Education in Freedom Writers

Education in Freedom Writers Foundations of Education Film Critique – Freedom Writers Historically, concepts such as curriculum, syllabus, lesson plan, educational objectives have been all-important words in education. These concepts do not exist in a vacuum. Teaching and learning are often affected by social, political, economic, and historical factors that are not accounted for in the formal curriculum. The film Freedom Writers explores some of these factors from the vantage point of Ms. Gruwell, an inexperienced middle class Caucasian female teacher at an integrated school, Woodrow Wilson Classical High School inLong Beach, California. The film is set in the racially charged atmosphere of 1994, less than two years after the Los Angeles riots sparked by the acquittal of the Caucasian officers who were caught on camera brutalizing Rodney King, an African American. Her group of racially diverse at risk students are unflatteringly labeled â€Å"unteachables†. Before she can teach basic concepts in poetry, however, Ms. Gruwell has to contend with and overcome the racial stereotypes, low teacher and student expectations, poor discipline, socioeconomic restraints, and myopic bureaucratic policy that have resulted in her students’ negative attitude to their teachers, school, the educational system, and life in general. They believe that their educational boundaries are limited, that their teachers are not invested in them, and that school is merely another prison to which they are assigned during the day to fight the undeclared war. Both teachers and students believe that the students are hopeless and that attempts to teach them using the formal curriculum is an exercise in futility. This paper explores how certain factors external to the educational institutions—racial stereotypes, low teacher and student expectation, poor discipline, socioeconomic and historical restraints, and myopic political policy—affect the educational process as portrayed in Freedom Writers. Initially, Ms. Gruell tried an ineffective teacher dominated, teacher centered approach to educating her students. Try as she might, however, she could not get the students interested in her lessons. The students regarded her as an outsider and that she had to gain their respect before they would give them hers and allow her to teach them. Ms. G was forced to revise her teaching style and strategies to reach her students. Eventually she expelled the curriculum and simply listened to her students. Her wisdom was in recognizing that she had to connect with them and to understand that they had needs that had to be acknowledged and barriers that had to be demolished before they would be taught. She assigned materials about minorities and discrimination that they could relate to including The Diary of Anne Frankand Elie Wiesel’sNight. She empowered them with words by giving them diaries in which they could write their own stories. She devised activities and field trips to help them learn respect and tolerance of one another. The student listened to guest speakers, and conducted a field trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum so they could experience racism, intolerance, death and injustice in a new context. She was even able to raise funds for class projects and outings. Once she had gotten their interest, Ms. G relentlessly built on themes that which was familiar her students. In so doing, she achieves what thus far had been seemingly impossible: getting her students interested in reading education. Ms. Gruwell’s pedagogical style evolved to resemble the Inquiry Approach. Inquiry is a student-centered pedagogical model which is based on the idea that teaching and learning are enhanced when students are active agents in the teaching and learning process. Teaching is most effective when students are not just passively digesting arbitrary information, but are engaged in the actual construction of diverse, relevant, and real world knowledge. Thus, the very nature of the Inquiry Approach means that it is highly effective framework for catering to students’ different learning styles and for facilitating the management of challenging curricula. The learning sequence is based on concepts that facilitate effective learning rather than arbitrary classroom activities: tackling real-world questions, issues and controversies, developing questioning, research and communication skills, and solving problems or creating solutions. Schema activation, articulating novel methods of pr ocessing ideas, drawing ideas and generating new ideas from experiences, conducting independent research are important to Inquiry. Inquiry is authentic: lessons and content are focused on authentic, relevant ideas that students are actually interested in. This is the ultimate genius of the Inquiry Approach: the deep understanding of self-generated content in an authentic context which extends beyond the classroom. While Ms. G might have opted simply to teach the established curriculum, she instead opted to teach the students in the way they needed to be taught. One of the important themes of Freedom Writers is that teaching and learning do not