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Freedom Writers- Sociological Analysis
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A detailed summary on the movie Freedom writers. It links sociological concepts and analysis to the movie giving the movie a whole new perspective.
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Freedom Writers – Sociologicalconcepts
‘Freedom Writers’ is a spectacular movie about young teenagers surrounded
by violence and abuse and deemed as impotent in their educational
institutions. It focuses on the way their education is limited to just being an
obligation rather than a choice which thus leads to it playing an insignificant
role in their life. Moreover it also emphasis on the way teachers are often
forced to coerce to the underlying faults within the education system as well as
overlook many other extraneous factors affecting a student’s performance.
Therefore, the movie mainly centralizes these external factors such as racism,
crime, misogyny ethnic/historic rivalries and a struggle for power which deeply
affects ones’ attitude and outlook towards life. However, a young lawyer who
desires to be a teacher decides to be a part of their integrated education and
instigate them to not only develop an interest in knowledge but also build an
understanding with their fellow classmates. Her dedication for such a change
at the expense of her own marriage and leisure time hence then provides them
a sense of purpose with a significant altered approach to life. The story
highlights many sociological concepts such as the Functionalist, Marxist,
Feminist, New Right, Fundamentalist and the Post Modern Theory on
education. It showcases the way their views are applicable and accurate when
it comes to the matter of education.
In the movie, the Functionalist theory, as bought forth by Conte, is quite
conspicuous throughout. It showcases the education system to be integrated
with various other institutions of the society such as the state that makes the
school integrate students of all ethnic backgrounds, such as the Latinos, Black
Americans, Whites etc. The common characteristic in all these students is that
they share a similar background of either deviance or family’s involvement in
the crime that makes the state send them to school for their better future.
This therefore proves Conte’s theory about all institutions, such as education
and state, to be interlinked within society and to be working together for social
solidarity. Similarly, in Pakistan all schools, colleges etc are linked to the state
when it comes to celebrating religious events or beginning a school day with
the national anthem. Moreover studying Urdu, Pakistan Studies and Islamiat is
, mandatory till Matric/Olevel which showcases the way the education system is
interconnected to the state. Additionally, Parsons advocates that the
education system consists of a curriculum, which adheres to universalistic
values, teaching students the meritocratic principles through exams,
homework, punctuality etc. In the movie freedom writers, these values are
instilled through voluntary integration that becomes an important part of the
hidden curriculum as it indirectly aims to teach them the core values of existing
together in peace and harmony. This system of meritocracy offers all the
students an equal opportunity to pass the different levels of high school, which
include junior, sophomore and then senior year; for example, in the movie, it is
through a students’ diligence, the students are able to reach to their
sophomore year at the end of the movie. Similarly, Pakistani universities such
as, LUMS expects students to at least achieve 6 As in their Olevels and have
minimum 3 subjects in their college to be able to attain a seat. Along with this,
different levels such as Kindergarten, Primary School, High School and
College/Inter are expected to be completed before getting into any university.
Therefore, the value of meritocracy taught through this education system plays
a significant role in teaching students the idea of equal opportunities in the
real world. Parsons also brings forth the concept of social mobility whereby he
believes that the system of meritocracy allows social mobility as it gives equal
opportunities to attain rewards for different completing different levels of
education and provides the most outstanding students a chance to elevate
their social status through these rewards in terms of a high paid job etc. Talcott
Parsons summarizes the whole idea of meritocracy stating that ‘ it is fair to give
differential rewards for different levels of achievement, so long as there has
been fair access to opportunity, and fair that these rewards lead on to higher
order opportunities for the successful’. An example of social mobility is that
often students from well renowned universities in Pakistan such as IBA are
recruited by multinational companies as soon as they graduate. Functionalists
such as, Jackson and Marsden also emphasize immensely on meritocracy as a
part of the hidden curriculum but also highlight the extracurricular activities to
be part of it. These activities involve fieldtrips, such as the one in the movie
where students visit a holocaust and meet with Jewish survivors from that
time, which provides a detailed insight to the book they are studying. In
Pakistan too, many schools usually arrange fieldstrips to historic places like
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