What makes
a person successful? There are numerous factors that lead to success, including
formal education. Teachers play a very big role in this part of students'
lives. Depending on their relationship in the classroom, it could positively or
negatively impact the students' path to success. There are a number of roles
that a teacher can be however, the role of a mentor is the most important. Mr.
Escalante and Ms. Watson were great models that played the crucial role of
mentor in their students' lives.
In the
movie, Stand and Deliver, Mr. Escalante was a newly hired math teacher at
Garfield High School. The school lacked funding, authority, security and
control. As a result, students were rebellious and had no respect for authority
whatsoever. In one scene, the students rigged the bell timing, which caused the
bell to ring earlier than the usual time. In another scene, two boys walked in
Mr. Escalante's class late. The way the boys walked in class and their tone
toward Mr. Escalate was disrespectful. Due to the situation at Garfield High
School, the faculty, community and even the students had very low expectations.
When Mr. Escalante arrived at Garfield High School, he noticed that his
students lacked the motivation and determination needed to success. However
throughout the movie, Mr. Escalante plays the role of a mentor and slowly
changed each one of his students' lives.
On the
other side of the spectrum, in Mona Lisa Smile, the movie centers an art
history teacher named Ms. Watson at Wellesley College, a very prestigious and
luxurious school compared to Garfield High School. Wellesley was an all-girls
school filled with women from highly wealthy and well-respected families. The
Wellesley college and community was surrounded by strict rules and traditions.
The purpose of women attending Wellesley was to prepare them for marriage,
children and family. Ms. Watson was an independent woman who represented
individualism and choice, which was frowned upon. Any change in rules or
tradition was deemed unacceptable. For example, a nurse at Wellesley handed out
contraceptives to the students. One of the students reported this incident in
the school paper and, as a result, the school board decided to fire the nurse. As
a mentor, Ms. Watson challenged the authority and changed the lives of her
students.
One of the
characteristics that enabled Mr. Escalante and Ms. Watson to become good
mentors is their determination. Starting with Mr. Escalante, he showed his
determination of many occasions. The faculty and parent's expectations of Mr.
Escalante's students were low. Out of everyone in the movie, Mr. Escalante was
the only one who believed in his students and, for this reason, he was
determined to demonstrate the capabilities of his students by teaching them calculus.
To help prepare his students for the advanced placement calculus exam, he held
late and early classes, as well as summer classes. The faculty was against the
summer program because most of the classrooms were reserved for remedial
classes. As a result, Mr. Escalante held his summer classes in a room similar
to a locker room, with no air-conditioning and limited space. To show the
degree of Mr. Escalante's determination, he offered class during break, offered
out-of-school tutoring and taught English at night for free. During this time,
his wife claimed that he was not home enough to teach his own son math. By
mentally and physically draining his own body, he suffered from a heart attack.
After a few days in the hospital, Mr. Escalante checked himself out of the
hospital and continued to prepare his students for the exam.
Ms.
Watson's determination also made her a positive example as a mentor. During her
first day of class, she was completely shut down by her students. Ms. Watson's
formal education was looked down upon because she previously went to a state
university. Her students memorized the syllabus and quoted the textbook
word-for-word, when Ms. Watson attempted to explain various artworks. However,
she did not let this phase her. Instead, she became determined to gain control
back in her classroom to teach art history. The next day, she created a whole
new syllabus and stunned her entire class. During this process, she gained
authority back in her own classroom and showed that wealth, social rank and
marriage obligations did not have positive effects on their grades. There were
no special treatment for any of the students in Ms. Watson's class. The women
were furious with Ms. Watson however, after every class, they slowly started
respecting her.
Mr.
Escalante and Ms. Watson shared a second characteristic that made them both
positive examples for fulfilling the role of mentor. This characteristic is
their ability to teach beyond a classroom setting and into real-life
situations. Mr. Escalante not only taught calculus, but he taught real-life
lessons as well. In the beginning of Stand and Deliver, the faculty and parents
did not have much expectations from their students. Mr. Escalante believed in
his students and pushed them beyond anyone's expected limitations. Not only did
Mr. Escalante shown his determination, but he passed it on to his students. He
taught his students to believe in themselves and strive for success, despite
what anyone else thought. He also taught them to push themselves beyond their
limitations. One has to push one's self to better themselves. Lastly, he taught
his students to be independent. There was one scene where one of the girls were
asking their mother to sign a permission form for the calculus class. The
mother quoted, "Men don't like women who are smart." The daughter
replies, "I don't want to depend on a man for the rest of my life." Mr.
Escalante changed the lives of his students by giving them motivation,
emphasizing their determination, encouraging their self-confidence, embracing
their independence and challenging their limitations.
Ms. Watson
was an independent woman who wanted to make a difference in the world. The
purpose of Wellesley was to prepare women to become housewives to accommodate
their husband and future children. She wanted to show her students that there
was more to life than marriage, kids and a family. One of her students, Joan,
wanted to go to law school however, she thought it to be distant dream. Ms.
Watson encouraged her to apply to Yale and become a lawyer while having a
family. Joan got accepted to Yale however, declined the offer because she
wanted to become housewife instead. Wellesley is a very elegant school
surrounded by traditions and rules. In the college and community, there is a
right way to everything. A right way to teach, a right way to think, a right
way of art and etc. Ms. Watson taught the women to free their mind from the
strict rules and traditions and think for themselves. The faculty was not fond
of Ms. Watson's teaching style and questioned her educational plan. As the
movie progressed, Ms. Watson was accused of "challenging the roles the
women were born to do" (Mona Lisa Smile) by one of her students. Ms.
Watson had no intention of disrupting the "role of women," she just
simply wanted to show her students that they had choices. Towards the end, Ms.
Watson was invited to teach another year at Wellesley under strict conditions.
However, she declined the offer the decided to go elsewhere because she did not
want to conform to Wellesley's traditions. At the very end, Ms. Watson's
students looked at Ms. Watson as a good role model and mentor.
Teachers
play a very crucial role in their students' lives. They assist in playing the
important part of guiding their students to success. There are number of roles
available for teachers to choose, however mentor is the most important role.
Mr. Escalante and Ms. Watson are great examples of teachers that played this
important role. Both teachers were placed in very difficult positions with
extreme conditions however, both had the characteristics of a mentor that won
the respect of their students. Mr. Escalante and Ms. Watson both possessed the
determination to make difference in their students' lives. In addition to
teaching the subject they were assigned to teach, they taught lessons that had
real life applications. Through their hard work of fulfilling the role of
mentor, both instructors successfully made a positive impact on their students'
lives.
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