Teacher in freedom writers movie#

When asked how she came about having her students pick up journal writing, Gruwell answered, “When my syllabus came back at me in the form of a paper airplane with the comment, ‘Why do we have to read books written by dead white guys in tights?’ I wanted to teach my students the universality of storytelling. Gruwell gave an interview to PBS SoCal who did a documentary, Freedom Writers: Stories from the Heart, about her teaching methodology and her Freedom Writers Foundation, which provides curriculum and training to teachers across the United States.

Students came to feel as if they were being heard and gained valuable self-knowledge and inner strength. The teaching methods Gruwell developed effectively addressed some core issues, such as trauma. Many of them have experienced trauma, which affects their ability to be present, to concentrate, and much more. There are a variety of challenges when it comes to reaching low-income students. I never met a teacher who did not spend significant amounts of money on classroom supplies. I bought my students journals on sale during the summer for classroom notes and many other items. My experience has been that most, probably all, teachers dip into their own funds.

Teacher in freedom writers movie#

The movie did not give the impression that teachers, other than Gruwell, dip into their own funds. Frustrated, drained, at times exhausted yes, but I held on to the moments I was able to connect to those students who were receptive or became receptive to learning. One of my gigs was as a long-term substitute in Long Beach Unified in 2000 in a school rougher than Wilson.

Just because I have never met a teacher that resembles the two portrayed in Freedom Writers, doesn’t mean that they don’t exist but to infer that all teachers except for the lead character are biased against low-income students is careless storytelling at best. Ryan Fan’s article The True History Behind ‘Freedom Writers’ quotes teachers from Gruwell’s four-year tenure at Wilson High School, “Drama teacher at Wilson, Randy Bowden, said that the story falsely implied that ‘no one cared about kids until she arrived and that he hadn’t heard a racist statement for 35 years since she came to the school.”įan notes, “Some see the movie as inspirational, but others see it as a white savior movie that implies that all inner-city kids need is a white savior teacher who can change their lives.” Influencing public attitudesĪ 2016 article in the Journal of Ethics and Mental Health says, “Film is an influential medium for shaping public attitudes… consequently, stereotypes presented in film have a lasting impact on audience members.” If you are going to represent a profession, you should make an effort to accurately represent its different facets. When you portray real-life institutions, you have a higher standard than completely made-up ones. Two out of two teachers, 100% of teachers (other than the lead character Erin Gruwell), are portrayed in Freedom Writers as racist and elitist. With a movie you only have room for so many characters. We’ve all heard, “The customer is always right.” Lately, it’s become, “The teacher is always wrong.” Characterizations of teachers in films such as Freedom Writers do not help.

Through her foundation, Erin Gruwell has taken great strides in making high school English curriculum relevant and effective. Gruwell stepped out of the classroom and started her foundation and speakers bureau after those four years. It is highly unusual for a teacher to have the same students for English classes all four years of high school, yet Gruwell did. Freedom Writers portrays the four years brand new teacher Erin Gruwell taught English at Long Beach, California’s Wilson High School. How teachers are characterized in the 2007 movie Freedom Writers makes me jump out of my skin.