In Davis Guggenheim’s documentary Waiting for Superman, he exposes mainly a one-sided argument against teachers unions, by stating the unions are a “menace and an impediment to reform.” His documentary explores the tragic ways in which the American public education system is failing the nation's children, and explores the roles that charter schools and education reformers could play in offering hope for the future. Statistics show our nation’s student dropout rates, diminishing science scores, math scores, and schools closing due to lack of funding, but numbers fail to represent the names and faces of the children whose entire futures are at stake due to the inability to enact change. Bianca, Emily, Anthony, Daisy, and Francisco are five students who deserve a better opportunity in education. By investigating how the current system is actually obstructing their education instead of bolstering it, Guggenheim opens the door to considering possible options for transformation and improvement. Guggenheim uses certain cinematic elements like interviews and cartoons, to influence an emotional response from the viewers and manipulate their opinion for the argument against its portrayal of unions.
A short clip of a Milwaukee high school classroom displays students playing games, sleeping, and teachers lounging at their desks reading newspapers. The response in Howard Fuller interview displays the aggravation, disappointment, and ferocity against the actions of these teachers. Fuller fired those teachers but then forced “to rehire them with a year’s back-pay because of a provision in the teachers' contract called “tenure””, a specification by teacher unions. (Tenure is a status granted to an employee indicating that the position o...
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...eems like a strange game to me” and Kamras responds without a comment but just a smudge look on his face.
Guggenheim’s cunning technique of using certain cinematic elements like interviews and cartoons, to influence an emotional response, from the viewers, manipulates their opinion in the argument against unions. The overall reaction leaves the viewers appalled by the education system and yearning to make changes by raising the standards for teachers, education, and the entire system. The beaming light of hope at the end of the tunnel may be small but is in existence and will grow when more people stand up for higher requirements for education, lower dropout rates, “removing the barriers to change” and schools generating more students prepared for college.
Works Cited
Waiting for Superman. Dir. Davis Guggenheim. Geoffrey Canada. Paramount Picture, 2010. Film.
Guggenheim uses those and other devices to inspire action within the masses, and highlight a topic that has been recently shrouded by other problems our nation faces today. He also places blame upon the ‘system’ itself, many reasons add to this conclusion such as refusal to make change, with tenure being the central idea that cripples education.
Teacher Unions are one source of controversy in Education because of how it seems that Teacher Unions have allowed poor performing teachers to remain. In “The Teacher Wars”, it articulates, “Teacher Union movement was (and remains today) a pragmatic, even sometimes
Education is one of the most widely debated issues of our country in this current day and age. Many people feel as though schooling is biased and unfair to certain students; meanwhile, others feel as though the schooling systems are not serious enough in order to properly educate students to prepare them for their futures. The three texts that will be discussed, are all well written controversial essays that use a great deal of rhetorical appeals which help readers relate to the topics being discussed. In the essay “School,” Mori manages to specify her views on how different modern education is in America as to Japan; meanwhile, in “A Talk to Teachers,” Baldwin presents his argument as to how all children, no matter
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Teacher tenure is a highly debatable topic- Should it be kept or banned forever in all schools? However, there is clearly only one explanation to this problem: We simply cannot continue with teacher tenure. It has passed it’s expiration date
The nation’s capital has a problematic history with public school education. Washington D.C. public schools have been consistently ranked as having the “lowest graduation rate” in the United States for years (Brown). To address this problem, the District has started making critical reforms. Due to Washington D.C.’s long-term negligence of public education, charter schools emerged in the city in 1996 (Pardo 11). Since their start, charter schools have become a more popular option for D.C. parents looking for better results than public schools (Cane 9). But is it appropriate for charter schools to dominate the education scene in Washington D.C., while other traditional public schools still struggle? This research paper will investigate the background and success of the D.C. charter school movement as well as ongoing debate about the role charters play in the public education system.
Erin Gruwell began her teaching career at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California where the school is integrated but it’s not working. Mrs. Gruwell is teaching a class fill with at-risk teenagers that are not interested in learning. But she makes not give up, instead she inspires her students to take an interest in their education and planning for their future as she assigned materials that can relate to their lives. This film has observed many social issues and connected to one of the sociological perspective, conflict theory. Freedom Writers have been constructed in a way that it promotes an idea of how the community where the student lives, represented as a racially acceptable society. The film upholds strong stereotypes of
The superintendent and principal are stymied in their efforts to reach a compromise as Mrs. Durnitz refuses to change her position that the policy must be followed to the letter. She appealed to the teachers’ association for support when it appeared that the administration and board might not uphold her position. The local newspap...
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The purpose of Michael Moore’s article is to focus upon the different insights of a society and to point out all of its flaws. As a college dropout himself, he blames the education system and tells the readers about its loopholes. He blames the ills of America on it being represented by ignorant high ranking officers and blames the people for electing ignorant presidents who keep bragging about everything and end up looking stupid. On the other hand, Gatto who was a teacher for almost three decades claims the students as well as the teachers were equally bored at the s...
Fischer, L., Schimmel, D., & Stellman, L. (2007). Teachers and the law (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.