Stand and Deliver Media Analysis - Inez Escandon

[Pages:10]RUNNINGHEAD:STANDANDDELIVERMEDIAANALYSIS

StandandDeliverMediaAnalysis InezEscand?n,MichelleHarwood UniversityofTexasatSanAntonio

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StandandDeliverMediaAnalysis

StandandDeliverisa1988filmbasedonatruestoryofateacherwholeaves

hissteadyjobtoteachmathtoagroupofHispanicstudentsinafailingEastLos

Angelesschool.Theteacher,JaimeEscalante,taughtthemsowellthatall18ofhis

studentspassedtheAPcalculusexam.Althoughthemovieisadramatizationand

notcompletelyaccurate,ithasbeenaninspirationforteachersandstudentsallover

theUnitedStates.Itprovidessomeevidencethatregardlessofsocialfactors,

schooling,andcurrentideologiesanystudentcanlearnandhaveapromisingfuture

aslongastheyhave"ganas."Eventhoughthestudentsovercamethesefactors,it

wasnoteasyfortheyarerepresentedaslargehindrancesinthefilm.

SocialFactors

Race,gender,andsocialclassarethreedifferentsocialfactorsthatare

representedinthemovieashandicapsforthestudents.Inregardstorace,Jaime

Escalantetellsthestudentsthattheyalreadyhavetwostrikesagainstthem:their

skincolorandtheirlastname.Mr.Escalantementionsthatmanypeoplewillassume

thattheyknowlessthantheydobecauseofthesetwostrikes.Thisseemedtohave

litafireinhisstudents.Althoughitisunfair,theyknewinordertosucceedthey

weregoingtohavetoworktwiceashard.Theylistenedanddidsoallbecausethey

knewitwaspossible.Mr.EscalantewasasuccessfulHispanicmalethatshowed

proofthatitwaspossibletosucceedevenwiththosetwostrikesagainstthem.He

becameapositiverolemodelforhisstudents.NotonlywasMr.Escalantea

successfulHispanicprofessional,buthealsowasaproudHispanicmale.He

embracedhisculture.HewasnotashamedtospeakSpanishorpronouncehisname

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withthecorrectSpanishaccent.Heprovedtohisstudentsthattheydidnotneedto "actwhite"tobesuccessful.Theycanbeproudoftheirraceandstillbesuccessful. Inaddition,Mr.Escalanteembracedthecultureofthestudentsandtaughtusing theirslang.Hereferredtohimselfas"ElCyclonefromBolivia"andoccasionally usedwordslike"ganas","?rale",and"burros"whileteaching.Heevenrepresented theirculturewithintheirunitofstudy.Inthefilm,Mr.Escalantementionedthat theirMayanancestorsweretheoneswhofirstcontemplatedtheideaofthezero.In doingsohehelpedvalidatestudents'culture,whichisalsoahugepartoftheir identity.Byvalidatingastudent'sidentity,Mr.Escalantehelpedincreaseself- esteem.AlthoughMr.Escalantemadehugestrideswithhistechniquestoovercome thesocialfactorofrace,hestillhadtoconsiderotherspresentaswell.

WomenoftheHispanicraceareportrayedtohaveanadditionalimpediment becauseoftheirgender.Inthefilm,astudentnamedAnitawasbeingforcedtodrop outofschoolbecauseofherfather'sexpectations.TraditionalHispanicmen,like Anita'sfather,believethatHispanicwomenareexpectedtostayhome,be housewives,andproducechildren.Althoughshewasanextremelybrightstudent, herfatherhadlowexpectationsofherandexpectedhertodropoutofschool,get pregnant,andworkatthefamilyrestaurantlikehersistersdid.Hispanicwomen areexpectedtobelesscompetentthan,compliantto,anddependentonaman, whichisnotwhatAnitawantedforherself.Claudia,anotherstudentinthefilm, facedthesamestruggle.Whileaskinghermotherifshecouldsignupforadditional classeswithMr.Escalante,hermotherquestionedhermotives.Claudia'smother statedthatmendidn'tlikewomenthatweretoosmartreinforcingtheideathat

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womenaresupposedtobelesscompetentthanaman.However,onceClaudia mentionedthatshewantedtobeindependent,hermomsignedthewaiver.These femalestudentswereabletoperseverebecauseMr.Escalantegavethemthe confidencethattheycoulddoit.Hemotivatedthewomenbyjokinglystatingthatif theydon'ttryhard,theywillendup"barefoot,pregnant,andinthekitchen."He showedthesestudentsthathelookedoutfortheirbestinterestregardlessofrace orgender.

