Waiting for Superman movie - how will you use this to encourage discussion of role of mentors and mentoring programs?
A new movie/documentary titled Waiting for Superman will hit the theaters in a few weeks. The movie is intended to focus on a "broken public school system" and actions people can take to fix the system. The Take Action section links to paths people can take to be involved.
MENTOR is one of the sponsors of this movie and invited me to a special preview held a few weeks ago in Chicago. I wrote about it on my blog.
I'm sure others have already been encouraged to see the movie, and to mobilize others in discussion groups. Have you seen it? What is your reaction? Do you agree with my own comments? How is this movie helping you with operating your own volunteer-based mentoring (or tutoring) organization?
I know this movie is being debated quite a bit in the education community. I thought this op-ed piece about the film captured a number of key ideas in the conversation about education failure and reform.
http://www.theroot.com/views/waiting-school-reform
The author makes the case that there are no easy solutions to the education crisis and that the issue may be more a symptom of poverty and social breakdown, rather than a failure of just the education system. I tend to agree: I don't think we can have fantastic schools in neighborhoods that are severely impacted by poverty.
I'm curious to hear other mentoring perspectives about the film...
October 8, 2010: Tonight, key players in the creation and promotion of the documentary Waiting for "Superman" will host a virtual town hall meeting on public education in America. The virtual meeting is open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern.
The speakers scheduled are Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post Arianna Huffington; Chancellor of New York City Schools Joel Klein; and the Director and Producer of Waiting for "Superman" Davis Guggenheim and Lesley Chilcott.
The town hall format will be conversational and will include discussion on questions submitted from teachers, parents and other citizens concerned about the state of public education in the U.S. It is being hosted by Paramount, a Viacom company; Participant Media; and Epix.
Waiting for "Superman" highlights challenges in today's American educational system. MENTOR and its affiliated Mentoring Partnerships have worked with a number of partners to conduct screenings of the film to promote conversations and encourage action. MENTOR hopes the film and discussions will help people understand that mentoring is a powerful, evidence-based, solution to keeping kids in school.
To participate in this virtual town hall meeting, log on to
www.epixhd.com/waiting-for-superman, www.huffingtonpost.com or www.waitingforsuperman.com/action. For more information on mentoring, visit www.mentoring.org.
Hi Dan... I have not seen the movie yet (and will probably wait until it's out on video). I'm not really sure I have much of a take on how the movie can benefit the mentoring community. I think it's great if it spurs community engagement and puts volunteers of all types (tutors, mentors, coaches, etc.) onto public school campuses.
But I'm also unsure about the message of the movie, which, from what I've read, boils down to demonizing (at some level) teacher's unions and touting charter schools (which to me don't solve many problems). Although, I guess if the administration wants to recreate the Harlem Children's Zone in every city, I'm all for it (provided that the massive funds to make it work follow).
To me, the core issue of American educational failure is that it exists in a broader context of American social and economic failure. We can talk about improving the schools all we want, but as long as those schools exist in neighborhoods that are crumbling, and attended by students caught in intergenerational poverty, I'm not sure there is much that can be done to improve those schools' outcomes. And as long as wealthy (or even middle class) parents have the option of opting out of the picture entirely by supporting private schools, I do not see anything but a fairly bleak picture for American k-12 education.
I hope I'm wrong about that, but even if I am, I tend to see mentoring as a peripheral aspect of that turnaround. I think the turnaround is predicated much more on losing the "everyone for themselves" mindset that dominates the American psyche. When the right to a quality public education is as beloved as the right to bear arms or the right to free speech, then maybe this country will get back to making public education a quality experience. As long as public education (especially for poor students and students of color) is something that is looked down on by a certain segment of our adult population, or viewed solely as an untapped "market" by the for-profit crowd, I'm afraid we'll be waiting for Superman for a long time. To me, public education is the civil rights issue of our time. I'm not sure this movie sees things that way.
Hello,
I enjoyed reading these comments about the movie, education reform, and how volunteer mentoring fits into the picture. Although I have not seen the movie myself, I have listened to many a news cast on the topic and feel concerned that most coverage addresses symptoms only and offers potential band-aids, while completely overlooking the root causes and complexities of the problem. I agree with you Mike, that education failure can only be addressed in the "broader context of American social and economic failure." And from this perspective, it seems to me that volunteer mentoring is absolutely critical to creating the social change necessary that will eventually lead to stronger communities and stronger schools. This is obviously a long-term solution, and from my perspective, is also completely dependent on the ability of a volunteer to build relationship and provide an authentic experience of connection that includes mentor, child, family, and community at large.
I have found that one of the most important things I did as a mentor coordinator was train volunteers in effective relationship building skills - since we do not seem to live in society that naturally cultivates or values these skills. Part of this process included staff modeling supportive relationship skills with all volunteers - in a sense, mentoring them into their roles as mentors. And as I watched mentors successfully practice those skills, I saw many attitudes shift towards more openness and understanding. I agree very much with Dan's comments on the evolution of a volunteer. In my opinion, this is one of the greatest potentials and benefits of mentoring programs.
Thanks for the opportunity to think more about these issues. Answers are not easy or cheap, but instead are based "in relationship" and I feel hopeful that as we teach mentors relationship skills, our children and communities will continue to strengthen beyond what we even originally think is possible.
Take care,
Kristin
Friends for Youth and the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota are teaming up to present two webinars during November that focus on the impact of Waiting for Superman, the Academic Achievement campaign that is being promoted by MENTOR and for National Mentoring Month, and youth mentoring.
Wednesday, November 3: Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota hosts the discussion - register at http://www.mpmn.org/Training/MPMTRAINING/WebinarSeries.aspx
Tuesday, November 16: Friends for Youth hosts the discussion - register at http://www.friendsforyouth.org/Webinars.html
Both sessions feature Sarah Kremer and April Riordan, WT Grant Distinguished Fellow and co-author of the recent Social Policy Report on SBM Marc Wheeler, Linda Stewart from MENTOR, and Charles Velschow from Woodside High School's Business Academy Mentoring Program in California.
Join the discussion by registering for either Webinar.
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