Pedagogical empowerment

There are teachers who seem to have an advantage in trying to find a correct technique of teaching. There are teachers who seem to be very confident on what they say that they have the power to inspire and motivate their students.

Educators who possess these skills will always have fortitude on whatever they do. A classic example is Mrs. Erin Gruell.



The FREEDOM WRITERS was a diary made by a group of students in Rm. 203 of Woodrow Wilson High School in long beach, California. It was initiated by Mrs. Gruell for self-expression in times of gang violence and racial discrimination.

"The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them"- This is the name of the diary.

Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change
Themselves and the World Around Them
by Freedom Writers
About this title: Straight from the
front line of urban America, the inspiring story of one fiercely determined
teacher and her remarkable students.
As an idealistic twenty-three-year-old
English teacher at Wilson High School in Long beach, California, Erin Gruwell
confronted a room of "unteachable, at-risk" students. One day she intercepted a
note with an ugly racial caricature, and angrily declared that this was
precisely the sort of thing that led to the Holocaust--only to be met by
uncomprehending looks. So she and her students, using the treasured books "Anne
Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl" and "Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in
Sarajevo" as their guides, undertook a life-changing, eye-opening,
spirit-raising odyssey against intolerance and misunderstanding. They learned to
see the parallels in these books to their own lives, recording their thoughts
and feelings in diaries and dubbing themselves the "Freedom Writers" in homage
to the civil rights activists "The Freedom Riders." With funds raised by a
"Read-a-thon for Tolerance," they arranged for Miep Gies, the courageous Dutch
woman who sheltered the Frank family, to visit them in California, where she
declared that Erin Gruwell's students were "the real heroes." Their efforts have
paid off spectacularly, both in terms of recognition--appearances on "Prime Time
Live" and "All Things Considered," coverage in "People" magazine, a meeting with
U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley--and educationally. All 150 Freedom
Writers have graduated from high school and are now attending college. With
powerful entries from the students' own diaries and a narrative text by Erin
Gruwell, "The Freedom Writers Diary" is an uplifting, unforgettable example of
how hard work, courage, and the spirit of determination changed the lives of a
teacher and her students. The authors' proceeds from this book will be donated
to The Tolerance Education Foundation, an organization set up to pay for the
Freedom Writers' college tuition. Erin Gruwell is now a visiting professor at
California State University, Long Beach, where some of her students are Freedom
Writers.

I acknowledge this article from this website: http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?qsort=&page=1&matches=35&browse=1&qwork=2452635&full=1

Westernized Public Education, in my opinion, does not promote any preventions on gang violence, racial discrimination and other relevant issues. I am refering to the schools with students whose attitudes are disrespectful. They do not accept any cultural advantages, they need motivations to develop a moral mind.

I am sure that the US President Obama will fix that after he fixes the economic crisis. Let there be a certain revolution for ideal education reform.

Pls. be reminded that pedagogical empowerment for the students is a way for them to be enlightened in their own manner.