EDUC 1080- Introduction to Philosophy

---Dangerous Minds

Chan Ka Wing SummerChau Pik Yee SophieChow Ka Tung KarillisLi Wai Yi RuthYuen Emily Shin-kay

Description of the Dangerous Minds

Main Characters

Louanne Johnson

- The teacher of the class

- An ex-marine

Raul Sanchero

-One of the students

-Always involves in fighting and crimes

- A disturbing student

- The leader of the class

Emilio Ramirez

Callie Roberts

- The pregnant student

- Very smart in literature

Hal Griffith

-Johnson’s friend

-A teacher in the same school

Plot Summary

Louanne Johnson, an ex-marine, is hired as a teacher in a high-school in a poor area of the city. She has recently separated from her husband. Her friend, also teacher in the school, got the temporary job for her. After a terrible reception from the students, she tries unconventional methods of teaching (using karate, Bob Dylan lyrics. etc) to gain the trust of the students. Louanne also visit her students’ families in order to understand their background and thoughts. She gives incentives to the students so they finally get an A in their examination. After the death of Emilio ( he was killed by a gang with whom he fought), she decides to quit her job, but the students are so in love with her and regard her a light of their lives. Being touched by the students, Louanne decided not to leave her students and continue to guide their way on studying.

Does the curriculum serve the interests of the dominant people in society (the ruling class)?

- What are the dominant people interested in? - political, literature, business, language, mathematics, economics… etc.

- What was taught by Louanne - Literature, language, right learning attitude, how to deal with different people in the society, how to love each other, attitude towards life and obstacles

- Conclusion: Whole-person Development - Louanne makes a balance between academic (what the ruling class cares) and ethical/ non-academic concepts

Are students engaged in worthwhile relevant experiences or are they encouraged to absorb knowledge directly?

Miss Johnson teaches the students by letting them engage in relevant experiences (Constructive approach)

e.g. The experience in the high-end restaurant – learn the manner & make decision

e.g. Writing for the poetry competition - through participating in the competition, learn how to write with seriousness and heart

e.g. Teach students poems by asking their opinions on the writers’ view

Aims of Education

• Transfer Academic Knowledge• Make Choices• Equip Critical Thinking• Cultivate different Qualities• Assert Equality in Education

Aims of Education

• Transfer Academic Knowledge

Language: English

Literature: Poetry

Function:

to equip students with the required knowledge for their higher education

Aims of Education• Make Choices

I will not go down under the ground

’cause somebody tells me that death’s comin’ round

And I will not carry myself down to die

When I go to my grave my head will be high(Bob Dylan: Let Me Die in My Footsteps)

“Everybody has got a choice, you could stay, or you can leave.”(Mrs. Johnson) Study for themselves

Also, we have our own choice in our life, depends on how you choose.

Function of Education: guide you choose

Aims of Education• Equip students with Critical Thinking

Analyze Bob Dylan’s poems

(symbolism & metaphor) encourage students to talk about their own understanding and meaning in a particular poem

Functions: analyze the issues in society right vs wrong

(New Insight)

e.g.

criticize the education system for a pregnant girl

Aims of Education

• Whole-person education

teach students how to respect other people

help students build up self-esteem (e.g. Raul)

Function: transform students to a whole person

Aims of Education

• Spread the Message: Equality in Education

“there are no victims in this classroom”

(Mrs. Johnson)Everyone in the classroom is equal irrespective

of their academic results

“everybody’s got a choice” (Mrs. Johnson)

everyone in the society is equal irrespective of their social class

Plato “had no perception of the uniqueness of individuals…they fall by nature in to classes”

Education System in Dangerous Minds

• All students experience the SAME curriculum regardless of students’ interests, abilities and affinities

Mrs. Johnson teach something deviate from the curriculum (e.g. karate) catch attention disagree by the school stick to the designate curriculum Mrs. Johnson teaches her students according to the curriculum

Different Attitudes towards Education

• School : teach according to the designate curriculum

• Parents: education is useless, children should help the family do housework

• Students: don’t like go to school at the beginning but change at the end

How is Miss Johnson (teacher) depicted in the film?

