THE TEACHING
MULTICULTU
of
FACULTY
SATYA WA
i
NG TECHNIQUES USED IN DEALING
URAL CLASS BASED ON THE ‘FREE
WRITERS’ FILM
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Retno Prasetyani 112006017
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
Y OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2012
G WITH
EEDOM
THE TEACHING
MULTICULTU
of
FACULTY
SATYA W
i
NG TECHNIQUES USED IN DEALING
URAL CLASS BASED ON THE ‘FREE
WRITERS’ FILM
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Retno Prasetyani 112006017
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
Y OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
2012
G WITH
EEDOM
iii
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
This thesis contains no such material as has been submitted for examination in any course or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, this contains no material previously published or written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text.
Copyright @ 2012. Retno Prasetyani and Danielle Donelson Sims, MA
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This thesis would not been completed without the help and the support from many people. Therefore, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the following people who have assisted me in completing this thesis
1. First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Jesus Christ for His grace in my life, until now and forever.
2. My family, beloved bapak, ibuk, mbak Upik, mas Cahyo, Ian and Eta for both financial and mentally support, including phones me everyday to ask about my graduation.
3. My supervisor, Danielle for give me time to disturb her with my entire thesis’ program for 3 years.
4. My inspiring lecturer, Bu Neny who encourage me with all her extraordinary thought about life.
5. My lovely goode and his family who give me never ending support until now.
6. My besties Sigit who never stop encourages me to finish my thesis and back to Jakarta, Rissa for helped me deal with grammatical in this thesis. I love you both!
7. Vera, Nyez, Carmen, iko-iko, Kiki, Galih, Eva, Tirza, Ey, Astri, Dini, mas Ndindot, mas Gembul, Plenyik, Gepeng, Devi, Chindy you are ROCK guys and gals.
8. Mas Wasis, for fabulous grammatical checking and Yosafat who helped me a lot with this thesis. Yes, I am undercover murder attempt, :p
9. My ‘tempat sampah’, Twitter and all of my followers for accepting all my swearing about thesis.
10. All my friends who knowing me, thanks a lot for asking me every time about my graduation.
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CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ... 8
A. Definition of multiculturalism B. Multiculturalism Education C. Teaching Technique 1. Informing and Empowering 2. The differences between teaching technique and teaching method 3. Teaching technique used in Freedom Writers Film CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 17
CHAPTER IV: DATA ANALYSIS ... 19
4.1 Data Analysis ... 19
4.2 Racial Discrimination inside classroom... 19
4.2.1 Mockery in the Classroom ... 20
4.2.1.1 Teaching Techniques in Dealing with Mockery Problem in the Class ... 21
4.2.2 Stereotype Inside the Class ... 26
4.2.2.1 Teaching Techniques in Dealing with Negative Stereotype ... 28
4.2.3 History of Gang/Exclusion ... 33
4.2.3.1 Teaching Techniques in Dealing with History of Gang/Exclusion ... 36
4.2.4 Gang or Race Extremely Loyalty ... 39
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ABSTRACT
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of Study
According to Maria Pramaggiore and Tom Wallis, film is an art form and cultural institution worthy of serious intellectual consideration (xiii). Moreover, film
is also a visual; it has at least five tracks: moving image, phonetic, sound, noises, music and written materials which complexities indicate a form of synthetic (Stam, cited by Naremore, 2000). Film, formally relies on the story that can use unreal story and based on the true event, actors to convey characterization and this is bound by the average length of film of at least 120 page of script and at least around two hours of display. The film entitled “Freedom Writers” itself, as the object of analysis, was based on the true event that was made a book and takes 123 minutes length of running time.
Bordwell and Thompson (2008) state than film can even make us perceive things in a new way, shaking us out of our accustomed habits and also suggesting a fresh way of hearing, seeing, feeling and thinking. Moreover, the differences in the way we perceive things around us in practical way are common in film and the things or events on the screen serve no practical end.
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From the film entitled Freedom Writers we can see, as cited by Gianetti (1987), a film can be regarded as a tool for social change, such as: first, it can demonstrate what a school role in build students’ character is and habit are.
