The essay "Dumbing Us Down: Weapons of Mass Instruction" attempts to address issues

in the modern education system that, according to the author, are placing constraints on the minds of

students. The author believes that these constraints discourage students from thinking for themselves

and discovering who they are and presents several possible solutions to the problems. What exactly is

the issue though, and what kind of solutions does the author present?

The author himself is a former New York City teacher of the year who has written several books,

so one can assume that the author has firsthand experience with the very issues he is bringing up. In

fact, the author uses several examples of this experience to illustrate his point. For example, when

addressing the issue of self-discovery, the author expresses his frustration with the curriculum he taught

in his 30 years of teaching; he found himself "amused, disgusted, and disbelieving" when presented

with "endless drills" and "reading assignments". These firsthand examples serve to point out the

author's frustration with the modern education system; the system that seeks to suppress creative

thought and discovery in exchange for a sense of order and discipline. The author then continues to

express his disappointment with such a system; he again draws from firsthand experience in paragraph

9 in which he recalls the type of education he received. This type of schooling, the author argues,

taught "independent thought" and an "experience of the world not found in the classroom". In addition

to these experience, the reader can also deduce that the author was given a private education - given

the fact that the author seems to vouch for their effectiveness in fostering creative thought versus the

public school system. Private education is not the only solution the author