Thursday, October 21, 2010
Calling Superman... or any other comic book hero
Perhaps one of the most talked about movies dealing with education and the issues that accompanies it is the recently released Waiting for Superman. I don't know if anyone has seen it (I believe it's released in metro areas this Friday) but wondered what everyone's thoughts are on the topics dealt with in the movie. From the various reviews and articles I've read about the movie, it boils down to the essential issue of urban schools are doing a poor job of educating students, and charter schools are a good remedy for that. It also contends that teacher unions are slow moving behemoths that are only concerned with the status quo and protecting teachers, when they should be protecting students and advocating for them. We have a nice cross section of teachers in this class: what's everyone think? If you're lucky enough to live in a large area where the movie is
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Charter schools are not the answer. I agree urban schools are suffering, but charter schools are only a small step above them. I taught there for a couple of years and the longer I was there the worse I realized they were. I do not know a good solution to this problem, but am very interested in seeing the movie.
ReplyDeleteI have seen some of the stories and previews on this movie as well. I am interested to see what it's all about. One thing that is nearly for sure is that it's going to create a big stir about how poor our public education system is. Actually, even in prerelease, I think it already has. All I know is that I guess I better get used to it, but I'm kind of tired of being lumped into the failing school, lazy, protected, greedy teacher category. I don't teach at a failing school (and our school is as poor as they come) and I think I work pretty hard at what I do.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've seen this movie is definitely stirring up some controversy. It's probably needed controversy in some areas. However, in what little I've seen in previews, it paints a pretty bad picture of public education. I think most of us in these classes would probably say it's no where near as bad as they make it seem. I'm sure in those high poverty areas that students aren't getting the education they should and it definitely needs and could change. But, when I hear the statement from one of the superintendents on whether she thinks students are getting a good education and she says, "no." I say yes. I think the schools that we work for and our surrounding areas provide students with sound educations. So, to put all public schools in that light is bad for education and good for charter schools. I wish the movie (and this may be true since I haven't seen it, but I doubt it) would portray the public schools that are getting the job done, too.
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