take place in a vacuum. Rather, the classroom is a microcosm of the larger society where a host of social, historical, political and economic factors converge in the classroom and directly impinge on the education process. This plethora of factors influence the educational process and how effectively a teacher can teach. Political agents included the school administration and the Board of Education; all cogs in a system designed to suppress the advancement of minorities. The callous label of â€Å"unteachable† placed on the students only exacerbates the sense of oppression these disenfranchised minority students feel. The school serves as microcosm of the larger society where oppression was even more pervasive and detrimental. Instead of serving as a springboard for the students to self-actualize and escape the bonds of the â€Å"matrix of domination† by challenging them to achieve high standards, it instead institutionalized the same oppression the prevented the students from self-actualizing in the first place. A simple example is the reading list for class. Instead of allowing the students to interact with high quality, challenging reading material such as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, they students were expected to read a condensed version of the play which was below the re ading standard for their grade. Even worse, the main concern of the head of department, Ms. Margaret Campbell, was that the students would damage the books instead of reading them. She was not concerned with challenging students to reach for high academic accomplishments. She simply fed into the machinery of the â€Å"matrix† where â€Å"unteachable† students continue to perform much more poorly than their Caucasian counterparts. What she fails to realize is that this attitude simply perpetuates the very issue that she complains about. According to Carborne II in Race, Class, and Oppression: Solutions for Active Learning and Literacy in the Classroom. The disadvantage perpetuated by this oppression can influence a student’s motivation to succeed in school, and has been shown to negatively impact academic performance and levels of self-esteem. In many urban school settings, the racial impact of socio-economic status is reflected in the academic performance of minority students in those schools as well as in the sense of hopelessness that often accompanies it. The influence of historical factors and the influence on attitudes to education is clear in Freedom Writers. The film is set in 1994 soon after the 1992 race riots in Los Angeles which were prompted by the televised police brutality of Rodney King. With the single exception of a male Caucasian student, Erin Gruwell’s students are minorities: African-American, Latino, Asian, and Mexican. Traditionally, undereducated, underprivileged and marginalized, these students grew up with a long history of racial, economic, educational, and social inequity. They come from neighborhoods that are traditionally controlled by crime lords, drug kingpins; neighborhoods where drugs, broken families, gang-life and violence are a way of life. Survival dominates their thinking, and most are confident that the will not reach their 18th birthday. The hate the system that warehouses them in integrated school and forgets that they exist. Their primary goal in school is to survive the day. Learning is of secondary importance particularly if the education comes from a Caucasian, the representation of the system that they hate so much. Initially, Ms. G’s students resisted her attempts to educate them, because they had been socialized to think of Caucasians as â€Å"them†: racially oppressive forces that historically have undermine and disenfranchised minority races. The students refuse to or cannot respect her as a teacher or even as a human being because she is one of â€Å"them. They fail to acknowledge the possible positive ramifications of being educated by her. The most damning aspect of this kind of oppressive system is that it is self-perpetuating. Over generations, the oppression has become firmly engrained in the lives of minorities to the point where they internalize and manifest the stereotypes even as they resist them. For example, while Ms. G was genuinely interested in her students, but after years of discrimination and ill treatment, her interest came across as sympathy, or worse pity. Her positive attitude was not accepted at face value. Instead her display of what the students interpreted as what Freire terms â€Å"false charity† was yet another bit of proof that the system was stacked against them. The fact is that she â€Å"needed† to show â€Å"charity† because of the system—her system—put minorities at an unfair economic disadvantage. Economics play a major role in Room 203. Researchers such as Jonathan Kozol (2008) and Berliner (2006) record startling correlations between the achievement gap and which are directly linked to economic prosperity. According to a Trends in Mathematics and Science Study TIMMS (2003), â€Å"American schools with the most wealth possess the highest test scores†. Conversely, American schools with the highest levels of poverty achieve the lowest test