Movie Review

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EDU 646 CURRENT ISSUE IN EDUCATION 1

Movie Review: Beyond the Blackboard (2011)

Summary
When Stacey Bess gets her first teaching job, she‟s shocked. It‟s not at all what she
expected. Stacey (played by Emily Van Camp) is assigned to something called The School
with No Name, a space in a homeless shelter that‟s supposed to be a classroom. The
children are all ages, many from broken families, thrown together in a “classroom” lacking
essentials like desks and books. Stacey must tackle her own fears and insecurities as she
works to gain the attention and respect of her young students. Using compassion and
determination she takes on both nervous school board officials (Timothy Busfield and
Treat Williams) and apprehensive parents. Eventually she transforms the barren space into
a warm, comfortable environment where the children not only acquire knowledge, but also
self-respect and a measure of dignity. Stacey Bess is an award-winning educator with great
insight into the hearts of children in need. This movie storied about how a junior teacher
that just graduated faced the students that never experiencing real learning process before.
Besides, the room she is given as a classroom has none of the proper amenities, but is more
a rat-infested trap than anything, and her repeated calls to the powers that be go
unanswered. Stacey Bess faced challenges with the lack of classroom equipment and
facility such as books, tables, classroom building and others that give hard time for Stacey
Bess proceed with the learning process. With a bundle of courage form her husband, Greg
and children, Stacey Bess takes pain continue her responsibility of teaching even though it
was hard for the first time as a teacher.
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She believes that love and kindness the way to most effectively teach children any
subject is to treat them. Community around the nation has discovered the treasure of
Stacey Bess and the magic she works with children. Bess began her teaching career at the
school with no name located inside the Salt Lake City shelter where she taught math,
reading and self-worth to homeless and transient children. Ever since she can remember
Stacey has aspired to be a teacher. It was her dream. She always did well in school to the
point of it becoming a haven from a home-life that was anything but happy. Years later,
her decisions led to her quitting high school and struggling to finish her education. Eight
years later at twenty-four, Stacey (Emily Van Camp) is a mother and married to her high
school sweetheart, Greg (Steve Talley). Juggling a personal life, she has finally achieved
her degree and now wants a teaching position with the New Mexico public school district.
Even though she is hired, she is given a job teaching the homeless children that no one else
cares about. Excited about her dream being realized, Stacey did not expect what she got.
Being shoved off a on “shelter school,” the directions she was given to her new
employment seem to lead to nowhere leaving Stacy overwhelmed and maybe even a bit
prejudiced towards the people when she arrives to find that the shelter director has no time
for her, the temporary she is replacing merely recommends playing movies and the parents
do not take an active interest in their children‟s education.
Determined to make things work, Stacey uses some of her long-suffering gumption
as she continues to devote much of her time to her class of twenty hurting but clever
students. Pouring her own money and time into resources, Stacey eventually makes it into
something resembling a school room - a better learning environment but in order to make it
complete she must get the superintendent (Treat Williams) to take notice of the work she is
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doing and the progress “her kids” have made. By the end of her first term she was
discouraged and often distraught by the circumstances facing the children who were so
easy to love, but whose lives were so insecure. Often she wanted to give up, but decided
the children deserved her best efforts. While working at the school with no name, Bess
chronicled the heart-wrenching stories of her students so she would never forget how far
these children had come.
A heartbreaking, tender story demonstrating some of the small ways a person can
make a big difference in other‟s lives, Beyond the Blackboard is a wonderful, inspirational
(true) story that teaches a form of mutual respect and I had recommend anyone try to watch
it especially teachers or educator.