Synopsis
This film is taking place in a Wilson High School in Long Beach, Los Angeles in 1994. At that time, LA still dangerous situation as the effect of the riot in 1992 that raised many problem like racism, gang situation and criminality.
This film that based on the same titled book, Freedom Writers that write by Erin Gruwell and her students, is about a woman named Erin Gruwell (23 years old as the main character) who are going to teach in Wilson High School after her graduate from the university. As a fresh graduate, she tends to be an optimistic and idealist teacher who already prepared the most idealist material for their students. However, in her first day become teacher, she found that her class consists of many race like black, one American, Cambodians and Latinos who hatred each other. She found that each member of a class make their own gang race who hating, mocking and sometimes fighting each other, literally.
Miss Gruwell is force to left her idealist thought class and face the class, who was trying hard to make her students obey the rules, but she always failed until she realized that all of their students are victims of the violence and the have to fight for their life, literally. Besides having problems with their class, she also got different argument with another teacher in the school about teaching techniques that were used in the class.
Freedom Writers film itself was actually based on the true story. The story
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named Rodney King became the subject of the police brutally on March, 3, 1991. The incident of King are fears that the latest incident could again ignite Los Angeles' simmering racial tensions (Los Angeles Time, 1992).
That incident caused a huge riot a year later. The riots, beginning in the evening after the verdicts, peaked in intensity over the next two days, but ultimately continued for several days. A curfew and deployment of the National Guard began to control the situation; eventually U.S. Army soldiers and United States Marines were ordered to the city to quell disorder as well.
Fifty-three people died during the riots with as many as 2,000 people injured. Estimates of the material losses vary between about $800 million and $1 billion. Approximately 3,600 fires were set, destroying 1,100 buildings, with fire calls coming once every minute at some points; widespread looting also occurred. Stores owned by Korean and other Asian immigrants were widely targeted, although stores owned by Caucasians and African Americans were targeted by rioters as well (Wood, 2002). "L.A.'s
darkest days.
Many of the disturbances were concentrated in South Central Los Angeles, which was primarily composed of African American and Hispanic of any race residents. Half of all riot arrestees and more than a third of those killed during the violence were Hispanic of any race, but it’s not ended yet.
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haven’t had before. Like what is stated by James Lynch (1986), multicultural class contains cultural diversity.
The diversity of the class create many problems; it is clearly shown in the film how every race has their own gap among the others. The same case also occurs in my surrounding, that usually students will make a group which consist only one kind of people. For example, the Ambonese will make a group that only consist from Ambones only and vice versa. Then, other difficulties is racism will happen with or without been realize. Some of them start to underestimate other friends that different with them. These kinds of situation more or less will affect the class situation. Student will be rather difficult to build a strong teamwork when they have to work together. I can conclude that, multicultural class, actually also occurs in Indonesia without us realized the multiculturalism issues here.
In this study I am willing to find out teaching techniques that can be used in the “Freedom Writers” in dealing with multicultural students. It is hoped that through this study, both the teacher and students of a multicultural class can learn from the film, that multiculturalism problem can be solved and unity can be built in the educational surroundings.
B. Research Question
The study is conducted to address the following question:
1. What are the challenges or problems that occur in multicultural classes in the Freedom Writers film?
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C. Objectives Of The Study
The research is intended to achieve the following objectives:
• The purpose of the study is to find out the problems that occur in the Freedom
Writers film.
• The purpose of the study is to analyze teaching techniques that are used in the
film, moreover to understand them and their benefits so they can be applied in the real class.
D. Scope Of The Study
The study was limited to examine the challenges that occur and how the teaching techniques are implemented to solve it in multicultural class. By finding the teaching technique, the writer hopes that the techniques can be applied in the real class.
E. Significance Of The Study
• This study is expected to help English department’s student when they have to
deal with multicultural students later.
• This study also gives English teachers some ideas of various ways of dealing
with multicultural students in a class
F. Methodology In Research
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techniques used in the film. After all the teaching techniques can be found, the writer has to analyze each teaching technique and look up the definition each of them.
