lunes, 3 de septiembre de 2007

End of the term assigment

Movie scene

Movie: Ron Clark`s story

Starring: Mathew Perry, Brandon Smith

Brief Sypnosis

Mr Clark, a primary teacher from North Carolina, moves to New York to start teaching at a primary school which has kids with serious behavioral problems. throughout the movie Mr Clark will struggle against the educational system and he will do his best to help children overcome their family problems as well as improve at school.

Scene

Shameiks Wallace is one of the most intelligent students in the class. She is really bright , however, she cannot cope with her school assigments because she has take care of her little siblings. one day Mr Clark gives her an essay to write. After that day Shameika starts being absent at school. So Mr Clark decides to go to her place to see what is happening to her. when he gets there Shameika explains him that she cannot do her homework because she has to look after her siblings. She also tells him that she has decided to drop out as she feels she cannot cope with so much responsability. Mr Clark feels really sorry for her and decides to help her with her the housechores so that she could finish her essay. When Shameika`s mother arrives she feels really upset to see that Mr Clark is taking her of her family and asks him to leave.

Analysis

1- is this decision a human act?
2- is it a good decision?
3-What options were there available? what might they imply?

1- I believe that Mr Clark `s decision is a human act. it complies with the conditions an act must meet in order to be regarded as such in the field od Ethics.

* he is capable of reasoning.i.e. he can make sensible judgements. therefore he can assume and understand the consequences of what he is doing.
* he is not insane. So his act can perfectly be analysed from a moral point of view.
* there is consciousness is his act. that is to say, he is aware of what he is doing.
* he acts freely. I mean, he is free to make a decision. therefore he is not restrainded to do what he considers to be good for Shameika

2- The decision is considered to be morally good as it follows the three requirements a human act must gather in order to be considered it that way.

the action is good in itself: it follows the Ethics Universals of kindship and reciprocity. it assists and cares for others . In fact, Mr Clark`s decision is intended to benefit Shameika. As regards reciprocity, I think Mr Clark will also receive some rewards. I mean , he is challenging himself and if his students improve , he will have achieved his main goal.
it is also good intended. Mr Clark knows Shameika has great potential and he wants to help her exploit it.the only inconvenient is that maybe the circumnstances were not the most adequate ones. the fact that Mr Clark goes to Shameika`s house and gets in charge of the cooking doesn`t seem to be right, though. I mean his intentions are good but the means are not the most accurate ones.

3- Mr Clark could have talked to Shameika`s mother first and let her know about the situation. In that way Mr Clark would have helped Shameika without skipping her mother`s role.

6 comentarios:

Gladys Baya dijo...

What a fascinating story, Lucía! Thanks for letting me know about it...

I meant to ask you: when you describe Shameiks Wallace as "one of the most intelligent students in the class... really bright", whose criteria are you applying? It's interesting to think of how we teachers resort to these labels once and again, practically without realising, and the influences they might have on our student's learning and self-perception...

Something else: when you discuss reciprocity, you state that "I think Mr Clark will also receive some rewards...he is challenging himself and if his students improve , he will have achieved his main goal." Are you suggesting that reciprocal actions necessarily involve achieving a benefit for the doer then? Does that mean yo ubelieve altruism can never lead to morally good actions?

Not sure I'm getting you here... perhaps you can help me understand you a little better in this case?

Thanks in advance,
Gladys

PS: just wondering. If Mr Clark had been your colleague, and had asked for your advice, would you have supported theidea of his taking over Shameik's household chores?

lulilaiaka dijo...

When I say that Shameika is a very intelligent student I really mean it. In fact, all the students are good at sth. There are some sts who are very good at Maths, others at drawing , others at sports. In the case of Shameika she is excellent at Language. And In my opinion all sts have some skills and the fact that some sts are better than others at certain subjects does not mean that the ones who are not so skillful at certain topics cannot do it or they are daft.

lulilaiaka dijo...

when I discuss reciprocity I mean to say that Mr Clark`s main goal was to help this children to learn. he knew that they could rally make it and he focused on that. However, he himself had some achievement , may be the right word was not a reward but what I try to say is that in a way he also got some kind of self satisfaction.

lulilaiaka dijo...

If Mr Clark were my collegue I would never have supported the idea of going to Shameika`s house and help her with the household chores.
As I say in the essay I think that there are certain limits that teachers cannot pass. If I had been Mr Clark I would have tried some other way.

Gladys Baya dijo...

Thanks for your answers, Lucía! It's clear you've been influenced by MIT, a theory I love too!

It'd be interesting to learn what you would have suggested exactly in this case, you know...

A hug,
Gladys

PS: some time later in the course, let's revisit the concept of "reciprocity", shall we?

lulilaiaka dijo...

As regards my course of action, I would have taken into account the group`s background as well as their individual skills and I would have tried to developed a plan in which all of them can be encouraged in some way or other. However, I wouldn`t have gone to their houss and getting so much involved with their stories and families. I mean, I would have taken that into account but I would have used it to develop strategies within school boundaries.