At first glance the schools that Mr. Escalante and Ms. Watson teach at look very different, but with a closer look we see their similarities. Mr. Escalante teaches in the 1980‘s in a very impoverished high school in the Las Angeles area that has a large population of hispanic students. The families are working class and have little education. There parents hope that they will finish high school, but have no expectation of their students will continue on to college. While the school that Ms. Watson teaches at in the 1950‘s is a very prestigious all women’s college on the east coast. The students at her college are from families with a good deal of money and whose parents are also college graduates. Though the girls the girls receive good grades and it is expected that they will graduate from college, the end goal is that the girls will marry, have kids and be housewives.
The similarities are that in the first scenes the students in both schools are disrespectful and unruly. The welcome that both teachers receive from their fellow employers is very standoffish and both teachers deal with a culture of low expectation for the students as for as how well and how far their students will go in their pursuit of education and careers.
No comments:
Post a Comment