Stand and Deliver

I have experienced how difficult teaching is especially for Math teachers. I have tried with all enthusiasm and genuine concern to teach mathematics to slow learners with no significant results. When almost all my energies have been exhausted, I would just sigh and hope that someday these mathematically-challenged students will eventually improve on their own. But of course, for someone to change (e. g., improve), one needs a mover to “move” potentiality to act.

Such a good example of a “mover” is Jaime Escalante, a math teacher portrayed as the main character in the movie, Stand and Deliver. Escalante is a new math teacher at James A. Garfield High School – an impoverished school in Los Angeles – where teachers are more focused on discipline than academics clearly because of students’ behavior. He is unlike other teachers because he did not simply accept the situation; instead he used innovative ways to improve the situation. He was not at first liked by students for he has received several insults and threats from them. Despite the disrespect he has experienced, he is able to implement effective teaching styles to convey the importance of mathematics in everyday life. His troublesome students are transformed to dedicated math learners. In fact he introduced Calculus to his students despite the skepticism of his co-teachers.

Escalante’s efforts paid off when his students passed the AP Calculus exam, a feat done by few in the state. However, a shocking accusation is made. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) calls into question the validity of their scores when it is discovered that similarities between errors is too high for pure chance. It is a big insult for Escalante for the implication of cheating. Nevertheless, his students took the exam again with flying colors. They have shown not only to ETS but to the whole world that despite their social and racial status, they are worthy of their achievement.

The movie shows that our assumptions and expectations are important in teaching. If Escalante assumed that his students are losers in Mathematics, he would not be as well known as he is now today. His firm belief that his students have the capability to rise from the depressed school environment is such a strong motivation that caused the students to achieve what seems to be impossible at first. As a teacher, I realized that we have the responsibility to unlock the talents and all other potentials of the students. Even if we are faced with gang members or brats in the classroom, we should not think that they would stay like that forever. We should remain hopeful that our students will shine in a certain field. A teacher’s mantra should be, “Bring out the best in others”. That is, be the “mover” of our students’ change from potentiality to act.

Stand and Deliver also presents the challenge to us Math teachers to be result-oriented. It is not enough that we are pursuing a high degree or that we have an almost endless list of seminars attended or that we have known and applied several teaching strategies in the classroom. Most importantly, we must make sure that what we are doing have helped our students develop their love for learning math. It is quite useless to have a Ph. D. with out the skill to make students learn. It is futile to have known truth without the capability to share it.

It is a teacher’s task to bring down the wall that divides. Some students would feel insecure because of the teacher’s implicit message, “I am the best and you are nothing”. Thus, it is but proper for a teacher to reach out to the students and to accept them despite their shortcomings. In the movie, Escalante embraces his students despite their racial and social inferiority.
The movie also inspired me to show genuine concern to the students and not to give up even if the tough gets going.

It is heartwarming to note that there is someone who has shown that it is possible to make students learn despite the hindrance. What we usually believe to be an insurmountable problem in the classroom has been solved by Escalante. But, he did it with struggles, pains and frustrations along the way. So, for a young teacher like me, I should not lose hope. Someday, I could make a dramatic change – like what Escalante did – starting in the classroom. Yes, someday… but I should start now!