Define the roles

Mr. Escalante played many roles in the movie. He was a mentor, ally, friend and therapist. He was placed in a very difficult position with rebellious students and a lacking institution. The students did not care for this authoritative position and had no motivation whatsoever. As an ally, Mr. Escalante slowly engaged with his students and learned how to teach to them. As a mentor, he pushed them past their expected limitations. The faculty, parents and even their own selves did not expect themselves to be able to pass the exam for college credit. Along the way, there were doubts and uncertainty within the students, however as a friend, Mr. Escalante helped them through their obstacles to keep them going for the exam. As a therapist, Mr. Escalante noticed that the parents is one obstacle that is hard to navigate through. However, he got involved in his student's personal life and convinced the parents that their children have the ability to further their educational career. On the other side, Mr. Escalante's students were very hard to rude to him in the beginning, however they slowly gained respect for him and motivated themselves to learn. Thanks to Mr. Escalante's contribution and dedication to his student's lives, his students successfully passed the calculus test.

Ms. Watson played similar roles as Mr. Escalante. From what we saw from the movie, she was a mentor, ally and friend. Ms. Watson accepted her role as an art history instructor in a very prestigious school. The community and college was under the control of traditions and strict rules placed by the wealthy families and faculty. Because of this, the college and students were stuck in the mindset of "the right way of doing this." This mindset did not call for creative thinking whatsoever. As a mentor, Ms. Watson decided to break this chain and began teaching her students that art is subjective. There is no right way of art, it is simply abstract. She may not have been seen as an ally in the beginning, however she started opening the eyes of students by making them decide for themselves. As a friend, she motivated one of her students to pursue law and get married. Because of the roles Ms. Watson played, the faculty questioned her teaching style.

Jack MacFarland played similar roles as Ms. Watson and Mr. Escalante. He was a mentor, ally and friend. He was placed in vocational education, where students lacked motivation for learning and furthering their career. As a mentor, he organized a structured curriculum and a number of mixed material. He held reading quizzes ever so often and had his students read interesting books. Not only did he teach about literature but a combination of some history and other subjects to allow his students to absorb the lesson more efficiently. As an ally and friend, Mr. MacFarland helped Rose through his hardest time, which was his father's death. He helped Rose get into college to further his academic career.

Sister MPH played a much different role compared to the other three instructors. She played as a strict disciplinarian and perhaps a mentor as well. Rewards and punishments were a big part of her curriculum. She allowed her "good" students to read aloud to the class and sit in the front. Her "bad" students were placed in the back and did not get opportunities to read out loud. She also accused Lorde of having her parents help with the assignment and reported it to her parents. Luckily, the problem was resolved with Lorde's father insisting that Lorde did her own assignment. In a way, Sister MPH could have played the role as a mentor because the reward-punishment curriculum she had motivated Lorde to do better in her studies. Before, Lorde was not able to distinguish numbers but she had to learn them, if she wished to be classified as a "good" student.