• Miss Johnson loves teaching

• Knowledgeable + enthusiastic about her subject

• Always modifies her teaching methods suit her students

• Uses special sentences–

• “We want (choose) to die.”

• Teaches lyrics to get the attention from the students

teaches poetry

• “She broke the rules… and changed their lives”

Teaching Attitude of Miss Johnson

Classroom Practices • Miss Johnson bad experience and treatment

in the first day of school

• Very special and challenging students

• Students nicknamed her “white bread”

• Lacks authority and planning

• Reads book about discipline overnight modifies her teaching methods

• Uses special themes and languages teaches her students draw their attention

How does Miss Johnson treat her students?

• Miss Johnson’s students all from lower class + underprivileged backgrounds

• × looks down on them• ↑ respect + care to her students, especially their

personal problems• Respects their cultural and economic backgrounds

they come from

Example 1• Rewards her students chocolate bars +

inviting them to the theme park• Encourages her students to learn + pay

attention in class• Her students are all from lower class do not

have so much money for leisure• Be more active when having lessons

Example 2

• Callie Roberts smart + good at English • Becomes pregnant • Forces to leave school

• Miss Johnson visits her after school• Encourages her to continue with her study• Gives Callie fully support

Example 3

• Raύl Sanchero frequently involves in fighting + gang crimes

• Miss Johnson pays a home-visit• Congratulates his hard work at school• Rewards him a special dinner because of his

hardworking• ↑His self- esteem

+ confidence

Philosophical Perspectives

Idealism

• Idea and ideal

• Idea= have a thought, a concept, or a mental picture

• Ideal= a perfect example of something- a person, belief, principle or cause

• Idealists believe striving for perfection desirable goal

• Inner feeling of a particular person only

Idealism in Dangerous Minds----Example 1• Miss Johnson achieves idealism + strives for

perfection• All the students in the class have a very

dangerous mind • Students are all from lower-class and

underprivileged backgrounds dislike learning at school

• × Positive attitude in learning

• Miss Johnson × give up on her students• “ From now on, everyone has an A.”• She motivates them by giving them an A

grade in the beginning

Wants her students to maintain an A + strives for perfection in their learning

A +

Realism

• Having a practical understanding + acceptance of the world

• × idealized or romanticized version of it

• Realism asserts we live in a world of objects truly exist and are external to us

• Education method “show and tell”

• Understand the objects in the world

Realism in Dangerous Minds----Example 1• Miss Johnson wants to gain trust from her

students• Teaches them karate in class• She demonstrates what is karate to her

students first (Real object)• Her students

better understanding about karate

• Miss Johnson achieves realism in her teaching (Show and tell)

Pragmatism

• × a metaphysical system• Emphasizes the practical application of ideas• Testing them in human experience• Focuses more on the application in the reality

Pragmatism in Dangerous Minds----Example 1• Miss Johnson teaches her students using

the lyrics of Bob Dylan’s Mr. Tambourine Man

• Teaches metaphor + symbolism• ↑ interest in learning poetry• Further progresses to Dylan Thomas’s “Do

not go gentle into that good night”• Achieves pragmatism successfully

Questions for Discussion

Discussion- Topic 1

• How will you, as a teacher, deal with a pregnant student? Suggesting her to drop out, or encouraging her to continue her study?

Discussion- Topic 2

• How to solve a fight among students?

Discussion- Topic 3

• Do you think home-visit is a good way to solve the problems of students? If not, any alternatives?

Discussion- Topic 4

• Do you think Miss Johnson is too naïve to understand the situation of the students?

Our Comments

• Yes• Grows up in a totally different world• Doesn’t know how bad is the situation the

students facing (racism, poverty, no hope for tomorrow etc.)

Discussion- Topic 5

• Do you think she has changed throughout the movie?

Our Comments

• Yes• Pays home-visit• Helps calie to solve her problem – she doesn’t

need to quit the school• Teaches the students according to their

interests

Conclusion

Conclusion

• What do you think about the message of the film?

Conclusion1. Choice

- “There is no victim in the class”

- everyone has a choice

- once you have chosen it, you have to do it well

2. Caring

- respects the choices of all students

- thinks according to their points of view

- loves the students disregarding their backgrounds

- Concerns their personal problems