The next step, this study will focus in the classroom activities, to know the strategies used by Erin Gruwell in the film. Furthermore, this research aims find out how the teaching techniques are utilized to solve the problems in setting.
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G. Definition of Terms
a. Multicultural education: is that education which is appropriate to democratic cultural pluralism. ( James Lynch, 1986:15)
b. Problem: A question rose for consideration or solution. (Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, 2006)
c. Technique: a way of carrying out a particular task, especially the execution or performance of an artistic work or a scientific procedure. (oxford dictionaries)
d. Teaching: the activities of educating or instructing; activities that impart knowledge or skill
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
This chapter presents the theoretical foundation from some sources related to know the kind of teaching technique used to deal with multicultural students; especially in reading, speaking and writing skills.
A. Definition Of Multiculturism
Paul Padersen (1998) described that multiculturalism is characterized by two things, the first characteristic of multiculturalism is differentiates emotion, feeling, behavior, attitudes and perceptions which causes consequences among the people who are involved in the surroundings, although the consequences can not be explained yet. Then, second characteristic is the differentiates’ that institutionally designed like a country immigration policy, school curricula, employment laws, anti-discrimination legislation, a climate favoring or opposing cultural diversity, and all the other regulatory and normative social arrangements that affect the lives of its citizens.
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Another definition of multiculturalism also comes from Caleb Rosado in his essay, Toward a Definition of Multiculturalism, in 1997 who stated that multiculturalism is a system of belief and behaviors that recognizes and respects the presences of all diverse groups in an organization or society, acknowledges and values their socio cultural-differences and encourages and enables their continued contribution within an inclusive cultural context with empowers all within the organization or society.
B. Multicultural Education
1. Definition of multicultural education
From the definition, the word pluralism is commonly used to talk about race, ethnicity and culture. According to Ramsey, Williams, Vold, (2003) the word race is popular to refer to biological and genetic traits that distinguish one among populations that have originated from different regions. Moreover, the word ethnicity refers to “primarily sociological and anthropological characteristic, such as custom religious practices, language usage of a group of people with a shared ancestry or origin” (Quintana, 1998). Same with race, ethnicity may imply a degree of social isolation from the mainstream. The easiest example is African Americans who are marginalized and excluded from the dominant group. Then, the last word is culture that can be defined into many factors, such as national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, generation, abilities or disabilities, and leisure activity.
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to this. The multicultural education movement first emerged in America in the 1960s and 1970s as a respond toward ethnic revitalization movements and that slowly entered the periphery of the mainstream curriculum and education institution though with the limited success (Banks, 1979).
Multicultural education defined by Lynch (1986) is the education which is appropriate to democratic cultural pluralism. Therefore, the definition from James Lynch is not the fixed meaning of multicultural education, because there are lot definitions that defining the meaning of multicultural education.
In most general sense, multicultural education is an approach to teaching the values of diversity into the classroom – it can be diversity in contents, methods, perspectives, educators, students and cultures. It is based on the definition that [m]ulticultural education means different things to the different people (Geneva Gay, , 1994)
However, Montecions and Rios (1999) explain that multicultural education not only rely on the cultural characteristic of diverse group, but also emphasizes on social problem (particularly those associate with oppression), political power and the reallocation of economic resources. Furthermore, some restrict their focus to people of color, while others include all major groups that are different in anyway from mainstreams American. Others definitions limit multicultural education to characteristic of local schools, and still other provide direction from school reform in all settings regardless of their characteristic.
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rejects racism and other discrimination in schools and society to accept and affirm the pluralism (ethnic, racial, religious, linguistic, economic and gender) among the students; their communities and teacher represent (Lynch, 1986)
Multicultural Education created to avoid the same mistakes with the past in dealing with multiculturalism issues. The goal of multicultural education is to help students in understanding and appreciating cultural differences and to recognize the accomplishment of diverse ethnic, racial and socioeconomic groups (James Banks, 1991).
