Inside American Education

by Thomas Sowell

Book Overview

An indictment of the American educational system criticizes the fact that the system has discarded the traditional goals of transmitting knowledge and fostering cognitive skills in favor of building self-esteem and promoting social harmony.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743254082
• ISBN13: 9780743254083
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A detailed summary of problems in American Education

Wow, what a book. This is an amazing attack on the public education system. Almost everything is explored, how teachers teach, what teachers teach, the kind of people attracted to education, all the politics of education, how much money is spent on education, and on, and on, and on. The first hundred pages focus on the first thirteen years of schooling, from kindergarten to twelfth grade. The rest of the book explores just how many problems there are in colleges and universities. The first chapter, "Decline, Deception, and Dogmas," opens the book with Thomas Sowell reviewing just how bad the public education system has gotten. Students are not being taught the basics, and are being brain washed. Much of the particular details Sowell explores fall into one or both of these categories. There has been a marked decline in learning, with a parallel dramatic increase in A's and B's. Thomas Sowell says part of the reason for the grade inflation is so parents feel good about their children and don't realize the children are not learning anything. Students are being taught to feel good about themselves, even when they are learning very little. American students are failing in both rote learning and in problem solving. One of my favorite lines went something like: "Johnny can't read. Johnny can't think. And Johnny doesn't even know what thinking is." Students often confuse thinking with feelings. Thomas Sowell covers how the public education system has five basic responses to criticism: secrecy, camouflage, denial, shift the blame, and then ask for more money. States which spend more money per capita don't do better The third chapter, "Classroom Brainwashing," is about how so many groups are trying to use the public school system to influence and even control how children think, so little time is left to be spent on teaching the children the basics and how to think. Most of these groups have different agendas, but all of them work at separating the individual from his family. Thomas Sowell talks about a number of the different type of brainwashing techniques used in the classroom. After four chapters on K-12, the book moves on to problems in colleges and universities. There are a scary number of problems. After reading this the first time I went out and bought three more copies to loan to friends. This is a great book for anyone who is interested in the current state of public education in America. It is well written and well documented. In many ways it is sad, this was written back in 1992, and if anything things have gotten worse.

Do your kids a favor - read this book!

Thomas Sowell discusses American Education from pre-K's to graduate schools; the students, faculties, and administrations; and the financing, politics, and self-serving policies thereof. In 51 pages of notes, he supplies 1050 individual citations supporting his views and conclusions. His 11-page Index reveals some major themes by the number of pages on which each is discussed -- Brainwashing and Psychological Conditioning (50 pp.), Harvard (52 pp.), and Political Correctness (55 pp.). Dr. Sowell grew up in Harlem during the 1930's and 1940's. He graduated from Harvard College (A.B. magna cum laude 1958), Columbia University (A.M. 1959), and University of Chicago (Ph.D. 1968) - all degrees being in Economics. With the quality of his education and particularly with his race, given the politics of the past half century, one might expect him to end up as a prominent bauble on some elitist university's faculty tree. Such was not the case. He displayed much too much independence of mind to be safely tucked into anybody's pocket. We learn on page 141 that as early as 1970, "a black professor named Thomas Sowell" warned against programs become too great to disguise, or to hide under euphemisms and apologetics, the conclusion that will be drawn in many quarters will not be that these were half-baked schemes, but that black people just don't have it." Dr. Sowell moved through organizations (U.S. Dept. of Labor, AT & T, The Urban Institute) and universities (Howard, Cornell, Brandeis, UCLA, Amherst). Since 1980, he has been a Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, California. The reason for looking at Dr. Sowell and his background so carefully is that he makes many bold statements in his book, Inside American Education. "The brutal reality is that the American system of education is bankrupt." " . . . the intellectual calibre of public school teachers in the United States is shockingly low." "Parents who send their children to school with instructions to respect and obey their teachers may be surprised to discover how often these children are sent back home conditioned to disrespect and disobey their parents." Should we listen to a person who says such things? I believe so. Dr. Sowell has been educated in our best schools back before it was de rigueur to have quotas. He has shown an independence of mind to withstand the blandishments of comfortable conformity. He has operated at the top intellectual realms of our country. He has the credentials to make the statements that he does. To decide for yourself, you will have to read the book for his detailed arguments in their favor, because they are far too extensive to cover in a review. This book may make you paranoid about your children in our schools. You may wish to become more involved with what your children are being taught and who is doing the teaching. You may wish to become a "bigger presence" in the lives of your children by moving them up in your priorities. Time for panic? No. Any s

Superb--a true exercise in logical thinking

This insightful book exposes many institutional problems in the American education system, and describes why they are so difficult to overcome.With relentless logic (and endless source refereces), he demolishes the lame excuses educators give for the lackluster results our schools produce. He shows that schools focus on abstract "goals" and "intentions" while ignoring incentives and the often disasterous consequences of the many faddish programs our kids are subjected to. This book is a real eyeopener. While you may disagree with much of what he says, you cannot help but be impressed with his scholarship and consistent thinking. At the very least, you will begin to look at the efforts of your local schoolboard with an informed and much more critical eye.

For anyone with school age children

Thomas Sowell deftly points out the real problem - not that you may disagree with the morals and values being taught in American public schools, but that these have any business being taught at all when the time could more usefully be spent on education. He dispells other myths such as learning should be "fun" and "relevant" and the notion that elementary school age children have the ability to realistically analyze complex and controversial political issues ("Dear Mr. President, please don't make anymore nuclear bombs...").This book has provided the impetus for me to purposely frustrate, bore and challenge my children because as Mr. Sowell points out what we knew all along, real self esteem comes from accomplishing something which was not easy.Even if you plan on sending your children to private school, I recommend this book. The teachers are all coming from the same colleges and universities.

A must for anyone with kids and a clear concience

I read this book for the first time in 1993. Being a college professor for many years now, I knew there was something wrong with the American Educational System. Sowell stated it plainly. I am now a father of two and am facing the decision of how to educate my children (home, private school, public school, or charter school -- if it ever happens --). As Sowell states the American educational system is bankrupt. The definition of quality education is nebulous at best. Powerful teacher unions and other interest groups mess with our children's minds and produce intellectually lazy graduates: people who know quite a bit about self-granted rights and everyone else's obligations but little about personal obligations, responsibility, and logical and productive thinking. Anyone with school-age children should read this book before deciding which school is best for his/her children.