Beware of the Kool-Aid

I used to enjoy watching movies about the struggles and flaws of the education system.  They usually offer very well told stories...  But after a few years, I've changed my opinion about movies on education.  They don't do enough.

Watching movies like "Stand and Deliver," "Lean on Me," "and "Freedom Writers," are all great films to learn about high need education and the poor conditions that educators face when they work there but they offer no continuous, long-term contribution to advocating educational reform.  Honestly, after watching any of these films, how inspired would you be to volunteer or pursue a career at a local public school?

My biggest issue with films of this nature is that they paint the picture without ever convincing anybody to do anything about the problems that exist.  For any film, the 3 biggest functions of media is to either inform, entertain, or persuade their audiences.  The movies that tell stories of educators and schools typically do not persuade viewers to do anything.  They're just entertaining stories.

Now, it seems for the first time (to me at least, because I'm young and therefore ignorant) that there's a film about to be released ("Waiting for Superman") that starts to send a message of urgency with regard to educational reform.  However, there seems to be a clear disparity in the trailer and in pre-release reviews in terms of who are the parties of interest along with the underlying message of the reform it advocates.

Though I applaud that there's a film that finally exposes the education system for its clear deficiencies, I abhor the message it sends in terms of how to pursue educational reform.  What average Americans are either complacent with or are completely ignorant of is the teacher abuse that takes place as a result of the bad ideas that the high profile individuals from the film have.  If this group of privateers, charter school advocates, and union-busting administrators get their way, the teaching profession will be flushed down the toilet along with the schools they claim to be saving.

What I also find interesting is the attitude of the film with it's American arrogance.  In the trailer, there's a moment where they point out that America is ranked behind several developed nations in comparative assessments in areas like math and science.  But rather than making a productive comparison between their successes and our failures, they seem determined that the only solution is an American one (so culture, parenting, welfare and poverty are taboo issues, as usual).  I suppose it is a difficult feeling to explain but it is a result of seeing the differences between schools in totally different international arenas.

It seems that this film is trying to play the same sort of role that films like "Food, Inc.," and "Super-size Me" have on the food industry.  However, the difference between these documentary films about food quality and "Waiting for Superman" is that the corporate interests were being exposed by the film, not creating the film.

Please keep in mind that the public school system does not have broad representation in this film so it's very difficult to take the opinions of a handful of entrepreneurs, politicians, and administrators seriously in regard to how my science classroom operates (or any classroom for that matter).

So to those who seem interested in viewing this film, beware of the Kool-Aid.