scores. Hodgkinson (2008) reports even more startling statistics: the United States has the largest total number of children living below the poverty line. In this demographic, 33% is African while only 14% is Caucasian. Hodgkinson asserts that long term investment from government and non-governmental agencies would be the best way to alleviate the problem of student performance in underperforming schools. Investment like this would have a ripple effect in the larger society by breaking the cycle of poverty. However, the issue is far t oo complex to be solved by a simple injection of financial capital into poor performing schools. A collaborative effort is needed where students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and teachers converge as a single entity to combat this issue. Initially, Ms. G’s students resisted her attempts to educate them, because they had been socialized to think of Caucasians as â€Å"them†: racially oppressive forces that historically have undermine and disenfranchised minority races. Their attitude toward her was based on their previous experiences with â€Å"white teachers† and other privileged members of a racially oppressive system, who do not understand the struggle that they had experienced as minorities: poverty, discrimination, crime, drugs, racism, and death. In fact, for these oppressed students, these individuals are actually part of the machinery designed to perpetually oppress minorities. With her constant smile, her high minded ideals, and her feeble, misguided attempts to save the minority students from their own lives, she fit perfectly the stereotype of â€Å"white privilege†. The author of â€Å"Race, Class, and Oppression: Solutions for Active Learning and Literacy in the Classroom† explains this in terms of a â€Å"matrix of domination† where the achievement gap between minority students and their Caucasian counterparts has led to the marginalization of many students by social class and race†. The students refuse to or cannot respect her as a teacher or even as a human being because she is one of â€Å"them. They fail to acknowledge the possible positive ramifications of being educated by her. The movie provides an in-depth exploration of the complex dynamics of expectations. Historically, low expectations were routinely assigned to lower class or minority populations by teachers and the students themselves. The academic downgrade of Woodrow Wilson High School after integration â€Å"proved† that minorities are not as academically capable as students from other privileged backgrounds. The poor performance was further exacerbated by the students’ lack of discipline which in turn confirmed teachers’ negative attitude and low expectations. Perhaps the worst consequence so such attitudes is that they creates a sense of inferiority in these students who now internalize these low expectations of others now manifest them as low expectations of themselves. Clearly, expectations are a double edged sword. Positive expectations are a major contributor to student success, while negative expectations have the opposite effect. Over the last several decades a number of researchers have shown that irrespective of whether the teacher or students have high or low academic expectations, self-fulfilling prophecies assure that those expectations will be met. The results of a study of 30,000 minority students by Harvard University economist and researcher Ronald F. Ferguson discovered â€Å"the distinct importance of teacher encouragement as a source of motivation of non-White students†. Both Mr. Gelford and Ms. Campbell, and the rest of the staff, had low expectations of the â€Å"unteachables† in Room 203. From the onset, Ms. Campbell indicated that Ms. G’s objectives in her lesson plan were pitched above the students’ ability and advised her to simplify them. She also dismissed the idea that the student should be provi ded with rich, stimulating material. Mr. Gelford refused to entertain the idea that the students would be able to appreciate the novel The Diary of Anne Frank and sneered at the idea that they had the intellectual sophistication to draw parallels between their lives and Anne’s life. Ms. G’s kids were not expected to achieve as much as the students in Mr. Gelford’s advanced class so they were held to a different, albeit lower, standard. The solution for counteracting the damaging effects of low expectations is not merely to dispel low expectations or to declare a belief in high expectation. Teachers must believe that students have to potential for unlimited success. Rosenthal and Jacobson’s 1968 experiment indicated that students showed remarkable academic success simple because their teachers thought they would. Had Erin attended to the advice about the achievement potential of the students in 203 would never have achieved their remarkable academic performance. What drove them to achieve was her simple belief that they were just as capable of the levels of achievement as their Caucasian counterparts. Despite all odds, Ms. G was able to achieve what the two teachers before her had been unable to. She was able to get the students in Room 203 to take an active interest in