The sign of a great teacher is the effects that they have on a student’s life. Sure they can teach them all about math and science, history and politics, all of which are useful for getting into college, but what is the real value of that knowledge. Anyone could stand in front of some students and shove knowledge down their intellectual throats, the greatest teachers however play a vital role in their lives beyond that. The most important role a teacher could play is that of a liberator. To illustrate this point let me tell you of two teachers that I think exemplify this role, Mr. Escalante and Mr. Keeting.
Before we get into the effect that Mr. Escalante and Mr. Keeting had on their students, let’s talk about what a liberator is. This is a very fluid role that can take many different paths. The main goal however is to break the societal controls on students and imbue creativity and desire. Let’s face it, our entire country, not just the education system, is ran by the few. They have created a system in which men and women are, as Freire says, “adaptable, manageable beings” (1). The education system is where the molding begins. Freire, an influential theorist of critical pedagogy, believes that the system is set up in such a way that “the more students work at storing the deposits entrusted to them, the less they develop the critical consciousness that would result from their intervention in the world” (1). This statement is referring to the banking method of teaching that Freire espouses, in which students memorize the knowledge without understanding it. Freire, as well as the other two teachers, could be considered a liberator because they all wish to break the students away from the chains of societal expectations and show them that they are capable of thinking for themselves (i.e. they liberate them).
When I first saw Mr. Escalante it was as he drove to his new job at Garfield High school. The neighborhood he drove through was seedy, broken down, and graffiti was abundant. The school was a reflection of the neighborhood with a little bit of theft and fecal matter thrown in. The staff were worried about losing their accreditation due to funding issues. The students looked like a group of delinquents and did nothing to dissuade this fact as they were quite unruly and disrespectful. Mr. Escalante was not swayed by their behavior and answered in kind by insulting the tough kids who subsequently left.
The next day Mr. Escalante showed up in what appeared to be butchers attire with some apples which he used to teach the kids about fractions. This unorthodox method was the start of Mr. Escalante’s role as a liberator. In fact he tells them that “There will be no free rides, no excuses. You already have two strikes against you: your name and your complexion” (2). I believe this is where he laid the foundation by telling them where they stood and where he wanted to take them. Of course it didn’t help that the rest of the faculty agreed with that outlook which was demonstrated by a conversation Mr. Escalante had with another teacher in which he told him “It's not that they're stupid, it's just that they don't know anything, Senor Molina” (2).
Mr. Escalante may have started with fractions but that’s not where it ends. He eventually gets the students up to the level of calculus. He was able to do this because he gave the kids what he called “Ganas” which is basically desire. He took them all to some sort of scientific research company and he even intervened in their private lives when they strayed which all led up to them being able to take the AP calculus test. “Students will rise to the level of expectations” (2), that is what Mr. Escalante said and that is exactly the reason I think of him as a liberator. Those students would have been stuck in the almost caste like status that society had put them in if not for Mr. Escalante liberating them from it.
Mr. Keeting is even more of a liberator than Mr. Escalante was. His tale is one that is purely about rebelling from the social expectations that are placed on certain portions of society. Unlike Garfield high school, Weston Prep is a school for the privileged few. It is an all male school with high levels of expectations. Almost all of the students that attend the school are basically leading the lives that their parents want for them. They show us the desire to do something else but the control that their parents have is too much to even consider not doing as told. Mr. Keeting changed all that.
He started out small by taking the class out of the classroom, which by the looks of the students is simply unheard of. He took them to a trophy room with pictures of past students and proceeded to tell the current students that life will one day end. He then started to dramatically whisper carpe diem, carpe diem, seize the day boys. This is the beginning of a journey of epic proportions.
Soon after that scene Mr. Keeting demonstrated what he stands for by simply standing on his desk. Following which he invited his students to do the same and said “Thank you for playing Mr. Dalton. I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way” (3). This statement is the defining words of Mr. Keeting’s message. The action to match those words however is not standing on a desk. The action takes place in the courtyard where he tells his students to march to the sound of their own drum. No matter what others may think.
Similar to Mr. Escalante’s experience, the faculty at Weston Prep is not exactly in line with Mr. Keeting’s views. After Mr. Keeting told his students to rip out the intro to a book of poetry, which reduces poetry to impassionate math by the way, the headmaster displayed displeasure in the direction of Mr. Keeting’s teaching. He responded to a conversation with the headmaster with “We're not talking artists, George, we're talking freethinkers” (3).
The most important message that Mr. Keeting gives to his students is “Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation." Don't be resigned to that. Break out! Break out now is the time!” (3). in the end Mr. Keeting succeeds in liberating some of his students and was fired for it. What he did for those students will remain with them for their entire lives though so it was worth it.
The role of a liberator is the most important role a teacher could have. In every society there are certain portions of society that have more control over the way things are run than others. These people like what they have set up and do not want it to be taken away. To ensure that it cannot happen they have established a society where conformity is to be applauded. College, high paying job, big house with a white picket fence and all the other things that we are taught to desire are the ways in which we are controlled. A teacher with the ability to liberate their students instill in them creativity and individualism so that they can make their own choices. That is why they are so important.
1. Freire, Paolo. Pedogogy of the Oppressed. City: Continuum, 1970. Print.
2. Stand and Deliver. Dir. Ramon Menendez. Perf. Edward James Olmos, Estelle Harris. American Playhouse, 1988. DVD.
3. Dead Poets Society. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke. Touchstone Pictures, 1989. DVD.
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