A pioneer of multicultural education was Banks (1991) who believed that all aspects like teaching methods, instructional material, teacher attitudes and impersonal students assessed performance, needed to be transformed in order to create a good multicultural school environment. This believes transforms into a class through the using of many teaching techniques that different with common teaching techniques in the school.
C. Teaching Technique
1. Informing and Empowering
The goals of multicultural education are to foster acceptance, appreciation of cultural diversity, develop sensitivity to social inequalities and encourage transformation of self and society. To achieve these goals; teachers can start informing to empower their students use multicultural education.
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beliefs, and value of other cultures. Moreover, by reading multicultural literature students are exposed to develop broad perspective of the world and challenged to look at themselves and the world differences (Sims Bishop, 1994); after getting the knowledge, students will empower themselves through developing an ability to identify and critically analyze – and may even take action to solve – problem related to cultural or ethnic differences (Rasinski and Padak, 1990)
In short, Mc. Ginley et al (1997) said that “Stories can be a means of personal and social exploration and reflection – an imaginative vehicle for questioning, shaping, responding and participating in the world”. That means both informing and empowering are important and they are interrelated. As good teachers, we should not stop at informing but must always move toward empowering.
2. The differences between technique and methods
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3. Teaching technique used in FREEDOM WRITERS film.
To explain teaching techniques we can not avoid discussing the methodology also, because teaching technique is the practice of the methodology (Nunan, 2003). In that case, we will talk about teaching techniques used in the multicultural class based on the Freedom Writers film. According to the film, the teacher, Erin Gruwell, mostly focused on reading and writing skills to develop her students’ abilities by letting them read some books on multicultural issues.
• Reading and Speaking Teaching Techniques
Erin Gruwell focuses in reading, speaking and writing, to handle her multicultural class. For teaching reading and speaking themselves there are many techniques that she used like the cultural differences, ethnic additive and fishbowl.
Cultural Differences teaching technique is the first technique that shown in the film. This teaching technique let students know other cultures and their problems then compare them with the multicultural learners in her class. In many programs Gruwell changes the curriculum and adjust it to the academic needs (Nunan, 2003) In this type of technique, the curriculum may not be changed significantly, but the focus of the Cultural Differences technique maybe aids students in making the transition into the mainstream of education. The technique itself includes effort to draw on, cultural-based learning style, and bilingual program.
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accomplished by the addition of a book, a unit or a course of the curriculum without changing it substantially (Banks, 2006). Furthermore, Banks is not the only one, who stated about Ethnic Additive, Aldrich and Young (2000) also said that Ethnic Additive is the inclusion of some information about the cultures and histories of previously omitted ethnic groups in the school curriculum.
The third technique used by Erin Gruwell is Fishbowl teaching technique. This technique usually used outdoor not the classroom to built interactive communication between each students’ because in Fishbowl approach group dynamic are important. This technique allows students to have a richer discussion and deep analysis about text that they have been read before (Sterling, 2006). Moreover, this way of teaching also provides the discussion about problems that was faced by both speaker and her class. Another explanation of Fishbowl, came from KS Toolkit (in his web www.kstoolkit.org), who said that Fishbowl involves a small group of people (usually 5-8) seated in circle, having a conversation in full view of a larger group of listener. Fishbowl processes provide a creative way to include the “public” in a small group discussion. They can be used in a wide variety of settings, including workshops, conferences, organizational meetings and public assemblies. Fishbowls are useful for ventilating “hot topics” or sharing ideas or information from a variety of perspectives.
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issues that they may face in reality. As Barta and Grindler (1996) points out, “simply reading about cultural variation may do little to affect the degree of inequality in our society.”
Writing teaching technique
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According to Maryemma Graham, it would be better if the students of multicultural class have interaction with someone who was already in their position or had felt the same situation with them (Maryemma, 1998). His idea made Gruwell to assign her students making letter to Miep Gies, the witness of Holocaust victim, Anne Frank. Here, Miep Gies, an Austrian who lived in Germany in NAZI era feels the same way as the students do because she live in the chaotic situation, where so many people were killed for no reason than the fact that they were Jews. Furthermore, Miep Gies do something to help a Jew girl names Anne Frank, because she believed that she did the right thing although in the end Anne Frank finally was caught and killed.
