How Does Freedom Writers Make A Difference In Schools?

In the movie, Freedom Writers, a teacher named Erin Gruwell sets out to make a difference in her classroom at a recently integrated high school. At first she struggles to teach her students, but as she gets to know them better and obtain the trust of her students, by understanding their story, she begins to move them in a positive direction. Throughout the movie, and in a few specific scenes, various racial and ethnic groups, and prejudices are seen.
As a new teacher, and a new teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School, Erin thought she knew how to teach and make an impact on her students. She was not very effective, in the beginning, because she was from an outside culture and knew nothing about this culture of this high school. To try to relate and connect with the students she began to assimilate into the society and culture of Woodrow Wilson High …show more content…
At the very beginning of the movie, all of the students her individuals with their own groups and subcultures, but as time progressed the students became more and more a singular group with one culture. This combining of multiple individual and cultures to form a new group and culture is known as amalgamation (Schaefer, p. 239). This classroom at the end of the student's sophomore year was a new group and culture that was unlike any of the individuals students at the beginning of their freshman year. As well, if any member were to leave this group, the group would continue forward, but would not be the same.
Through the assimilation of Erin, the racism in the classroom, the stereotypes originally used by Erin, and the amalgamation of the classroom, all show how the classroom in Freedom Writers went from racist and prejudice to accepting and a whole group. This movie is important for educators and other leaders to keep in mind so that they may help groups of groups to unite and become the best individually then they could