A proper education is one of the most important things in a child's life. In the powerful documentary, Waiting for Superman, directed by Davis Guggenheim, the audience is given an insight on charter, public, and private/ boarding schools. While the underlying tones of the film are leaning towards the positives of these prestigious schools, the main principle is how important an education is, and the steps the country is taking to improve it. Throughout the film, a strong pull of emotion is presented by showing the hardships of everyday families struggling for the education their kids deserve, as well as the multitude of statistics about the failing school systems in the country, and the credited charter schools, along with the people …show more content…
Seeing children from ages six to thirteen, go through the immense amount of pain they did, just from being rejected from a charter school, is in attempts to sadden the audience and inform the country that there are kids that yearn for a quality education but cannot receive it. The many reasons in certain places, a child cannot receive a proper education is due to the public schools in the area, not being up to standards. A majority of the documentary is in regards to Washington D.C., the capital of the country, using it as the prime example. Only twelve percent of students in D.C. are even average in reading, eight hundred students from ninth to tenth grade leave, and the students that remain, have a reading capability of almost two years younger than their actual age. These statistics are used as pure logic to convey the audience how many systems are failing and the need to improve them. Besides the casualties of the capital and a majority of American cities, the teachers that fail to do their duties are the reasons for students failing educations. A major reason for this, is because of the tenure that the Teachers Union provides. Teachers that are slacking, but have tenure, can rarely get fired due to the long process it takes. In fact, one in every twenty-four thousand teachers with tenure get fired. By these people being allowed to stay in the education world, the children cannot receive the education they need to succeed. It is proven these
Over the last few years public school systems have been slowly decreasing in their effectiveness, causing there to be many students, especially those whose families are struggling financially, to be left behind; while others, who have the ability to enter charter schools, are receiving a better education and are succeeding. The documentary Waiting for Superman, directed by David Guggenheim, is focused on this disheartening truth about the American Education System. Through the use of rhetorical strategies such as pathos, logos, and music, it attracts the audience to the plot and leaves them with an unsettling feeling about schooling that will hopefully cause them to want to take
The documentary presents intrinsic issues facing the child age demographic. The title of the documentary is ‘waiting for superman.’ The title in itself speaks of a sense of hope in an abstract idea that is simply imaginary in nature. The term superman is, in this context, used to describe the education system. The title of the documentary describes the high sense of hope with which children go to school. This high sense of hope is motivated by the ignorance that they harbor as to the actual dynamics of the public school system. The premise should be that no child is left behind. This is with reference to learning in the school system. This theoretical analogy is, however, very far from the actual truth on the ground. The situation is that a lot of children are left behind. An argument can be made from the documentary that all of the children in the public school
“One of the saddest days of my life was when my mother told me Superman didn’t exist... I was crying because there was no one coming with enough power to save us.” Just as many children look up to fictional characters such as Superman, parents rich or poor, look up to our school system to educate their children. However, too many of these parents are beginning to realize that proper education, like Superman, is nonexistent. In Waiting for “Superman,” Davis Guggenheim addresses the teachers union about the failing public school system in America. Through the use of ethos, anecdotes, statistics and visual and audio elements, Guggenheim attacks a problem too precious to let slip through our fingers.
Mr. Geoffrey Canada and other individual’s that are playing a key role in the reformation of America’s educational system are also used in the documentary. He highlight’s there programs that appear to be now setting the idea that the learning gap can’t be closed on fire. He once again pulls on viewers heartstrings by showing the children that attend these public charter schools succeeding and having fun in school. He fails to show the struggles that they must go through every day,
Zoe Blackburn Craig AP Lang 2 March, 2018 Waiting for Superman Film Review Waiting for Superman by Davis Guggenheim is a documentary released in 2010 that promotes the educational welfare of America’s children in public school systems that are severely broken in many ways. Just under two hours, Guggenheim relates many factual information and shines light on education. The film starts by introducing the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) act which progresses into describing the many faults of the educational system. Throughout the documentary, the film shows personal stories such as Daisy, Francisco, Geoffrey Canada, and Michelle Rhee.
Malcolm Gladwell, the author of Outliers, a novel depicting success, provides different examples of how an individual can achieve success in every chapter of his book to show his audience that success, despite a variety of barriers, is in fact in our control. A very important chapter titled, “Marita's Bargain”, explains the flaws in today’s public school systems. He shows the problems with the solutions to fix them while showing the alternatives to the regular system such as the KIPP Program in New York. The KIPP Program (Knowledge is Power Program) is a new kind of middle school that selects students from less fortunate locations and uses unique teaching strategies to turn them around into fantastic learners. In the chapter, Gladwell is extremely descriptive by using visual words to paint the picture of the South Bronx in New York City. He describes the buildings that were built in the 1960’s as squat and bleak looking. Gladwell had an interest in this subject as it involves success, however he had no prior experiences to produce the piece. Gladwell establishes personal credibility through the use of knowledge, reason, and facts and figures. He comes across very knowledgeable on the subject presenting great data with excellent vocabulary. He is able to do this with no obvious bias as well. Gladwell shows authority because he is well known for writing novels that involve success. His intention is to teach and explain how schools need to change the length of vacation breaks
As a parent, you want the best for your child in life. What would you do if their entire future was decided on one lottery that was out of your control? Waiting for Superman is a documentary that was made in 2010 and created controversy among educators and parents everywhere. The director focuses on 5 students that go through the process of trying to find a better education. In Waiting for Superman, Davis Guggenheim (the director) investigates and uncovers the downfall of American education over the years informing people the truth of what is truly going on.