their own education. Despite all odds, and with great personal sacrifice, she showed the students what it really meant to have an education in an oppressive world. She gave them hope for the future. Once she shifted the focus from her teaching to the students learning, she was able to recognize that the racial stereotypes, low teacher and student expectation, poor discipline, socioeconomic and historical restraints, and limited bureaucratic policy are real restraints that compromise the educational process. The film Freedom Writers inspires me as a teacher. Students today are much more difficult to manage, but as the film shows, management difficulties are rooted in social, economic, political, and historical factors that the students internalize and consciously manifest in ways that compromise them. It takes enormous dedication, patience, and conviction to help students break through whatever constraints the students are struggling with. Ms. Gruwell’s experiences remind me of my first days as a teacher with typed lesson plans and a thousand misconceptions about how students should be taught. Ultimately, we have to understand out roles as facilitators of learning, and more broadly, life. Our jobs—vocation—as teachers is not merely to broadcast facts. Rather it is to educate students in the sense of helping them to gather and construct relevant information that will help them to evolve as creative individual thinkers. Teachers need to find catalysts that generate the fire for learning in their students. We need to strive daily to find creative and revolutionary means to get students to achieve way beyond their wildest expectations. If Ms. G, inexperienced and idealistic as she was, inspired 150 at risk students to persevere and graduate, then so can any teacher. She truly is an inspiration for us all. References Carbone II, S. A. (2010). Race, Class, and Oppression: Solutions for Active Learning and Literacy in the Classroom.Student Pulse,2(01). Retrieved fromhttp://www.studentpulse.com/a?id=113 Laurier. J. (2007). â€Å"Freedom Writers: Truly no child left behind† Retrieved from http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2007/01/free-j27.html O’Hara, M. (2009). â€Å"Freedom Writers: Their Story Their Words. A Study Guide†. Retrieved from http://www.metromagazine.com.au/freedom/downloads/freedomwriters_sg.pdf Teach for America. (2011). â€Å"Diversity, Community and Achievement†. Retrieved from http://www.teachingasleadership.org/sites/default/files/Related-Readings/DCA_2011.pdf

Struggle between Good and Evil in The Scarlet Letter and Macbeth Essay

Struggle between Good and Evil in The Scarlet Letter and Macbeth It is said that â€Å"all conflict in literature is, in its simplest form, a struggle between good and evil.† Indeed, the fundamental conflict of human nature is that of darkness and light; and as a mirror to life, the conflicts in literature is not different from those in human nature. The struggle of good and evil is shown in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, which portrays the spiritual battle between and evil man and a sinned minister, as well as the minister’s internal turmoil. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, similarly describes a man’s moral decay and the vengeance of the wronged good people. Both authors use various literary elements and techniques such as symbolism, metaphor, theme, and characterization to illustrate the struggle between good and evil in their works. The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story of damnation and redemption. Roger Chillingsworth, finding out his wife’s adultery with Arthur Dimmesdale upon his returning from Indian captivity vows to take revenge on the minister. In the process, however, he transforms himself into the minion of devil on earth. Through the mouth of Pearl (the fruit if the illegitimate union), the author metaphorically calls Chillingsworth â€Å"the Black Man.† Comparing Chillingsworth to the Devil, Pearl warns Dimmesdale â€Å"the Black man wants thy soul.† Indeed, Chillingsworth sets out to poison his rival – both physically and mentally. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, is waging a war within himself. His good nature craves to confess his secret affair with Hester Prynne, yet his darker side – cowardice perhaps- stubbornly refuses. In ... ...ts stem from this eternal struggle. Nathaniel Hawthorne writes The Scarlet Letter to question sin, and Shakespeare’s Macbeth gives an alarming example of moral decay. The moods of both masterpieces are gloomy, dissecting and examining the powerful darkness of human psyche. In the end, however, goodness endures and shines through the dark clouds, offering hope and testimonies for the complexity and ambivalence of humankind. Works Cited and Consulted: Brooks, Cleanth. Blame in Macbeth. London: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1987. Chase, Richard (1996). "The Lessons of the Scarlet Letter." Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne (pp. 145-152). San Diego: Greenhaven. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: St. Martins, 1991. Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.

