Waiting for Superman Post

Yes, there were some problems with the film, but I loved it! I think that any movie that gets people thinking about education and caring and arguing and informing is a good one. The mere fact that this movie has gotten so much praise (and criticism) in my eyes is a very big accomplishment. There were things in this movie that I had no idea were going on in our own country. For example, the system of the lottery came to me as a complete shock. Worse, I really was unsure as to the many positives and negatives of charter schools versus public schools versus private schools. I am embarrassed to admit this being that I will be in the education field in less than one year. I found many of the statistics in the film eye-opening and it inspired me. This film gave me the sense that education can be changed and that we can end these “drop-out factories” and “lemon” teachers. I was hopeful when leaving the theater, not angry. This could be my inexperience talking, but I still think a film that leaves someone inspired to do good in the world (especially in the field of education) is one worth seeing.

Now, in regards to the Ira Shor argument, I have to say I agree on many points. I liked her article because she started by creating an ethos for herself, and I felt like I could trust her points. She is experienced, and once again she brought out points that I had not initially thought about when watching the film. I like that she agreed that the stories of the families in the movie have nothing to do with her views of the film, and I like that she said “organizing such disappointment for kids is a form of child abuse” when discussing the lottery. This, I completely agree with and this was something I felt while watching the film. Shor explains that the movie “represents mostly one model of ‘good teaching’—the talking teacher at the front of the room.” This reminded me of Freire (whom she brings up), and I completely agreed with her. The film did not focus on good teaching whatsoever, and the central focus was more about what is wrong than what is right. I did not see any different kinds of teaching going on in these charter schools, I only saw the statistics. I feel the problem could be bad teachers, yet the movie did not focus on that as much as they did the type of school. I also liked in Shor’s article the fact that she pointed out that the film did not mention the budget cuts that public schools have to deal with. This is a huge issue, and it is interesting that it was not mentioned.