Movie time! The fourth movie was very touching indeed, ‘Lean On Me’. It’s about how a principal (Morgan Freeman) makes changes to his school because the school is at risk of being taken over by the New Jersey state government unless students improve their test scores. Morgan Freeman was a teacher in that particular school twenty years back and he left because of some issues and the school has become worse since.
The first change that the principal did was he kicked out all those ‘bad’ students who sells drugs and has gangs. Of all the movies I watched for now, this is the worst school scenario because the teachers have no control over the students. One teacher was beaten up when he wanted to break up a fight in the school canteen. The teachers are scared of the students. For sure I wouldn’t want to be those kinds of teachers but I ask myself, what happens if I get this kind of school. Would I quit or keep trying?
Morgan Freeman portrays himself as one strict man who takes no for an answer. Clark (Morgan Freeman) does not put up with teachers who disagree with him either, especially those who do so in front of the students. It can be seen in two or three accounts in the movie. I feel it’s alright to act in that manner so that the school knows who is in charge and they shouldn’t mess around with the school principal. Eventually Clark becomes close with everyone and the students become his children.
As a future teacher to be, what I want as the end result is for the students to respect me and look upon me as a figure that they can trust. All the movies shown to us, I realise that it’s not easy being a teacher and being a principal is a double responsibility and they need to do more work than just teach the students. Principals need to ‘move’ the school higher each year so that the parents will trust the school and send their children to gain education.
Towards the end of the movie, Clark gets arrested and the next day the entire student body converges on the Central Office of the Paterson Board of Education. The students claim that Clark cares for them and has done so much good that they will not accept anyone else as their principal. Clark is freed from custody, and to good news: enough students passed the basic skills exam which results in the current administration retaining control over the school. You go principal! If every school has one Clark, I am sure extraordinary results can be produced.
The first change that the principal did was he kicked out all those ‘bad’ students who sells drugs and has gangs. Of all the movies I watched for now, this is the worst school scenario because the teachers have no control over the students. One teacher was beaten up when he wanted to break up a fight in the school canteen. The teachers are scared of the students. For sure I wouldn’t want to be those kinds of teachers but I ask myself, what happens if I get this kind of school. Would I quit or keep trying?
Morgan Freeman portrays himself as one strict man who takes no for an answer. Clark (Morgan Freeman) does not put up with teachers who disagree with him either, especially those who do so in front of the students. It can be seen in two or three accounts in the movie. I feel it’s alright to act in that manner so that the school knows who is in charge and they shouldn’t mess around with the school principal. Eventually Clark becomes close with everyone and the students become his children.
As a future teacher to be, what I want as the end result is for the students to respect me and look upon me as a figure that they can trust. All the movies shown to us, I realise that it’s not easy being a teacher and being a principal is a double responsibility and they need to do more work than just teach the students. Principals need to ‘move’ the school higher each year so that the parents will trust the school and send their children to gain education.
Towards the end of the movie, Clark gets arrested and the next day the entire student body converges on the Central Office of the Paterson Board of Education. The students claim that Clark cares for them and has done so much good that they will not accept anyone else as their principal. Clark is freed from custody, and to good news: enough students passed the basic skills exam which results in the current administration retaining control over the school. You go principal! If every school has one Clark, I am sure extraordinary results can be produced.
Yes, i totally agree with you naomi, a principal's job is not that easy compared to anyone else's. A principal has double the responsibility of a teacher. He does not only teach but he has to look after many other aspects in school. For an instance, in this movie, Morgan Freeman is asked to be the principal of this really worse school. He did not complaint a thing about this school, what he did is that he straight away found a way to slowly decrease the number of criminal cases in the school. He found the core problem in the school and he gave no chances for it to happen again. In the process of doing his duty, he faced many problems from the students and the teachers as well. Most of the teachers were annoyed by his way of doing things. And as a result many of them disliked him. But in the end, when he managed to make the school a better place, all of them understood his actions and the reason why he had to be like that. And as for me, i think he really did well as a principal who was trying his best to make a difference in the school. A lot of patience is needed in this field and i hope i can get all the patience in this world to go along with my duty to serve the students well
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ReplyDeleteYes i do agree with Naomi and nithya. As Naomi posted above, students should have the respect for the teachers and especially principal who is considered as the head of the school. Besides that, teachers should be togather with the principal to help him out in his plan to change the students as well as the school. But in that movie, the teachers themselves are getting pissed off with what the principal is doing. Perhaps his way of doing is different and harsh but at the end it was a good idea and brought some good changes among the students. I think as a teacher we should learn things like this just incase if we are trapped in situations like this. Teachers are someone trusted upon others in building up students' knowledge and level of confidence and morality. But the question is how many teachers are doing it and how many of us will do it?
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ReplyDeleteYes, being a teacher is not easy but being a principal is even harder. A principal has to handle the school's administration and the school. I feel that Mr. Clark had very good intentions for the school and his harsh method were reasonable. When in that kind of violent environment, it is important to control first then be moderate later. I think every teacher just wants to be respected by the students and to do that we as teachers have to respect them first to show example.
ReplyDeleteYes.I do agree with sharon. I like Mr. Clark's way of managing the school's administration and the school. Although he is stict and harsh, he cares about his students' needs. He spends his time counselling one of his student who is pregnant. I think teachers should be strict when come to discipline problems and be sensitive towards studens' needs~
ReplyDeleteHe did it his way!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many movies out there dealing with the problem of kids not learning anything in schools, and dropping out, ending up in a life of crime, or dead. But this movie came out at a time when these movies weren't so commonplace. Morgan Freeman plays Joe Clark, who has been recruited as principal of a once proud school, but one which has been overrun with hoodlums for years. The teachers are powerless to do anything, and the kids fall through the cracks. It’s Clark's job to restore the reputation of the school and get the kids learning again. The movie is inspirational, for sure, and the commanding presence of Morgan Freeman lends it a lot of legitimacy. The only problem I found was that it is a bit long, and a few of the songs are a bit too sappy. But that's just my opinion. It’s still a good movie. Joe Clark rocks!
Yes,i agree with naomi. I like the way he manage the school, the teacher, and also the students. He is strict in his own way. We need this kind of principal in order to improve the school performance. Even though he is busy with the school management, he still can spent time to talk and counsel some of the students. Such an inspiring movie.
ReplyDeleteEducation takes place when the mind is ready. You can read, write, add, subtract, memorize the entire penal code verbatim. This is not education. Education, beyond the act of acquiring knowledge is never ending and constant. It starts at birth and ends at death. It is here that we educate ourselves. No one person is ever educated. :)
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