Recount Essay

The movie recount is a very good representation of what happened during the 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. It dives into the legal battle between the two campaigns as the recount of Florida’s votes kept the nation waiting for over a month. Although the movie shows both sides of the story, I believe the Democrats supported the making of this movie. During the movie they made it seem like the Democrats were being treated unfairly but really the government was just following the rules. Today it is still a controversial topic, I believe the government handled it the right way and that if it was to happen again, the same outcome would happen. At the end of the movie they have two quotes, one by Democrat Warren Christopher, and he said, â€Å"The world is watching. We are, after all, its last great democracy†¦.†. The other by Republican, James Baker, and he said, â€Å"People are going to say all kinds of things about this election, that it was down to 154 votes, that Bush’s brother was the governor, that the US Supreme Court gave it to us. But I want you to remember that we won every single recount. Never once did we trail Gore. And who knows how many votes we lost when the networks called Florida for Gore before the polls were closed on election night? But more important than all that is that the system worked. There were no tanks on the streets. This peaceful transfer of power in the emotional and trying of times is a testament to the strength of the Constitution and our faith in the rule of law.† I agree with both of the quotes, but the one that really should make everyone trust the government is the last two sentences of James Baker’s quote. There were no tanks on the streets and no war was started over this. Both parties respected the Constitution and how it was handled. There was plenty of things that had affect on the process, but five of the most important were, butterfly ballots, hanging chad, the Florida recount law, the Republican control of Florida, and voter discrimination. Butterfly ballots are ballot papers that have names down both sides, with a single column of punch holes in the center, which has been likened to a maze. This butterfly ballot caused confusion to many voters, and quickly after they voted many had called in saying the voted for the wrong person. The reason given for the design was that they felt the people wouldn’t be able to read the font if  they put all the candidates on the same side of the ballot. Although the set up may have been confusing it is your job as a voter to pay attention to what you are doing while voting. A hanging chad is the piece of paper left hanging from a punch-card ballot when the punch is incomplete. A bulging chad is still at tached to the hole on both sides. During the 2000 election chads were a very big deal. During the recount it was a big decision whether or not to count a vote that didn’t go all the way through even if you could tell where their intended vote was heading. In my opinion they should not count the vote if it did not go all the way through, again it is your job as a voter to make your vote obvious. The Florida Recount Law states that, the close vote margin for Florida elections is 0.5% of the total votes cast for a given office or measure. The law specifies that candidates, including candidates for retention to a judicial office, and ballot measures are all subject to recounts. Both primary and general elections are eligible for recounts. The apparent losing candidate by this margin can waive the recount if such a request is made in writing to the canvassing board. The 0.5% close vote margin at first initiates a recount of paper ballots. If the recount results in a vote margin that is less than or equal to 0.25%, a hand recount is called for. However, the hand recount is only for those ballots containing under votes or over votes, and is mandated only if the collective total of under votes and over votes is enough to alter the result of the election. As many people know Florida is usually a Republican state. During the 2000 election George W. Bush’s brother, Jeb Bush, wa s the Governor of Florida during the time and many people believed this helped him win. During the movie it seemed as if the Republicans in charge were trying to end the recount as fast as possible. Many people may look at this as cheating because the Governor was a Republican, but the truth is they wanted it to end because the Democrats were only asking Democrat sections of Florida to recount and they did not want to lose the Presidency because of a recount. I think that the Republican control of Florida didn’t affect the recount at all and that they handled it the same way a Democrat party would have if roles were reversed. Voter discrimination was and still is a very big deal in Florida. During the 2000 election in Florida wide-ranging errors and unequal resources in the election process denied countless Floridians the right to vote. The majority of these Florida voters fell most harshly on the  shoulders of African Americans. The movie showed that if you had the name similar to a felon it would not let you vote as well. This was very wrong and that could have fixed the election. Although it was all very confusing and left many Americans, and the two candidates waiti ng for over a month, it all goes back to what James Baker said, â€Å"There were no tanks on the streets. This peaceful transfer of power in the emotional and trying of times is a testament to the strength of the Constitution and our faith in the rule of law.†