Essentially, multicultural education is about social change through education. Moreover, multicultural education needs deep and critical thinking, imagination and commitment to be involved in the part of multicultural class, as a teacher or students. Freedom Writers film is the example of applying multicultural education and its
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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study was intended to figure out the teaching techniques used, to deal with multicultural student, in Freedom Writers film. In this chapter, the writer will discuss the methodology used in conducting this research. The discussion involves this description of (1) the type of the research, (2) subject, (3) instrument, (4) data analysis, and (5) research procedure.
A. The Type of the Research
This research was qualitative as it analyzes a film, Freedom Writers. The strength of this methodology is the data is collected directly from the movie so that the writer is able to do analysis based on the visual in the movie.
B. Subject
Based on the intention of the research, the subject of this research is Freedom Writers film, particularly on Erin Gruwell, a teacher of Wilson Woodrow High
School, a Long Beach, California’s high school who taught underprivileged students, who had forced to come in school. There, the writer could see the way she taught them in different ways.
C. Instrument
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D. Data Analysis
After watching the movie, the writer wrote the summary of the Freedom Writers film. Then, the writer will analyzing and writing down the scenes in the
movie that contains teaching techniques that we visualized.
If the data has been written, the writer wills analyze the problems and challenges that occurs due to multiculturalism issues in the classroom. Then, the last step is finding how the teaching techniques used by Erin Gruwell are applied to control her class.
E. Research Procedures
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CHAPTER IV DATA ANALYSIS
4.1.Data Analysis
In this chapter, the writer wants to answer the research question “what are problems that happened and the teaching techniques that use to deal with multicultural students in the film.” Here the writer is going to present the analysis of the film, focusing on the problems occurred in the multicultural class and the teaching techniques used to deal with it.
4.2.Racial and Social Discrimination in the Classroom
The setting of ‘Freedom Writers’ film was the year after Rodney King’s riot, which started from the racial discrimination done by white people. Although the situation got better than the years before, there was still so many problems happened particularly racial discrimination.
As Mack (1970) says, American are racist, in his book, ‘Prejudice and Race Relation’, because America consists of so many ethnic group based on their biological features that obviously cannot be ignored. Furthermore, racial discrimination refers to unequal and unfair treatment and denial of rights of a group of basis. In Freedom Writers movie, there are several factors induce racial discrimination among
ethnicities, from the majority toward the minority. According to Glitter (1956) minority groups are groups which the member of its groups experience a wide range of discriminatory treatment and frequently are relegated to position relatively low in the status structure of the social system.
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differences. In this case, the racial and social discrimination was caused by some mockery actions, negative stereotyping inside the class, and history of gang and gang and race loyalty that had an effect inside the class.
4.2.1. Mockery in the classroom
Mockery in classroom 203 was clearly shown in the scene depicting Mrs. Gruwell’s first day of teaching. She was checking the students’ attendance by calling their names one by one when suddenly Jamal, an African-American student yelled and revealed his hatred for being in that class. After that, Andre Bryant (African-American student) responded to Jamal’s statement by calling Jamal the dumb. As the story continued, Jamal responded to Andre’s word in anger by calling him a dumb too, as he was also in the same class. (10minutes: 25second)
Jamal : Yeah, and that’s some bullshit.
Andre : It’s the dumb class, coz. It means you are too dumb. Jamal : Man, say it to my face, coz.
Andre : I just did. See what I mean? Dumb.
Jamal : Man, I know you aint’t talking to me
Andre : Okay…
After that, both of them almost got into a fight each other until Mrs. Gruwell asked for help and someone came to separate them. This is an interesting case because both Jamal and Andre were both African-Americans, but they still mocked each other and were almost involved in a fight. Here, although they are both African-American, Andre considered that from a higher class-level than Jamal, so that he came up with the mockery statements.
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and as the result, all member of class laughed at him. However, Mrs. Gruwell knew and tried to relate Tito’s picture with the example of Holocaust. (27minute: 44second)
Mrs. Gruwell : What’s going on? What is that? Give it to me. What is this? Jamal : Just leave it alone.
