Lions for Lambs

This week our class finished the video "Lions for Lambs". The film had a few different plot lines going on, but in the end, their stories finally intertwined. The plot line that I, as a future teacher, was most interested in was the one that involved a college professor and his young, bright, but unmotivated student. Throughout the student and teacher's conversation, many big ideas about what it really means to be a teacher came about. The student made a comment about the career of a teacher and stated, "Those who can't, teach." In defense, the professor explained to him that was definitely not the case, and offered an alternative answer. He explained that his life didn't lead him to teaching, that is just came to be that way. In any case, he explained that teaching was about recognizing someone else's potential, and pushing them in the right direction, and helping them to become the most successful. Although his answer is very valid and very true, there are many questions to be asked. Who decides what is successful? Doesn't everyone have potential? Who gets to be the ultimate judge over who gets a nudge to succeed? The teacher realizes in their conversation that even his ideas about teaching are not concrete. He talks about how his political science class inspired two students to join the army and fight in the War in Iraq. He was outraged and upset, but they thought that it was the right thing to do, and in their eyes, success. How far do you push a student? In order to challenge them and to work for true understanding, must you push students into the danger zone, or just let them coast through? Teaching is a process that continues to have its challenges everyday, and not everyone has the answers, the knowledge, or the reasons as to why the education system works the way it does. I can only hope that I can be able to push my students and provide them the opportunities that they deserve.

Here, you can check out a trailer for the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_V6ulwA0KE