The Theme Of Education In The Film 'Waiting For Superman'

Many children will be born in poor regions and low income areas around the world and may not ever be presented with the opportunity for a decent education. Sherman Alexie brings this fact to the reader’s attention on a personal level in his short story “Superman and Me”. This story follows a young Indian boy into his struggle of illiteracy and acceptance from his peers and friends. Alexie was able to focus the reader’s attention and convey much of his feelings into his written words because the story was about him and his own personal experiences. “Superman and Me” projects a message to the reader, that when faced with adversity, and when all odds are against you, willpower and determination can overcome even the toughest of obstacles.

Firefighters, Police officers, and soldiers are all of our heroes today, but the heroes that children are lacking in today’s society are teachers. In the documentary Waiting for Superman, it does a great job of showing many of the flaws in today’s education system. In Waiting for Superman, The music and audio features provide a humorous tone and also, at times, a more serious tone. Ethos is established throughout the Waiting for Superman documentary by having experienced teachers and presidents of well known educational companies give their thought on what needs to happen with the schooling system in the United States. The experts in this topic talked about how many of the public schools in the United States are considered to be dropout factories, which is where more than forty percent of the enrolled students drop out. This means more kids sitting on the street with no jobs or education. Furthermore, crime rates will go up, as well as the poverty level because the children can not get a well paying job. It is made known in Waiting for Superman, that the good schools are very expensive and only have limited spots available. To get into these schools, there are often raffles in which you enter for a chance to get in. This method is unfair because there is no guarantee you will get chosen, therefore you may end up getting a worse education than what you know you can receive.

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

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

“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.

In Waiting For Superman, director Davis Guggenheim wants the American people to become aware of the education crisis taking place in the country so they can realize that drastic change is needed. The Music and visuals play a fundamental role in presenting the severity of the problem with education in America. Thirty minutes into the video, a cartoon is shown to portray how contrasting views and regulations do not truly allow an educator to do their job. The cartoon design is innocent and there is calm, soothing music in the background. The music and cartoon visual choice are meant to mimic how Americans handicap themselves with unnecessary rules, when in reality, it should be as smooth as the short cartoon. In addition, later in the video,

Countless children across the United States have the opportunity to go to school, whether it be a public school or a private school. However, many children, specifically in african american communities, do not have the opportunity to receive a proper education. They are simply thrown into a school because the state requires it, but what they do not require is an appropriate teacher. Throughout his documentary, Waiting for Superman, Guggenheim utilizes emotional appeal (pathos), the logic (logos) of his argument, and tone to convey the obvious fact that african americans in low-income communities are not provided with the necessary means to success.

When the word school is mentioned, often, we first think about students and teachers. These two groups roughly describe the educational system. This assignment will focus on teachers as stakeholders in public school districts.

In Waiting for Superman, David Guggenheim’s documentary about America's school systems, he asks a multitude of very important questions that many people have been asking for a while now. Such as the question of if our teachers are essential to the well performance of a school, how can we, the everyday people, resolve poor performance within the school systems with an oftentimes uncritical view of teachers? In addition to that it raises the question on whether bad schools only exist in slums or other places as well. It also brings up the question can children excel in school if they are brought up in poverty.

The documentary Waiting for Superman uses several rhetorical strategies and appeals in order to effectively get its purpose across to the audience. The purpose of the documentary is to persuade people that public schools must be changed drastically for the better. Which would ensure that a multitude of students, if not all students, would be given better chances to succeed in life at the correct and required academic levels. This message is efficaciously relayed to the audience, which is comprised of anyone who is part of the school system, whether that be parents, students, principals, superintendents, presidents, or anyone else who can and is willing to make an effective change to the school system. The message delivered in the film is very

Imagine being denied a basic education solely because your parents do not have a steady income, or being denied a basic education simply because you do not live in a place with access to a quality public school. For many, the lack of a satisfactory education is something that is not an issue, but one would be surprised to see how prevalent this problem actually is. The film, Waiting for Superman highlights the many issues that are indeed obvious when examining the United States’ education system. The film centers around failing schools in mainly urban areas where the problems seem to be the most abundant, but it does not deny the fact that these many problems do exist everywhere throughout the country. Director Davis Guggenheim generates, in the movie Waiting for Superman, the claim that our education system is failing, and highlights the idea that although there are some solutions that have shown effective there is still more that needs to be done. Guggenheim formulates his claim through his use of a shocking, sometimes sad tone as well as an effective narrative structure throughout the film.

She kept insisting to do things the non-Bolivian way and her mother continuously explained to Andrea that’s not the way she was raised. “Why did I have an American flag next to my Bolivian one? My mother instilled Bolivian values in me…” (Roman 256) she included both flags indicating that she doesn’t want to fail her mother and forget the Bolivian culture.

“I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles”, Superman. (“Quotes Said by Superman” np) Waiting For Superman encompasses the extensive struggle with the corruption of the public school system, challenging parents’ opinion on the education their children are receiving. As the narrator exposes the fraud in public schools, by interviewing children affected by it, the audience is persuaded to consolidate on not just wanting the best for their children, but all American children. Because of the sentimental use of pathos and the continual use of the sweeping generalization fallacy, Waiting For Superman is able to appeal to parents without questioning the quality of charter school education, and instilling distrust in public education by uncovering the copious amounts of fraud in the system, thus creating the Superman figure these children desperately need.

Once again, this practical choice affects our overall view of the finished film: this is a modern classroom, with large windows that open out onto the world. The messages of the classroom that the film sends to us – the classroom as a luminous space, the classroom as a space that both interacts with and protects from the wider world, are determined by practical, technical considerations that ultimately effect our entire reading of the meaning of the film.

Sherman Alexie, in the essay, “Superman and Me”, argues that as a minority, he was at a disadvantage in the education system and struggled to find footing. The author supports his argument by illustrating his early childhood life and educational struggles in detail. Alexie’s purpose is to alert teachers of the troubles that minorities go through, so that society inserts equity into the education system.