I first read this book in 1972 when I was in undergraduate school and it was "news." It still affects how I think about teaching / learning to this day.
Useing the truths found in Postman's book will help foster a fundamental change in the way our children learn - a change which could (literally) change the world for the better - one person at a time. It is as fresh today as when it was written and whether you are a student or a teacher - I recommend you find a copy and read it NOW.

Quite simply one of the most thought-provoking books I have ever read. However hard it is to get a copy, it is MUST reading for anyone involved in educating people. Heavily influenced by McLuhan, this book is devastating in showing what classrooms REALLY teach - that there is one right answer, that the teacher has it, that memorising facts is important, that fellow students have nothing to contribute, etc etc - and how to construct an environment in which REAL learning takes place - where people learn how to learn themselves. This is one of those books that shakes one's previously-unexamined foundational assumptions of education. I cannot recommend it too highly.

When the first chapter of a book on education is called 'Crap Detecting', you know you are on to a winner! Postman's provocative look at the nature of the classroom and how we educate our children is a must read by anyone who has a real interest in education being about more than tests and tick boxes. I have read this book many times and have never failed to be challenged, enthused and uplifted by it. My classroom and teaching style has been transformed by it - read it!!! Your teaching will never be the same again!

I read this book when I was in high school in 1976. It led me to realize that I was responsible for my life and my education. Rather than simply complaining about what a waste highschool was, I became motivated to do something about it. The book provided not only the vision that something better was possible and the motivation to work toward it, it also gave numerous specific ideas or strategies that got me moving in the right direction. Together with several other books on alternative education, it contributed to a philosophy of education that was very self-directed and has served me well over the last 27 years.
As a new college professor starting this fall, I am reminded of the wisdom found in this book and I am planning to read Postman's book "Teaching as a Subversive Activity".