Waiting for superman/ education system in united states

Waiting For Superman/ Education System in United States

Waiting for Superman/Education System in the United s The film ‘ Waiting for Superman’ is a documentary that wasmeant to address the education system in the United States of America. The film was produced by David Guggenheim. He gets to question that if teachers are the individuals in the middle of school performance, how people relate that to the fact that society has a poor view of teachers. He also begs the question about bad schools being only around the slums, and whether children or students raised and brought up in poverty could truly rise above their challenges and excel (Ravitch, p. 24). Credentials are defined as the level of education a person has attained and the documentation to prove it. Education is defined as acquisition of knowledge for the betterment of one’s thinking. The reliance on credentials has been an issue that is affecting the school systems all over the world. In the film, Guggenheim is keen to show the audience the poor credentials that are required in schools that are in desperate need of teachers. He is also brings out the fact that many at times; the choice of hiring teachers is left to principals (Ravitch, p. 27). These principals do not have the students’ interests at heart and end up hiring people with the smallest amount of knowledge used to deal with these students. These individuals have no interest in the students let alone education itself. In the film, he also describes the quality of education given to students. The education received by the impoverished students is of poor quality. This is due to some of the stereotypes that have been in place for a long time about students that come from poor neighbourhoods. The school systems involved with the allocation of teachers to schools tend to give these schools teachers with mediocre credentials. Therefore, students are not given a chance to be the best they want to be (Ravitch, p. 30). This is due to the fact that their teachers are neither caring nor responsible for the fate of these students. The issue of credentials among the teachers should be an issue addressed thoroughly. This means that all candidates aspiring to be teachers must have qualifications to teach. This is according to the film. Guggenheim suggests that a solution to all these bogus, mediocre school systems is to enrol kids in charter schools. These are primary and secondary schools that are just like any other but do not necessarily have to adhere to certain rules and regulations from the school system. These charter schools are able to get funding from public, as well as private sources, to suit their wants and needs. The funding is gotten as a result of their excellence after an academic term or year (Ravitch, p. 32). Regular public schools have obstacles that prevent them from accepting change. These obstacles include; parent teacher associations, teacher unions and school boards. Guggenheim mentions them as a hindrance to good performance in schools that follow the regulations. These rules and regulations have been put in place over the years by the national system of education (Ravitch, p. 35). He goes on to say that it is the effort made by parents that enables kids in charter schools to be where they are today. The common analogy used to define conflict theory is that people in any society get to compete for limited or scarce resources. They do this while maximising and capitalising on the share they get. From a conflict theorist’s point of view, the film has been used to privatise the education sector as a whole. Its focus on well performing chartered schools has elicited some harsh reactions from scholars that say the film is based on half truths. They claim that there are public schools that perform better than chartered schools. The issue revolving around the film is that the unions involved in the school programs are the biggest hindrances to education reforms (Ravitch, p. 37). The director of the film was wise enough to refer to schools that were performing better than some regular public schools. This was seen as a wise move on his part since not all chartered schools are recorded as having performed perfectly well (Ravitch, p. 38). The film documented that there were two organizations that would do anything to disclaim the making of the film and everything it chose to stand for. Ideas from theorists Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis claim that a school is structured much like the labour market. This is because there is the principal at the top and students much lower in the hierarchy. In conclusion, the film would be used to advocate for the proper utilisation of school resources. This is both in regular public learning institutions and charter schools. This ensures the enrichment of all those in the learning process (Ravitch, p. 45). The production of such a film has made a lot of impact on the society as a whole. It has called for changes in the education system and the way it operates. Work cited Ravitch, D. The Myth of Charter Schools. Michigan: Clarendon Press, 2010. Print.