Film Review - Freedom Writers free essay sample

Film Analysis Inner-city schools are suffered by multilayered structural and institutional problems. Although urban problems mainly stem from socio-political power relations rather than individuals, classroom teachers must shoulder the responsibility for making education caring for urban youth. Freedom Writers (2007), a film released in 2007, addresses the complex challenges that inner-city teachers face by acting the special pedagogy of one teacher, Erin Gruwell. Throughout the film, the main character Ms. Erin Gruwell is an exemplary teacher regardless of the complexities that surrounds the learning environment. The story discusses how students managed to survive in school with the aid of an exceptional teacher who influenced them to change and aim for success. This essay aim to define how two issues of cultural difference and racism impact upon the educational experiences, then the connection with the ideas based on Gruwell’s pedagogical practice, followed by the suggestions about how teachers can do in order to improve current education for achieving just schooling. We will write a custom essay sample on Film Review Freedom Writers or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the film of Freedom Writers, majority of the students suffers from social justice issues regarding racism and cultural diversity, which sets them apart and made them involved in serious gang wars. One of the characteristic Eva, her father was in prison because of loyalty to the gang, and she had to testify in court on a case similar to the one that sent her dad away. Marcus was kicked out of his house when he joined a gang. One boy tells the class that he has no other family, just them. The students’ resulted in low classroom performances and in fact that most they were not given properly support and attention by their families. Students are motivated from what surrounds them. When the learning environment is full of negative elements, students will lose their focus and will stop them from achieving the academic success. Ms. Gruwell in the movie was able to find ways to counter the rising educational problem. Gruwell’s revolutionary pedagogy begins when she refuses to mechanically follow the prescribed curriculum. She transforms the content of the required English readings and incorporates history into her curriculum. Based on the students’ needs and interests, she selects new readings (e. g. The Diary of Anne Frank), organizes a field trip (a visit to the Museum of Tolerance), and develops an assignment (writing a letter to Miep Gies, the Dutch woman who risked her life to hide the Frank family). Gruwell ties each activity to a coherent unit shaped around the Holocaust; such strategies allow students to build one piece of knowledge on top of another (Beane, 1997), which lead them involved high order thinking. Surprisingly, this method sparks a turnaround in her students’ attitudes. They are so inspired by the museum field trip that they become self-motivated to read the story of Anne Frank. Gruwell’s pedagogical was shift to accommodate students’ interest. Her decision to teach The Diary of Anne Frank goes against the institutional norm of a prescribed curriculum. According to Haberman (1995) states that teachers should be knowledgeable and creative enough to teach around the textbook and accommodate emerging issues generated by students. It is better to set the same high expectations for all students and to provide differentiated levels of support to ensure that all students have a fair chance to achieve them. That is a view put by many leaders in the indigenous community on behalf of their young people (National Curriculum Board, 2010). Supporting this notion, Brooks and Brooks (1999) argue that constructive teachers should have a broader concept of lesson direction that guides day-to-day instructional activities. In addition, teachers need to involve the community in the development of the curriculum, which ideally should be responsive to local also the global cultural and economic contexts, and encourage and assist students to draw on their cultural experiences to succeed academically (Gale Densmore, 2000). Teachers need to begin with whatever is familiar and comfortable to their students, whatever its source. Anne Haas Dyson (1997) argues that this is a teacher’s pedagogy of responsibility: not only being sensitive to but using diversity by acknowledging the diverse cultures present in their classrooms and helping students become aware of their cultures. In addition, Gruwell treats students as creators of knowledge instead of recipients of knowledge. Instead of having students memorize the process of professional writing mechanically (e. . , drafting, writing, editing, and publishing), Gruwell helps each become a writer, learning writing by experiencing it. This learning allows the students to take ownership of their knowledge, express their expertise, and experience a sense of ability. They can relate academic subjects intimately to real-life experiences when students write about their own lives. John Dewey’s (1938) states the progressive education is when learning start s from the student, not from an expert, the student becomes a creator of