The Learning Approach
According to Pestalozzi, every individual had the ability to learn and the right to an
education. Based on my review, the approach that has been used by Stacey Bess is Johann
Heinrich Pestalozzi theory. Pestalozzi sought to develop school that, like loving family
which is will nurture children‟s development. Pestalozzi believed that education should
develop the powers of „Head‟, „Heart‟ and „Hands‟. He believed that this would help create
individuals who are capable of knowing what is right and what is wrong and of acting
according to this knowledge. Thus the well-being of every individual could be improved
and each individual could become a responsible citizen. He believed that empowering and
ennobling every individual in this way was the only way to improve society and bring
peace and security to the world.
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Pestalozzi agreed with other theorist, Rousseau that human are naturally good but
were spoiled by a corrupt society. It had been showed in this film when all children were
come from negative background families that require them into social problem such as
smoking. As an example, student such as Maria, really interested to learn and gain
knowledge but stunted because of her father problem. She cannot learn it until Miss Stacey
Bess come teach to the shelter house.
Furthermore, Pestalozzi believed that school, if properly organized, could become
centers of effective learning. From the film, as we can see at first of teaching session
happen, the shelter house was lack of classroom equipment such as books, chairs, tables
and the class is too messy. As a teacher, Miss Stacey had a problem to start the learning
process. However, she not give up but try other opportunity to make sure the class run
smoothly which is she start the class with a test to grade the students level because in her
class, she have many students from different levels of studies.
He was especially dedicated to children who were poor, hungry and socially or
psychologically handicapped. For example, if children were hungry, Pestalozzi fed them
before he attempted to teach them, if they were frightened, he comforted them. For him, a
teacher was not only skilled in instructional method but also capable of loving all children.
In fact, Pestalozzi believed that love of humankind was necessary for successful teaching.
Pestalozzi‟s approach has had massive influence on education, for example, his
influence, as well as his relevance to education today, is clear in the importance now put
on:
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 The interests and needs of the child
 A child-centered rather than teacher-centered approach to teaching
 Active rather than passive participation in the learning experience
 The freedom of the child based on his or her natural development balanced with the
self-discipline to function well as an individual and in society
 The child having direct experience of the world and the use of natural objects in
teaching
 The use of the senses in training pupils in observation and judgment
 Cooperation between the school and the home and between parents and teachers
 The importance of an all-round education – an education of the head, the heart and
the hands, but which is led by the heart
 The use of systemized subjects of instruction, which are also carefully graduated and
illustrated
 Learning which is cross-curricular and includes a varied school life
 Education which puts emphasis on how things are taught as well as what is taught
 Authority based on love, not fear
 Teacher training
Based on the approach above, we can see Miss Stacey applied most of the
approach. (1) The interests and needs of the child: Miss Stacey fulfills her student‟s need
and interest by giving them breakfast and so on.

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SOCIAL CONTEXT IN EDUCATION
Children in the United States come from a variety of family situations, income strata, and
cultural backgrounds. As a result, U.S Nation‟s schools are faced with unique challenges
as they strive to provide equal educational opportunities to all students.
(1) Factors such as family income, family structure, and parents‟ education have
been shown to influence a child‟s educational opportunities. Today, of the 4 million babies
born each year, nearly one out of eight is born to a teenage mother, one out of four to a
mother with less than a high school education, almost one out of three to a mother who
lives in poverty, and one out of four to an unmarried mother.
(2) These conditions have been shown to be associated with children experiencing
problems such as repeating a grade, requiring special education services, and being
suspended and dropping out of school.
(3) Students from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds and low income families are
more at risk for poor school outcomes and are becoming an increasing share of the student
population.
(4) Since the mid-1960s, studies have linked the educational disadvantage of
minority students to a combination of out-of-school factors, many of which center on
family characteristics, such as poverty and parents‟ education.
(5) The data contained in this report highlight similar findings. Changes over time
in the composition of students in terms of factors such as student English language
proficiency, family income, parents‟ education, and family structure affect the social
context of education. In the essay that follows, associations between these student-level
social factors and different indicators of educational access and progress are reviewed. For
each student background factor, the essay will point out how these factors have changed
for families and children over time, as well as how they affect various racial/ethnic groups.
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The social context of schooling is also a function of how students with various
characteristics are distributed across schools. The last half of this essay examines
differences in school climate and human and financial resources in high and low poverty
schools. The data on these factors reflect changing conditions that schools must confront in
order to be effective. In order to provide equal educational opportunity, policymakers must
be aware of differences in the background of students, as well as differences in the climate
and resources of schools.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Classroom management refers to the wide variety of skills and techniques that teachers
use to keep students organized, orderly, focused, attentive, on task, and academically productive
during a class. When classroom-management strategies are executed effectively, teachers
minimize the behaviors that impede learning for both individual students and groups of students,
while maximizing the behaviors that facilitate or enhance learning. Generally speaking, effective
teachers tend to display strong classroom-management skills, while the hallmark of the
inexperienced or less effective teacher is a disorderly classroom filled with students who are not
working or paying attention.
According to Moskowitz & Hayman (1976), once a teacher loses control of their classroom,
it becomes increasingly more difficult for them to regain that control. Classroom management is
closely linked to issues of motivation and respect.
a) TECHNIQUE
Preventative approaches to classroom management involve creating a positive classroom
community with mutual respect between teacher and student. Miss Stacey used the
preventative approach offer warmth, acceptance, and support unconditionally - not based
on a student‟s behavior. Fair rules and consequences are established and students are given
frequent and consistent feedback regarding their behavior. The techniques also involve the
strategic use of praise and rewards to inform students about their behavior rather than as a
means of controlling student behavior. In order to use rewards to inform students about
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their behavior, teachers must emphasize the value of the behavior that is rewarded and also
explain to students the specific skills they demonstrated to earn the reward. As an example,
Miss Stacey understands how students in the shelter school were raised by their parents, so
she is cautious on each words she spoken out to avoid misunderstanding. Besides, even
though there is a naughty students in the class that able to influence others but she never
punished him on his bad action but she just reward for those that being in good manner. At
the end, the naughty boy was trained to be a leader for the rest.

