Culture Project - Analysis Draft
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Apr 3, 2024
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Uploaded by MinisterMorning9549
Julia Mongan
EDUC 202
Prof. Cole Reilly
11/30/2022
Pop-Culture Project Analysis
Over the course of watching these project films, one very clear aspect to understanding an
urban education is to understand the impact of poverty within these communities. The two
movies assigned,
Lean On Me
and
180 Days: DC Metro,
both have very strong examples of what
an education system could very well be like within a community that lacks the sufficient
resources needed.
The central issues presented within both of these movies overall do intertwine with the main
conflicts addressed. For example, both of the films begin with students struggling to meet a set of
basic requirements for their age/grade level and heavily display poverty as a main factor as to
why within these individuals. The majority of students in
Lean On Me
come from a minority
household in which many show to struggle to provide, therefore leading the children to mix in
with substance issues, gangs, behavioral issues, etc. A very similar concept is brought about in
180 Days: DC Metro,
where the lack of resources between each of these students' families
challenges the student to meet basic requirements due to the poor resources found in their home
environment.
The way mainstream media perceives students of low income areas falls somewhat into the
way these films narrate it. In both of the schools, these films depict a large number (if not all) a
minority, typically African Americans. A myth brought about by this perception allows for the
formerly common bias that students of color who come from a certain level of poverty tend to
lean towards disrespectful behavior. “This perception of disinvestment often creates a stereotype
of poor Black students as unruly, disruptive and disrespectful” (Rudd, 2014). Though as this
quote stated, there is a certain level of issue concerning the lack of attention shown to minority
fueled schools which leads to these lack of resources and sufficient/qualified teachers. Therefore
as the movies showed, it is not the low income households or poverty within these communities
that bring about issues with urban schools, it is fueled by districts not feeling the need to give
these students the level of attention compared to caucasian families or higher income areas.
Nonetheless, poverty among urban educational institutes that don’t allow students with the
resources needed is an issue that is dismissed more than not. “Urban educators report the
growing challenges of educating urban youth who are increasingly presenting problems such as
poverty, limited English proficiency, family instability, and poor health” (National Center For
Education Statistics, Urban School: The Challenge of Location and Poverty). By looking at the
ending situations of these films, my first recommendation for a solution is similar to what I
mentioned above, districts need to redistribute their focus evenly among schools despite area or
race-related communities. Second, a major change that I recommend to truly address this issue is
for these schools to teach and offer guidance based upon a student's situation. My foundation for
this belief is due to how every student's learning ability and outer lives are drastically different
compared to others, therefore training teachers to have the ability to teach according to what
these students go through in their personal lives to my understanding would cause a major
impact.
To conclude this analysis, I do believe overall that the films gave a fair representation among
my area of focus. While I can argue there can possibly be some implicit bias among the films,
the viewpoints of these students allows for a very realistic look into the issues' roots and gives
information that can resemble issues some may face in real life concerning their personal
environments intertwining with their education.
References:
Urban schools: Executive summary
. (n.d.). National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES), a part of the U.S. Department of Education.
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs/web/96184ex.asp
Racial Disproportionality in school discipline: Implicit bias is heavily implicated
. (n.d.).
Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity.
https://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/article/racial-disproportionality-school-discipline-implicit-bi
as-heavily-implicated
John G. Avildsen (Director). (1989).
Lean On Me
. Warner Bros. Studios.
Jacquie Jones (Director). (2013).
180 Days: DC Metro
. PBS.
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