The aim of this assignment is to present an exploration and explanation of the process of transformation in and through education. This will be shown by looking at some scenes from the films, Freedom Writers and To Sir with Love. To begin with I want to consider what we understand by ‘education’
Education is an activity we all feel that we know something about, having had personal and direct experience of it. Education has become a large industry employing many hundreds of thousands of people in Britain alone. It is supposedly an important part of ensuring future economic development yet it also imposes a major financial cost. Education plays a central role in society and also in all of our lives. So education is a very complex set of activities and institutions which is not easy to define. Students know that they have to trust that sometimes, what they are doing isn’t going to affect them immediately but it will in the long run. Peters (1966) an education philosopher said:
It can be claimed that as humans, we are identified by our capacity to learn, communicate and reason. We are involved in these things throughout our lives and in all situations. From the earliest times people have learned from one and another in family and social groups.
He suggests that as society became larger scale and more complex, so systems of education became more formalised and expanded. We still learn from those around us, but the education system now also plays a large part in all of our lives. In Freedom Writers we see a situation in which education seems to be working in an opposite direction.
The philosopher John Dewey believed, ‘curriculum should be based on student’s interests and should involve them in active experiences’ . This suggests th...
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...ows there is a gap between them. You can tell that they do not appreciate each other. From looking at the body language within the internal frame, you see that Erin has taken all the space. But Brian looks as if he is rather squashed in his place. Also the space (open) it shows that she’s more open minded then the other teachers in the scene.
The last bit of the office scene, when Margaret makes her last message to Erin. She is griping on the chair, showing that she is controlling her emotions (anger) in front of the other teachers. She gives facial expressions like there is an animal inside her. The chair and she have similar colours. The chair is rigid, squared and dull. In this scene Margaret looks almost animalistic. The Cinematographer or Director are de-humanising her in order to establish a sharp contrast to the way the Erin conducts herself.
Today education has an endless amount of definitions which are correct in certain aspects of society, but most leave out the one part of education that is truly vital. That is the concept of real life experiences. The debate on what it means to be educated has been going on for centuries, yet the answer isn’t esoteric at all! The scintillating Henry David Thoreau amazed scholars of his philosophy that one simply doesn’t just go to school to be educated, but one has to experience the world in order to be prepared for it. He lived in a small house on Walden Pond and lived off of the land. He quoted “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to
In the essay This is Water, David Foster suggests that true freedom acquired through education is the ability to be adjusted, conscious and sympathetic. He uses this thesis statement in his essay and helps develop this thesis statement by using everyday examples which one would be able to relate to whilst reading this essay. He uses these examples in an attempt to make what he is trying to say much simpler, due to the fact that the point that he is trying to shed light on might not get across to all people who are reading this essay. He also uses metaphors to make it easier for the reader to relate to.
“Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.” – Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed [retrieved October 8, 2017 from https://www.goodreads.com]
Herr and Paolo Freire, author of “Pedagogy of The Oppressed” have similar mindsets and writing techniques. Throughout Herr’s entire piece, he expresses his feelings towards college education in today’s society. As we all know, he does not approve of it. So, it is necessarily true that Herr thinks everyone should experience his time while he was in college with professor Ayoub. Like Stephen Herr, he is not the only one who disapproves of education today, Paolo Freire does as
In our education system, a professor will be given lecture for hours to hundreds of students in some large universities with expectation to increase their knowledge. At the end of the day, some of them will drop, some will finish their major with a low GPA, and others will graduate with a good grade, but a few knowledges remain in their memories. As a matter of fact, some people can be holding their PhD without be able to help their children at home with a basic homework in physics. The education system teaches them how to learn. Nowadays, we even have classes to learn how to learn strategies; as a result, our students become often as product “prisoners” of our education system because in the education system that transfer knowledge, students learn to a score good grade. If we assume that students who work just for grade are prisoners in Plato’s metaphor, their teachers and parents are prisoners as well. In the school system, some teachers don’t have any love for their career or for their students; therefore, students are going to dislike the study and work just for passing grade because of lack of dialogue between students and teachers. This issue is well emphasis when “The underlying assumption of dialogue is that knowledge is not a finished product, but is rather shaped in praxis out of a context-dependent partnership
Education provides unique experiences to everyone. These experiences are not depended on the individual’s personal backgrounds or social statuses. According to Jane Thompson, a scholar in education, the process of education can either be a restriction on creativity or a “practice of freedom.” In Willy Russell’s Educating Rita, the protagonist’s experience through the Open University is a practice of freedom as she is provided with the opportunities to express her thoughts and discover her own limits. There is an internal struggle within Rita as the new environment threatens to erase her past life. Rita is able to maintain her practice of freedom through the help of Frank, whom provides her with a welcoming and encouraging learning environment.