knowledge. This theory underlines the teacher’s job of discovering students’ abilities, maximizing them in the classroom context, and transforming their personal expertise into legitimate knowledge. However, seeing students as creators of knowledge requires observation ability on the part of teachers. A teacher must be able to recognize his or her students’ potential and manage their resources. In Gruwell’s teaching, her students participate in the process of building the curriculum. For example, when they finish reading The Diary of Anne Frank, Gruwell gives them an assignment to write a letter to Miep Gies. One student, knowing that Gies is alive, suggests inviting the elderly woman who lives in Europe to visit the class. Gruwell validates the suggestion and motivates the students to write their best letters to the woman. Furthermore, they collectively organize fundraising events for this venture. By helping define the curriculum, Gruwell’s students become active agents participating in democratic pedagogy. An example best illustrates how, with the right pedagogical approach, students can play a central part in their learning. The literature on democratic pedagogy emphasizes an egalitarian relationship between teacher and students. This is radical because the traditional hierarchy of knowledge, in which knowledge is transmitted from experts to teachers to students. Feminist educators (Gore 1993; Luke and Gore (1992) state the classroom as a place in which community members construct knowledge. Gruwell’s teaching using this pedagogy, because the strong classroom community and the bond between students and teacher are central to her success. Freedom Writers shows how a teacher can achieve a high level of trust and respect between teacher and students and among students. One classroom activity, the line game, helps Gruwell build a sense of community. She asks the students questions, such as how many of them bought the new Snoop Dogg album, how many of them live in the projects, and how many of them have lost friends to gang violence. The exercise reveals striking commonalities among students and forms the basis for bonding, making the classroom a safe space where they can say what they want to say. Later, students are able to share their diaries, which are filled with anguish about family evictions, domestic violence, gang violence, and false accusations of murder, which build a good teacher-student relationship. Furthermore, the importance of community is not acknowledged in traditional education. In the traditional classroom, students compete over who knows the most and whose knowledge is more akin to the teacher’s. In critical pedagogy, however, students are creators of knowledge, peers become collaborators, and the classroom is transformed into a significant space where voices emerge, are tested, and are legitimated (Cochran-Smith, 1991). Ladson-Billings (1994), a success of culturally relevant pedagogy, stresses the importance of community in constructing knowledge. Gruwell reinforces this idea through her efforts to create a familial bond that extends beyond the classroom walls. She meets her students outside of the classroom, becoming privy to their family and street lives. Activities outside of the classroom, such as field trips and fundraising events, also serve as excellent opportunities to create a community. Room 203 thus becomes another home for Gruwell and her students. The sense of community developed there reaffirms the belief that each student is a valued member of the whole. This bond is so special to the students that they work to maintain it even after graduation, fighting the administration to allow Gruwell to move up to the next grade level with them. According to Lingard, Hayes, Mills, Christie (2003) illustrate that in order to make classrooms more inviting to children, when it comes to understanding and accepting personality and culture differences among students, teachers should be effective enough has the ability to build relationships, think of activities that will enjoy and educate at the same time and provide guidance inside and outside the classroom. Gruwell’s method of teaching and interacting with students is an example of the non-authoritarian leadership described by Hooks (1994) and Ladson- Billings (1994). Gruwell gains credibility by sharing, rather than assuming, authority and, despite racial tensions, transcends her race in establishing trust with students. Gruwell gives authority on her students by trying to learn their culture, evidenced in the way that her vocabulary shifts as the movie progresses. She perfectly illustrates democratic and participatory pedagogy. In conclusion, Freedom Writers offers a model of how to exercise teacher autonomy in an era of accountability. Although much research shows that the establishment of standards harms low-income minority students and widens the achievement gap between races, Gruwell’s story proves that standards and innovative curriculum can be reconciled. Gruwell uses the standards to make her lessons stimulating and empowering. Instead of narrowing the curriculum to the standards, she broadens the curriculum to meet the standards. Gruwell exercises her autonomy through her creative approach to her classroom.