Among all of the information on the United States education system, one documentary rises to a status above most others: Waiting for Superman. Released in 2010, the documentary is still relevant, and perhaps the most well-known work on the topic of education in the States. Not only does Waiting for Superman provide information and an argument for change, but its renown is proof that Waiting for Superman uses highly effective persuasive techniques and rhetorical strategies to deliver information and to push its argument for change.
The issue of education provides a battleground for political debate and social issues. Writers such as Rodriguez, Alvarez, and Diaz explore different points of views of school children and how they deal with these issues. In addition, they provide them with a voice in which many children do not have. Looking into the thought processes of the minority children, “Daughter of Invention”, “The Boy Without a Flag”, and “Oscar Wao” look into what education provides for these children.
This demonstrates that if Sam’s school had got more funding then Sam may have received a proper education, and would have learned the intellectual skills that could help him to obtain a high paying job. Unlike many other people in richer parts of America who are able to achieve a lot in life due to their education, Sam’s lack of wealth ruins his future. Another example is one that hits closer to home- in terms of educational funding, the Illinois system is corrupt, and one of the districts that suffers most is that of Chicago Public Schools. In an interview with Ryan Young from CNN and an anonymous Chicago Public School teacher over the recent strike over budget cuts and the overall lack in school funding, the teacher states, “We care about the students. We want funding for our schools so our children can have supplies… gym, art, and PE., just like the kids in the suburbs do.” This is a direct representation of what is occurring in the Chicago Public School system today as a consequence of budget cuts and unequal funding. In general, the lack of school funding gives poorer children disadvantages when it comes to supplies that can help them to thrive. Also, budget cuts weaken the capacity of schools’ to develop the intelligence and creativity of the next generation of workers. In fact,, funding cuts lessen the ability of the schools to help prepare children better for their future, such as improving teacher
In 2010, Davis Guggenheim released one of the years most talked about documentaries, Waiting for Superman. His film was an eye opening, to many, look at the failings of the U.S. school system. The film follows five students across the U.S., who range in grade level from kindergarten to eighth grade, as they try and escape the public school system through a lottery for a chance admission to a charter school. Guggenheim lays the blame for the failing public education system at the feet of the various teachers unions, and makes a plea for the public in general to get involved in reforming the system. By analyzing Waiting for Superman through a sociological perspective, issues of inequality will be explained using the theoretical approach
Waiting for "Superman" was filmed by Davis Guggenheim. It was released back in 2009. It talks about the education system in different neighborhoods around the United States of America. It also shows the corruption in the education system. This movie shows how the bad the public education is, and how many people are struggling on a daily basis to get a great education no matter the sacrifices.
After watching Waiting for Superman, I realize I haven’t given the schools I attended the credit they deserve when I have spoken of them before. I had no idea other schools in America could be failing worse than the elementary and high school I previously attended. Waiting for Superman gives a diverse view of how hard it is to actually get the free, public, education that every student is entitled to and deserving of. The documentary showcases five students along with their families trying to get into schools that guarantee them a better future. Because free, public, schools are failing the students by not giving them a proper education, these five students are left to look at private institutions with few spaces available.
Over the years people talk about how the education system in the United States is failing and how we need to change it. There is many observations people are making of why students are not being successful and how we can create a system to change that. Media shows stereotypes about teachers and students even if they do not know the education system themselves. In the movies, that are about education there is many troops used about the students,socio economic class, ethnicity and other factors. In the movie Stand and Deliver the students challenge the school system by attending and studying for an AP Calculus test when at the beginning of the movie the students were being taught a low level course of math and the school's staff did not have hope on them.
At the foundation of the American public school system is the belief that every child deserves a quality education. To this end, the public school system in America has undergone many reforms. One of which has been charter schools. Charter schools are independent public schools of choice working under the auspices of a charter and not governed by the board of education. The charter can be written by parents, teachers, school administrators, community leaders, educational businesses, etc. It determines the school’s guiding principles, management and accountability systems. The state approves the charter and provides funding for the school. Families choose these schools for their children. (“Resistance Hinders Success,” 2004)