Freedom writers
Gaining Respect In The Classroom
A main theme throughout Freedom Writers has to do with Ms. Gruwell's efforts to gain respect from her students. Coming from all different backgrounds and belonging to all different gangs, Ms. Gruwell comes to learn that her students have a hard time trusting and respecting anyone new. This leads to an extremely hostile start between teacher and students that Ms. Gruwell eventually begins to dissolve by putting in mass amounts of effort to really understand her students.
school of rock
Cultivating community in the classroom
In School of Rock, Dewey Finn takes a job as a substitute teacher at a private elementary school. With no prior teaching experience, Dewey veers from the traditional curriculum and teaches his students the only way he knows how: through music. He assigns each of his students a specific responsibility in their class band. Mr. Finn finds commonalities amongst his students and incorporates them into his curriculum to create a strong sense of classroom community.
to sir, with love
connecting with students
To Sir, With Love is a film that portrays themes of creating and benefiting from meaningful connections in the classroom. Mr. Thackeray, an engineer graduate struggling to find work, accepts a job at a London high school where most of the student body is labeled "troubled" and "entitled" to their educations. During his first few days on the job, he is bullied and tormented by his students. In an effort to create a more productive learning environment, Mr. Thackeray gets his students involved by connecting with them on a personal level . By the end of the film, the students are grateful for the time and energy that he brought to the class.