Coach House: Inspired by John Taylor Gatto
The Philosophy Behind Coach House
At Coach House, our approach to home education is not just a method — it’s a mission. Behind every custom program we design lies a deep, unwavering philosophical foundation rooted in a clear critique of the mainstream schooling system.
One of the most influential voices in shaping that foundation is John Taylor Gatto.
Who Was John Taylor Gatto?
John Taylor Gatto was a celebrated teacher from New York State who was awarded “Teacher of the Year” — and then promptly used his platform to expose what he believed to be the fundamental flaws in the mainstream education system.
Gatto didn’t just walk away from schooling — he walked toward the truth. I thoroughly recommend all of his books, but the two that most profoundly influenced my thinking on home schooling my own children - and subsequently my approach to curriculum development and program creation - are Dumbing us Down and Weapons of Mass Instruction.
The Problem With Schooling
According to Gatto, modern schooling:
Trains children for obedience, not originality
Encourages compliance, not critical thinking
Prepares students to be workers and consumers, not free citizens
He traces the history of institutional schooling back to the Prussian model, which was deliberately designed to shape populations for the needs of industrial society — not to awaken human potential.
The Difference Between Schooling and Education
This is one of the central messages that drives our work at Coach House:
Schooling and education are not the same thing.
Schooling is institutional, standardised, top-down and externally imposed
Education is personal, dynamic, self-directed and lifelong
Too many families are taught to see school as the only path to success. But once you see schooling for what it really is — a system of social engineering and crowd management — it becomes clear why so many bright and capable children feel alienated by it.
What Gatto Taught Me — and Why It Matters
As both a classroom teacher and a curriculum author, I was profoundly changed by Gatto’s writings. He articulated what many parents and educators instinctively know to be true: the system is not broken — it was designed this way.
Schools were never intended to:
Empower families
Foster individuality
Promote deep thinking or creativity
Instead, they were designed to fragment family bonds, replace parental influence with institutional oversight, and produce compliant, predictable outcomes.
Why Home Schooling Matters More Than Ever
At Coach House, we believe that the most powerful form of education begins at home — not just academically, but philosophically. Home education:
Repairs the damage done by institutional schooling
Restores the centrality of the family in a child’s life
Revives natural curiosity, creativity and independent thought
We do this not by mimicking school at home, but by crafting customised, integrated, interest-led programs that reflect your child’s strengths and your family’s values.
Educational Freedom
Gatto’s critiques are not just theoretical. They are practical, and they have deeply shaped:
The way we design our materials
The way we communicate with families
The way we frame our understanding of what “success” looks like in education
Coach House exists to support families who have chosen to reclaim their child’s education — and, in doing so, reclaim the family itself as the primary influence in a child’s intellectual and moral development.
Ready to Step Off the Conveyor Belt?
If you’re beginning to suspect that school isn’t working for your child, you’re not alone.
If you believe your family deserves something better — something more human, more intentional, more joyful — we’re here to help.
📞 Book a free discovery call
📚 Explore our custom programs
Let’s reimagine what education can truly be.
