Overschooled but Undereducated

This remarkable work... is at the same time profoundly scholarly and eminently accessible. It is nothing less than a tour de force, and it is a privilege to recommend it unreservedly. -- Sir Gustav Nossal, former President of the Australian Academy of Science.
This may well be the most important and significant book that young people and those involved with education will read. -- Maureen Nitek, The Clarendon College, Wiltshire.
I read this book with great interest and almost entire agreement. -- Dr Eric Anderson, former Headmaster and Provost of Eton College.
This penetrating exploration burrows through to the heart of the malaise which has stifled so much education in the 21st century... a provocative and bold manifesto for change. -- Dr Jonathan Long, Principal of the United World College of India.
This brilliantly rich, historical and philosophical background makes this a landmark work. -- Dr Helen Drennen, Principal of Wesley College, Australia.
For anyone... who cares about adolescents Overschooled but Undereducated should be compulsory reading. It will fill you with joy at the potential within young people when given the opportunity to do what is natural to them, to learn and to think for themselves. -- Janet Lawley, former Headteacher of Bury Girls' School.
This is a fascinating and insightful book and clearly keys into a widespread concern about 'teaching to the test' and politicians interfering more than ever to prescribe what and how teachers teach. * Culture Wars *
Politicians really should take note. Poor beleaguered Ed Balls, in desperate need of a workable education policy, should really buy a copy of Abbott's book, co-authored with Heather MacTaggart. Overschooled but Undereducated, the title says it all. It's just the lesson Balls needs. -- Prue Leith * The Spectator *
I know from personal experience of 50 years of dedication to the responsible subversion of our school system that it can work. I have experienced the speed and effectiveness of transformation carried out practically along the lines Abbott suggests. I, too, have learnt what is needed for this to be successful. Concrete examples of what happens when these matters are attended to in this way are desperately needed. This is necessary to accompany the masterly narrative and analysis by Abbott of how we got into this hole and how we can begin to dig our way out of it. -- Philip Toogood * Personalised Education Now *
This splendidly readable treatise argues that for years in the Western world our education system has got adolescence spectacularly wrong. Far from being a problem time, it is a glorious opportunity. ... The book challenges people like me to recast my view on adolescents. To let them think and do. * Church Times *
A truly remarkable triumph. John Abbott has managed to set to words the seemingly inexplicable malaise which haunts the educational system today in Britain... an invaluable insight into a staggering range of interdisciplinary theory and research to explain precisely why schools aren't working as they should be, and could be... John Abbott leads us on an extraordinary journey through anthropology, pedagogy, evolutionary psychology, as far as recent breakthroughs in the field of neuroscience to show just why adolescents need so much more than good grades if they are to be able to develop the full gamut of mental competencies which generations upon generations of 'learning' has bequeathed to them... Most importantly perhaps, John Abbott does not simply leave us with our minds full and hands empty, but rather offers us the tools needed for such change to be made. -- Lorenzo McLellan, Teach First Trainee, UK.
This refreshing and stimulating book is a must-read for all teachers of adolescents as well as parents of teenagers and parents who have brought up teenagers... such a book should become compulsory reading for all my staff so that they will dare to question our assumptions and dare to make a difference. * International Schools Journal *