Jan. 17, 2008 - schools on film
I just saw the independent film Chalk. It was okay. At first it seemed realistic - the teachers struggling to control a class who doesn't care and prefers to sing and dance than to do the history lessons, a vice-principal breaking up a fight, etc. Then it just became a regular teacher movie where we are supposed to think it is funny that teachers can fall in love. But what I think was most interesting is that the new teacher who could not control his class started to earn thier respect by learning slang and rap songs and acting more like teens. I know as a former teacher that getting to know your students is great for classroom management and hopefully motivating them to do their classwork but now that I've looked into and started homeschooling I think too much of school is about pop culture. Schools become a social scene for kids and academics are secondary. The message in this movie is that teachers can only survive by becoming like teenagers. Reality is that teens will have to one day be in the real world. The real world is a lot kinder than high school and real world challenges are very different than the social conflicts and classroom dramas at school. I just think it is sad that we think pop culture is so worthy whereas many homeschool teenagers adapt better to the real world and accept responsibility at a much younger age. At least that's what I've read about and seen first hand.
Comments
Jan. 27, 2008 - amen.
Posted by Eunice
Wonderful thoughts! We have been homeschooling for about 11 years now and now that our eldest is 17 I can tell you that what you said is very much on the money.
Being cool is not the most important thing. The children have little value of name brands, etc.... . It's amazing to see the difference, but it carries over in to so many areas.
Thanx!