Unfortunatelytheirraceandgenderweren'ttheonlysocialfactorsthatwere impedingtheirsuccess.JaimeEscalante'sstudentswereofallfromlowsocio- economichomeswhoallsubsequentlywenttoalow-achievingschoolinEastLos Angeles.Inthebeginningofthefilm,themathdepartmenttalksaboutthepossible lossofaccreditationtheschoolisfacingifstudentscontinuetofail.Studentsaresaid tobecomingtoGarfieldHighSchool"withbarelyaseventhgradeeducation."There isnoarguingthatthepreviousschoolsattendedhaveobviouslyfailedthese studentsmiserably.However,whydidmostteachersatGarfieldHighSchoolchoose togiveuponthesestudentstoo?Teachersclaimed"youcan'tteachlogarithmsto illiterates,"andthatthe,"kidscan'thandlecalculus."Theseteachersalsofailedthe studentsbynotbelievingintheirfullpotential.Mr.Escalantesaidinthefilm, "studentswillrisetothelevelofexpectation."Yetteachersstillcomplainedstating thatresourceswereunavailableandteacherswerenotskilledortrainedtoteachto anAPexam.Manyteachersinthemathdepartmentweren'tevenqualifiedtoteach math.Thequalityoftheschoolandteacherhasadirecteffectonstudents' performance.

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However,evenwithaskilledteacherlikeMr.Escalante,studentsstillhad moreissuestoovercomebecauseoftheirclass.OnefemalestudentnamedLupe wasshowntakingcareofhersiblingsuntillateatnightuntilhermothergothome fromworkinthefilm.AnotherstudentnamedAngelportraysayoungstudent associatedwithagangwhowantstolearninthefilmshowsanotherobstacle.Gangs canbeextremelydetrimentaltoastudent'ssuccessinschoolandare disproportionallylocatedinlowsocio-economicneighborhoods.Manystudentsare pressuredtojoingangsforprotectioninthesedangerousneighborhoods.Students soonseethatschoolisnotseenasaprioritywithinthegangcommunity.Angel wantedtolearnbutwasafraidwhathisfriendswouldsayiftheysawhimcarrying booksaround.Mr.Escalantewasunderstandingandevenofferedtogivehimthree books:oneforhislocker,class,andhouse.ThroughMr.Escalante'sclass,Angel eventuallygainedenoughconfidenceandcouragetoleavehisgangfriendstofocus onhisstudies.

Sadly,evenwhenthestudentsarefinallyqualifiedtobepartofthesystem, theystillmaynotbeacceptedbecauseoftheirclass.Whenlow-achievingschools suchasGarfieldHighSchoolhaveasuspiciousamountofhigh-testscores,the reliabilityanddependabilityarequestioned.Althoughitwaspossibleforall18 studentstopasstheAPcalculusexamlikeonthefilm,theoddswerestackedagainst them.Byquestioningtheintegrityoftheirexam,theytrampledonthestudent'sself esteemandmadethemlosefaithintheverysystemtheytriedsohardtobeapart of.Althoughtheschoolmaynothavebeensupportive,thesestudentswereluckyto

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haveMr.EscalanteasateacherforhehelpedthempersevereandpasstheAP

calculusexamasecondtime.

Schooling

AlthoughsomesuccessfulschoolingcanbeseeninMr.Escalante'sclassroom,

themajoritypresentinGarfieldHighSchoolwasdetrimental.Thisfilmrepresents

theideaofschoolinginmanyways.Itcanbeviewedthroughtheactualschoolitself,

theclassroom,theteacher,andthestudents.Theschoolasawholeisportrayedasa

placewherestudentsdonotwanttobeorcareabout.Severaltimesinthefilm

studentsareshowndisrespectingschoolpropertyandofficials.Thecampusis

rundownandcoveredingraffiti.Studentsareshownparticipatingininappropriate

behavior,suchasfighting,smoking,andpublicdisplayofaffection.Itseemsasifthe

schoolisaplacethestudentsareforcedtoattend.Thebasicmissionoftheschool

seemstobetokeepthestudentsunderenoughcontroltomakethrougheachday

andthenthestudentsleavetonotbethoughtaboutagainuntilthenextschoolday.

