-really-teach-a-kid-anything-you-can-only-show-him-the-way/) [Dave Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-cullen/) > [When 'The People's Court' came along, I had an opportunity to really teach people about law. It was very important to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wapner/when-the-people-s-court-came-along-i-had-an-opportunity-to-really/) [Joseph Wapner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wapner/) > [“If you really want to help this world, what you really will have to teach is how to live in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/if-you-really-want-to-help-this-world-what-you-really-will-have-to/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [The main thing in making your own music is that it's an expression of someone's personality and being. That's what people want to hear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kiwanuka/the-main-thing-in-making-your-own-music-is-that-it-s-an-expression-of/) [Michael Kiwanuka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kiwanuka/) ## 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. 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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/) [Explore all 107 John Taylor Gatto quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) ## More Education quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [“In school you are taught to obey and not to think straight for your own good. 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They inspire you, they entertain you, and you end up learning a ton even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/what-s-the-best-thing-about-being-in-college-good-teachers-they/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [“If one has not a head of steel it will burst; if he has not within it a brain of liquid quicksilver, he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ioannes-amos-commenius/if-one-has-not-a-head-of-steel-it-will-burst-if-he-has-not-within-it/) Ioannes Amos Commenius > [“let us not teach / what we have learned badly / and not profited by”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-d-hilda-doolittle/let-us-not-teach-what-we-have-learned-badly-and-not-profited-by/) H.D. (Hilda Doolittle > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [According to Plato, we don't learn anything. Our soul has lived so many lives that we know everything. Teachers and education can only remind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/according-to-plato-we-don-t-learn-anything-our-soul-has-lived-so-many/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“I only began to enjoy studying after I got through the educational system and became a so-called member of society. 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