In a place of extreme torment, this teacher is capable of bringing a light of faith in her students and from her determination she is able to show that is worthwhile to make a difference. Now days education is only about standardized testing and teaching a curriculum, rather than becoming a role model to students and change their perspectives of life. Therefore this movie teaches the enormous value and impact that a teacher can have in someone 's life and encourages teachers to exceed the limits and make education meaningful for students. In addition, the film inspires to pursuit a better future. It demonstrates that there is always hope to achieve big dreams and overcome the impossibilities. Finally, freedom writers teaches the humanitarian lesson of helping those who suffered, and being the change that they need to see. It is about becoming a hero everyday in the simplest moments of
White, J. (1982). The aims of education restated (pp. 121-2). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Experience and Education portrays John Dewey’s critical analysis of the traditional and progressive education system. He believed that people, no matter their age, did not have an empty mind, waiting to be filled with the knowledge schools offered. Alternatively, he pushed a method of learning where students organized information based on facts by expanding on previous knowledge; such a situation implies that teachers must create an environment as to foster such an experience. Thus, the challenge they face was due to a lack of a strong philosophy of experience in their approach to education.
Dewey's educational theories were presented in his book ‘Democracy and Education’ (1916). Dewey’s thesis is that “education and learning are social and interactive processes, and thus the school itself is a social institution through which social reform can and should take place” (Field, 2001. p.3). In addition, he believed that students bloom in an environment where they are allowed to experience and interact with the curriculum, and where all
To conclude: Through these characters, conflicts and film techniques, Richard La Gravenese has clearly portrayed that education, is vital to unlock opportunities, break stereotypical perceptions, overcome certain obstacles and find fulfillment. He plainly underlines that a person’s ethnic background, financial situation and personal or familial obligations should not determine the level of education received or the resources given for educational usage. In many ways the film and story of The Freedom Writers recognises, analyses and conveys how various concerns frequently supersede the strong need for an acquirement of education.
Before one can go on and explore deeper into education as an institution it would be best to understand what, in fact,
Education is a vital part of society. It serves the beneficial purpose of educating our children and getting them ready to be productive adults in today's society. But, the social institution of education is not without its problems. Continual efforts to modify and improve the system need to be made, if we are to reap the highest benefits that education has to offer to our children and our society as a whole.
Education: a priceless and powerful commodity. The human race has attempted to understand the role of education and how we digest information for centuries. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle devoted much of their lives to analyzing the foundations of education and how to teach subsequent generations. Socrates attempted to find the true meaning of education through a constant attempt to discover the truth in all aspects of life. Plato, on the other hand, viewed education as a way to attain the perfect society, hoping that educating the youth would improve future generations. Believing that education was necessary for intellectual virtue, Aristotle sought out a well-rounded education that created a balanced human being. Unfortunately, education
Even today people struggle to wrap their minds around the idea of education outside the walls of a classroom and school. However, Dewey is not trying to rid the world of the mold of a school, rather he is simply trying to change the way we look at how we learn and by doing so chance the way we teach. For the teache...