Analysis Of Fences By August Wilson - 1340 Words

When most people think of the term â€Å"hero† they think of comic book characters with superpowers or role models who have estimable traits. For some, the thought of a â€Å"tragic hero† could seem remotely contradicting and perplexing. However, the Greek philosopher Aristotle defines a tragic hero as a character who, for the most part, is a benevolent person, but suffers from his or her hamartia and hubris, which ultimately leads to their downfall and recognition of their poor choices, as well as the reversal of their situation. The play Fences written by August Wilson describes the struggles and hardships of an African-American family endeavoring to live the American Dream in the 1950s. Although some may argue that the main character, Troy, is not a tragic hero, evidence in the play fortifies that he is due to his essentially good nature, his hubris and his hamartia of obstinacy, which ultimately lead to the reversal of his fortune and his tragic downfall. At first g lance, Troy may not seem like the most honest and affectionate person, but when looking deeper into his actions and reasoning, one could discern that Troy truly is a kindhearted person. Troy works as a garbage man going around and dumping out other people’s trash, which undeniably is not the most desirable, glamorous, or well-paying job a man can have. However, Troy takes whatever work he can get in order to provide for his family. When arguing with Cory, Troy states, â€Å"It’s my job. It’s my responsibility! YouShow MoreRelatedFences Analysis On Fences By August Wilson1283 Words   |  6 Pages Fences Analysis In the play â€Å"Fences† by August Wilson the play’s attitude toward women is biased, and if the play was written by a female I think it would have a stronger feminine influence. Issues such as racism and discrimination against blacks may be raised in the play that the author did not bring up, and the women in the story somewhat do generally typify women in the 1950s. To support my interpretation, the women in the play were homebodies, just worrying about the household because theyRead MoreAnalysis Of Fences By August Wilson1179 Words   |  5 PagesFences, August Wilson The close reading process for this play occurs in three stages: 1. First Read (Days 2 and Day 3): Students are not to cold read the play during this period. It is essential for their understanding that this first read comes from a fluent adult reader or (less ideally) from a recording of the play. Teachers should pre-select moments of tension or surprise when students should stop and jot their thoughts, ideas and questions about the text. The suggested cues for the openRead MoreAnalysis Of Fences By August Wilson1251 Words   |  6 PagesFences by August Wilson is a play about African American life during the 1950’s era, it reflects a transitional time where African Americans begin to stand up and fight against racism. 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Wilson mainRead MoreAnalysis Of Fences By August Wilson Essay1837 Words   |  8 PagesFences written by August Wilson, the setting reveals the man that Troy Maxson really is. The set of the play represents Troy Maxson’s character within the play where him and his family reside in a fenced in yard of Troy’s front porch, brick house. He is proud to provide a home for his family. However, Troy has not accomplished this achievement on his own. Which takes a toll on Troy when he realizes he has nothing to show for his life which leads Troy to feel ashamed of himself. The protagonist, TroyRead MoreAnalysis Of August Wilsons Fences 1800 Words   |  8 PagesAugust Wilsons â€Å"Fences† takes us on a journey that transforms the 20th century impression of a Negro Family with Insatiability, Tenderness, and Sacrifice. The famous play is an autobiography of an American Negro man who loses his dreams for the people he loves. 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Both Wilson, in Fences, and Fitzgerald, in The Great Gatsby don’t believe solely in the dreamer or solely in theRead MoreAnalysis Of Fences By August Wilson1307 Words   |  6 PagesIn 1990, after Paramount Pictures and playwright August Wilson came to a disagreement about the adaptation of his play Fences, Wilson published an Op-Ed in Spin magazine titled â€Å"I Want a Black Director.† The Spike Lee edited piece discussed what Wilson saw as the penultimate disagreement between himself and the studio, stating specifically: â€Å"At the time of my last meeting with Paramount Pictures in January 1990, a well-known, highly respected white director wanted very much to direct the film