Mrs. Gruwell : You think this is funny? Tito? Would this be funny if it were a picture of you?
Tito : It ain’t
Mrs. Gruwell : Close the workbooks. Maybe we should talk about art. Tito got real talent. Don’t you think?
Students : Yeah, yeah. Go, Tito.
The dialogue above shows the racial discrimination through a picture of African-American (Jamal) that was drawn by Latino-America (Tito). Indirectly implied that Tito stereotyped all African-America as having a big fat lips, just like the picture he had drawn. This case proved that there was racial discrimination inside the Woodrow Wilson High School. This matches Scott and Shade’s statement (2005) that said discrimination still exists in the community in general, no matter how the school is built and where the school is located, most neighborhood school will still remain live in the discriminatory life.
4.2.1.1. Teaching Techniques in dealing with mockery problem in the class
Facing the racial discrimination through mockery between students of class 203 forced Erin Gruwell had to do something in order to control her class, she had to use certain techniques. In the other words, she could not apply ordinary method of teaching in her class; however in dealing with mockery inside multicultural class 203 Mrs. Gruwell applied different ways of teaching.
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with theirs. As cited from Nunan’s statement (2003) teachers are allowed to change the curriculum and adjust it into the academic needs, in this case Mrs. Gruwell decided to focus on Cultural Differences technique. Furthermore, in this technique Mrs. Gruwell let her students know other culture and its problem that occurred and compared it with the class’ situation.
In specific, Cultural Differences had shown when Mrs. Gruwell dealt with mockery of African-American student (Jamal) who was portrayed as a man with big fat lips by Latino-American student (Tito). She connected this case with history of these drawing were put in the newspaper. By the most famous gang in history.
Students : That’s us, dawg.
Mrs. Gruwell : You think you know all about gangs? You are amateurs. This gang would put you all to shame. And they started out poor and angry. And everybody look down on them. Until the one man decided to make some pride, an identity and somebody to blame. You take over neighborhood? That’s nothing compared to them. They took over countries. And you wanna know how? They just wiped put everybody else.
Students : Yeah. Yeah.
Mrs. Gruwell : Yeah they wiped out everybody they didn’t like and everybody they blame for their life being hard. And one ways they did it was by doing this. See, they’d print picture like this in the newspaper. Jewish people with big, long nose. Black with bog, fat lips. They’d also publish a scientific evidence that prove Jews and Blacks were the lowest form of human species. Jews and Blacks were more like animals. It didn’t really matter whether they live or died. In fact, life would be a whole lot better if they were all dead. That’s how the Holocaust happens.
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African-American man, particularly Jamal. Through this similarity, between Tito’s drawing and pictures of Jewish and Blacks, Mrs. Gruwell wanted to deliver a message that negative stereotyping of certain race, will bring a huge impact would change the history.
However, Cultural Differences was not the only technique of teaching that Mrs. Gruwell used for the students, Fishbowl technique was another one. Fishbowl is usually used outdoor not the classroom to gain creativity and differentiate perspective of each students. According to Sterling (2006) Fishbowl technique allows student to have richer discussion and deep analysis about text they have read before.
Adopted from fishbowl teaching technique, Mrs. Gruwell was taking her students into the Museum of Tolerance to knowing the history of Holocaust clearly and after that she brings them into restaurant to have a dinner plus deeper discussion with some people who become a victim of Holocaust in the past. (60minute: 13second)
Tito : at beginning of the tour, they give you a card with a child’s picture on it. You could find out who they were and what camp they were sent to. And at the end of the tour you could find out if they survived. I got a little boy from Italy.
Mrs.Gruwell : Tito, your hat.
Speaker : Kristallnacht, they called it. The Night of Broken Glass. Hundred of synagogues looted and burned. More than 7 Jewish stores destroyed. Over 100 Jews killed. A small Center for children in Isieux in the French province of Ain. Among the children deported that day to Birkenau. Was 11-years-old Liliane Barenstein, who, before leaving left behind a letter to God.
