According to Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto, the seven real lessons of compulsory public schools are:
Confusion: We are taught to disconnect all knowledge, divide our knowledge up in pieces so we can't relate it to our other knowledge and gain wisdom. Children are taught disconnected facts and then constantly switched to some other subject before they can put anything in perspective.
Class Position: Class is taught by assigning children to small groups consisting only of their age group, from their own neighborhood. They are constantly graded and numbered. They are taught to accept that the numbers are their proper place in the social pyramid.
Indifference: Children are taught that no matter how interested a child becomes in a topic, the bell or horn will sound and he must abandon it. Day after day his interest is interrupted. He never is allowed to have a complete experience with any thought, or interest. His world becomes little disconnected pieces. They destroy the past and the future, abstracting days and life into little segments.
Emotional Dependency: Approval comes in the form of little gold stars, smiles from the teacher, and alleged honors. Disapproval is from red checks, frowns, and reprimands. All his rights may be granted or withheld at the whim of some person in authority. The same arbitrary authority may withdraw all his privileges. He learns to be dependent.
Intellectual Dependency: Students wait for the teacher to tell them what to do, what to read, what to think. Students are not allowed to pursue study based on their individual curiosity. Instead of intellectual curiosity they become dependent on the tidbits of facts that authority gives them. "Bad" kids fight for intellectual freedom, and are routinely squashed and punished by those in authority.
Provisional Self-Esteem: Self confident people don’t do what they are told. Schools condition children to accept self confidence only when the school approves. They use grades, report cards, notes to your parents to assign you a level of self esteem. Every day you are adjudged and graded, and taught to conform to their whims to gain their approval. The student's vision of his future becomes dependent on the teacher's constant evaluations. Self evaluation is never part of the program. The masters are certified by the state to evaluate and tell him what he is worth.
One Can't Hide: One of the most insidious lessons of schools is that you can't hide from authority. Schools and prisons are designed from the "Panopticon" model of architecture, designed for constant surveillance of the inmates. There are no private spaces for children. There is no private time. Students are encouraged to tattle on each other. Parents are encouraged to report their own child's behaviors. Homework follows the student home to use up all his private time outside of school hours. Students learn that no one can be trusted, that privacy is not legitimate. We have been trained to accept and believe in constant surveillance by authority.
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