Freedom Writers

I just met with Sammi and Mack to talk about how we were going to approach our presentation tonight, and he told us that instead of watching "Freedom Writers" he watched "Freedom Riders" having mistaken that film for the one that we were supposed to watch. It was kind of awesome.

Now this film was an example of the kind of education and educators I agree with the very most, and it looks like I'm not the only one based on the reception of this film. Don't let this go to your head Benjamin, but I saw quite a few parallels between our class and Mrs. Gruwell's class in the film. In the end they wrote a collective story for change. The used stories from their life to ask for that change, and when it came down to it, it made a change even if it was just in their lives (and quite frankly that's a huge accomplishment). We were asked to address issues that were relevant in our lives and to do so using a story or medium that we were familiar with. And addressing the issues that are important to the class is one of the greatest ways to connect with them and get them to perform at their highest level. For example, this semester I was extremely pressed for time and I didn't think that I would be able to make a very good story for change, and though I was still not completely satisfied with the final product I made time for it because it was something that I cared about. Once it became relevant to me on a more personal level I dedicated more time and effort to it. If a teacher can do that for a student then I think that teacher is doing their job right.

Friere talked a lot about formal education being a system where the teacher comes in and puts information into the students brains so they can later regurgitate that information. It's entirely accurate for the majority of teachers out there. He talks about all the disadvantages to being enrolled in formal education and the fact that it puts one person in a position of authority above a much larger group of people who have thoughts to contribute. I think that sometimes the teacher needs to fill this role so that the class knows who is directing the discussion, but I like to think of the teacher as more of a director. A person that is directing where the discussion goes, what the class does, and directs their attention to bigger ideas. The teacher, rather than filling their minds, needs to open their student's minds through though provoking questions, stories, comments, and ideas. Teach the students to teach themselves because once they are out of school it's almost all they can do. Teach them to become thinkers not regurgitators. Teach them to care about what they are learning. Teach them passion in what they study. My favorite teachers all through school did these things, and though they still taught us the curriculum they asked us to challenge it and see for ourselves whether or not we agreed with it. They got us thinking about greater issues and ideas rather than simply the class curriculum. It's amazing what a good teacher can do. There was a moment in the film where Mrs. Gruwell is asking the Principal and other faculty members if she can stay with her kids and teach them through their Junior year. The faculty is against it and don't see why it's so important to her. One, after Gruwell accuses them of not even caring about the students, says that caring is not important to teach them. It's funny how often that happens in schools yet once we hear it said we understand how ridiculous it is.

If there was one thing I learned during the course of this semester from this class is to challenge ideas and to look more critically at what I am learning and why I am learning it. And that is a life skill that I plan to hold on and continue doing.