b) CLASSROOM SEATING ARRANGEMENT
Studies have reported that seating arrangements impact the learning process.
Students occupying the front rows are more attentive that those in the back. The students in
front are the ones who generally answer questions asked in class.
Classroom arrangement; from a students‟ point of view, symbolizes their personality.
Often, the diligent, focused students occupy the front rows, in order not to miss out any
vital information whereas the laid back, more casual students opt for the back benches to
avoid being noticed by the educators.
Some students prefer sitting near doors and windows as it provides them with
sufficient distractions to escape the monotony of lessons taught. Pranks, whispering,
passing of notes, doodling, etc. is frequent among students who generally sit in the back.
Therefore, seating arrangements may be a cause for the decline of student
performance as attention span, concentration, comprehension and the retaining of
information can be influenced by where the student chooses to sit. In the Beyond the
Blackboard film, the teacher at the first used cluster style of seating arrangement. It is
because of lack of facilities such as chairs and tables. This style was more on discussion
type. The cluster arrangement is effective for cooperative or collaborative work, where a
small group of student worked independently of the rest of the class but the students within
the group interact frequently with one another. Then, Miss Stacey used row seating style in
order to make easier for her to monitor her students.
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COMPARISON BETWEEN AMERICA AND MALAYSIA EDUCATION SYSTEM

There is another difference between Malaysian and American education system,
which is the existence of tuition culture. In Malaysia, tuition means supplementary
academic coaching (Eduweb Technology, n.d.). Children as young as seven were sent to
tuition classes after their school hours. Students attend tuition classes on their own and pay
for the profit-oriented tutoring service. Typically, students are taught what have been
taught in schools and they learn twice (Ganesan, 2010). Teaching techniques in tuition
classes are geared towards helping pupils do well in the national exams such as UPSR,
PMR, SPM and STPM. In tuition classes, the tutors teach and give exercise based on exam
format and the sole purpose of meeting the exam requirement instead of teaching real
knowledge. Students go outside and seek tuition classes because of their and their parents‟
general opinions towards public schools in Malaysia that deemed them to be low standards
in teaching. Students who are busy attending tuition classes tend to neglect their co-
curricular activities. This is not encouraged as co-curricular activities help develop
discipline, leadership and team-building skills which are important interpersonal skills.
Many students in Malaysia are rushed to tuition class once they get off schools
without any proper rest. This might cause the students unable to focus in tuition classes.
Some students that are not doing well in their exams are forced to attend tuition by their
parents, and this can cause the students to feel pressured when they are not improving after
they went to tuition classes. In America, tuition is what people pay to a college or a
university. Students do not attend tuition but “afterschool activities”, that are organized
program which invites youth to participate outside of the traditional school hours
(Mahoney, Parente, and Zigler, 2009).




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