Thestudentsdefinitelydonotrespecttheideaofschoolorlearning.Thestaff

membersdonotcareaboutthestudentsandhavetheopinionthatnoneofthemcan

exceedmoretheminimalexpectations.Someteachersfeelthatifthestudentsare

challengedtheywillfailandwhatlittleself-esteemthestudentshavewillbe

shattered.

Theclassroomisfirstportrayedasawildenvironmentwithnoauthority

figure.Studentsareyellingacrosstheroom,throwingpaper,fighting,anddonot

showanyrespectforauthority.WhenMr.Escalanteenterstheroomforthefirst

time,thestudentsshowhimlittlerespect.Thestudentshavetheattitudethatno

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otherteacherhasevercaredaboutthemorrespectedthemsowhywouldthis teacherbeanydifferent.

Mr.Escalantequicklyshowsthestudentsthatheisdifferent.Heshowsa personalinterestineachofthestudentsandusesreallifeapplicationstoexplain mathintermsthestudentscanunderstand.Heusesteachingmethodsthatgetthe studentsinvolvedintheirownlearningandmakelearningfun.Heexplainstothe studentsthebenefitofhavinganeducationandisveryfrankaboutwhattheir futureswillbelikewithoutone.EventhoughMr.Escalanteisverycaringand concernedaboutthestudents'wellbeing,hedoesnotacceptanyexcusesfornot beinginclassornotcompletingwork.Heisextremelystrictwithstudentsbecause thesearethesameexpectationsstudentsmustfaceintherealworldandhemakes thestudentsawareofthis.

ThestudentsquicklychangetheirattitudetowardsMr.Escalantealone. Thentheclassroommorphsintoaplaceofrespectwherelearningisvalued.The studentsbegintoworktogetherandsupporteachother.Theyalsolearnthe importanceofeducationandwhatitcandofortheirfuture,sotheyvaluelearning andarewillingtodowhateverittakestobesuccessful.Thestudentsevenattend classduringthesummer,onweekends,andafterhours.Theyarewillingtosign contractsagreeingtomeetextremelyhighexpectations.Thestudentspersevere throughtheextremelychallengingmathprogramdevelopedbyMr.Escalanteeven whentheyarefacedwithdifficultcircumstancesintheirhomelife.

Certaincharacterslivesarelookedatmorecloselysotheviewercan understandthetypesofcircumstancesthesestudentsfaceonadailybasis.For

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example,thecharacterAnaisbeingforcedtoquitschooltoworkatherfather's

restaurantasawaitress.ThecharacterPanchoisthinkingofquittingschoolto

workforisuncle'scargaragebecausehecanmakehourlywagesandearnovertime

forworkingweekends.AnothercharacterLupeisresponsibleforcaringforher

severalyoungersiblingswhilehermotherworksthedayshiftandherfatherworks

thenightshift.ThecharacterAngel,caresforhissickgrandmotherandispressured

bygangmemberstonotcareaboutschool.Throughallthevariousconflict,each

studentadherestothestrictmathprogramandhasavisionofsuccess.Most

noticeably,allstudentsareportrayedasindividualswhowillrisetoany

expectationsnomatterthechallengeordifficulty.

DominantIdeologiesoftheFilm

Theportrayalofschoolingpreviouslydiscussedtellsmuchabouthowthe

creatorofthefilmandoursocietyfeelsaboutmainstreampubliceducationinour

country.Oneideologyaboutschoolingisthatstudentscomingfrompoorand

minoritybackgroundswillneveramounttoanythingmorethantheirparentsso

whybother.Thisideaisshownthroughoutthemovie.Staffmembersbelievethat

studentsshouldnotbetaughtanythingmorethanthebasicsbecausetheycouldnot

handleanytypeofchallenge.Teachersdonotfeelthereisanywaytoenable

studentstopasstestingmeasuresthatwillkeeptheschoolfromlosingits

accreditation.Parentsthinkthebestplacefortheirstudentsisintheworkplace

makingalivingnotworkingtowardsaneducationtobettertheirlives.Eventhe

studentsattimesmakecommentsabouthowtheywillneverbeanythingmorethan

hourlyemployeessowhyeventrytopursueahighereducation.

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