But what is now encompassed by the one word (“school”) are two very different kinds of institutions that, … - Jonathan Kozol

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I see myself capable of arrogance and brutality. . . That's a fierce thing, to discover within yourself that which you despise the most in others.

Jonathan Kozol

But what is now encompassed by the one word (“school”) are two very different kinds of institutions that, in function, finance and intention, serve entirely different roles. Both are needed for our nation’s governance. But children in one set of schools are educated to be governors; children in the other set of schools are trained for being governed. The former are given the imaginative range to mobilize ideas for economic growth; the latter are provided with the discipline to do the narrow tasks the first group will prescribe.

Children, Different, Entirely, Former, Ideas, School

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I emphasize teachers because they are largely left out of the debate. None of the bombastic reports that come from Washington and think tanks telling us what needs to be 'fixed' - I hate such a mechanistic word, as if our schools were automobile engines - ever asks the opinions of teachers.

Bombastic, Come, Education, Hate, Teacher, Teachers

I always want to tell these young idealists that the world is not as dangerous as many in the older generation want them to believe. . . The [people] for whom I feel the greatest sadness are the ones who choke on their beliefs, who never act on their ideals, who never know the state of struggle in a decent cause, and never know the thrill of even partial victories.

Beliefs, Believe, Greatest, Sadness, Struggle, Victories

I have been criticized throughout the course of my career for placing too much faith in the reliability of children's narratives; but I have almost always found that children are a great deal more reliable in telling us what actually goes on in public school than many of the adult experts who develop policies that shape their destinies.

Actually, Children, Destiny, Faith, School, Telling

Good teachers don't approach a child of this age with overzealousness or with destructive conscientiousness. They're not drill-masters in the military or floor managers in a production system. They are specialists in opening small packages. They give the string a tug but do it carefully. They don't yet know what's in the box. They don't know if it's breakable.

Approach, Breakable, Children, Military, Overzealousness, Teacher

Separate and unequal didn't work 100 years ago. It will not work today.

Today, Work, Years, Years Ago