I am not usually one to condemn the act of organized education, but after reading "Against School" by John Taylor Gatto, it seems as though it is merely used for imprisoning the so called "land of the free". .
More so in high school, it is obvious that adolescents view education as an unbearable restraint on their independence. Students in high school have no choice but to be there, and when teenagers are forced to do something, positive results may vary. Just look at the times that kids don't have to be in school: spring break, summer etc. It's like they have been punished for so long that they lose all inhibitions and go crazy. The categorization that inevitably goes alone with high school confines their right to express themselves, so that even when they are allowed to, they become socially conscious and never speak their minds. High school is so habitual that some have no inspiration after the fact, because every morning for twelve years someone has been telling them what to do, how to do it, when to do it, etc. .
As far as ACC goes, my personal opinion is rather uninformed due to the fact that I only have two classes once a week. The classes and professors that I have at ACC actually seem like very interesting people. The fact that we were told to read and grasp the concepts in "Against School" by a professor at ACC seems worthy of note, because they obviously have an optimistic view of the way we are being taught.
I don't think the teaching of history should consist of memorizing exact dates and statistics or even countries on a map (hence my grade on the map test). The teaching of history in our country usually has a transparent bias that suppresses learning both sides of historical endeavors.