The first lesson is confusion, taught because the teachings of school are out of context and that too much is being presented for students to make sense of it. He writes, ``I teach the un-relating of everything, an infinite fragmentation the opposite of cohesion... I teach you how to accept confusion as your destiny.``

Class position is the second lesson. Gatto effectively explains that children are arbitrarily assigned a class and all teaching is designed to keep students in these classes. ``If I do my job well, the kids can`t even imagine themselves somewhere else... That`s the real lesson of any rigged competition like school. You come to know your place.``

Indifference is the third lesson, taught by forcing students to pretend enthusiastic involvement in topics that have little meaning to them. ``When I`m at my best I plan lessons very carefully in order to produce this show of enthusiasm. But when the bell rings I insist they drop whatever it is we have been doing and proceed quickly to the next work station. They must turn on and off like a light switch.``

The fourth lesson is emotional dependency. This lesson is taught by issuing grades, through warmth and coldness, rights granted or denied, all from the authority of the teacher. ``As a schoolteacher, I intervene in many personal decisions, issuing a pass for those I deem legitimate, or initiating a disciplinary confrontation for behavior that threatens my control.``

Intellectual dependency is the fifth and most important lesson, imparting the belief that we must wait for experts to tell us how to behave. ``Of the millions of things of value to study, I decide what few we have time for... Curiosity has no important place in my work, only conformity.``

Provisional self-esteem is the sixth lesson, similar to the lesson of intellectual dependency in that a child`s self-respect should depend on the opinion of an `expert`. ``The lesson of report cards, grades, and tests is that children should not trust themselves or their parents but should instead rely on the evaluation of certified officials. People need to be told what they are worth.``

The seventh lesson is that one can`t hide. Students learn that they are constantly under surveillance by not providing them with private spaces or private time, ultimately imparting the belief that they can not trust themselves or be trusted by others. ``I assign a type of extended schooling called `homework`, so that the effect of surveillance travels into private households where students might otherwise use free time to learn something unauthorized from a father or mother, by exploration, or by apprenticing to some wise person in the neighborhood.``

At the initial planning meeting for PSCS I discussed these seven lessons with those in attendance. Working to eliminate them has always been at the heart of our school philosophy.