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had a beautiful dinner for us at the hotel where she works. She invited real Holocaust survivors from the museum to meet us. There was Elisabeth Mann.
Elisabeth : I had my parents, my sister, my two brothers.
Tito : Gloria Ungar.
Gloria Ungar : If any of you have seen someone with a number od their arm, these were the lucky people. The people who, when we came to Auschwitz, when they tattooed the people they took us to do the slave work. Not the others and that place where I used to live. So when I ran there, there was not one Jew left. I was in the worst camp. I was in Auschwitz.
Tito : Renee Firestone.
Renee : when I arrived, my parents were immediately taken
away from me. My little sister, who was then 14 years old, stayed with me for a little while. And then later on, I was separated from her also.
Tito : she lost her whole family at the camps. She came to this
country with sin her pocket and a newborn baby. I’ll never forget these people. I can’t believe Ms. G did all of this for us.
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the victims. Students from class 203 learn a lot about tolerance and Mrs. Gruwell succeeds in making them understand why this is important.
And the last approach used to deal with mockery inside the class is Free Writing teaching technique that let the students write any ideas that come up in their mind. Wendy Major (1994) claims that free writing is a mean of teaching students that personal and emotional aspect of the “self” are welcome and are often seen in all types of writing, including academics. The “academic” writing that one is taught in high school often discourages the use of personal or emotion to get a point across.
Then, in the class 203, Mrs. Gruwell asked her students to start writing a journal everyday about anything they felt, thought and the story they want to write. There were no rules and no grade for this assignment. (43minute; 35second)
Mrs. Gruwell : Now, I have something for each of you. Everyone has their own story, and it’s important for you to tell your own story, even yourself. So, what we’re going to do is we’re gonna write every day in these journals. You can write whatever you want, the past, the present, the future. You can write it like diary, or you can write songs, poems, any good thing, bad thing, anuthing. But you have to write everyday. Keep a pen nearby. Whenever you feel the inspiration. And I will not read them unless you give me permission. I will need to see that you’ve made an entry, but I’ll just do this, skim to see that you wrote that day.
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And for the students, this assignment helps them improve their writing skill and also manage their emotion, because according to Pennebaker and Beall (1986), writing about traumatic, stressful or emotional events has been found to result in improvements in both physical and psychological health. This means, by writing about anything coming up in the students’ mind will help them fix their stress more easily than mock at other people.
4.2.2. Stereotype inside the Classroom
Racial discrimination in the America in the 1960’s was strongly affected by the precedent mindset set by their ancestor, according to Selznick and Steinberg (1971). This argument has proven that there was stereotyping done to the “colored” people, including African-American, Asian-American and Hispanic-American who considered as a minority. It was because White people felt that they had a right to mistreat minority and that they themselves had a higher status. This mindset was hard to change; they believe that White people had a higher level than other races.
However, there is another explanation of stereotype come from Raab (1962) who stated in his book that it is very common to think of discrimination behavior which consists of negative stereotypes. Just like Raab’s statement, the writer found there is a lot of stereotypes shown in the movie, one of them were the stereotype of African-American was commonly made by white people. In this scene, Marcus yelled at Mrs. Gruwell to admit if white people like her always stereotyped African-American in that way. Both of them represented the Negro and the Whites. (32min: 45second)
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Mrs. Gruwell : that’s all you think this is?
Marcus : it ain’t anything else. When I look out in the world, I don’t see nobody that look like me with their pockets full, unless they are rapping a lyric or dribbling a ball. So, what else you got in here for me?
Mrs. Gruwell : and what if you can’t rap a lyric or dribble a ball?
As seen from the above dialogue citation, Marcus wanted to emphasize that according to the whites, African-American people were always related with poverty because he said “Nobody with their pocket full”, except they became a famous rapper who could sing a rap lyric just like Tupac Shakur or become a basketball player like Michael Jordan who could dribble a ball. Actually Marcus wanted to say that the white people only had those three things, poverty, rapper and basket ball player to define African-American people. Moreover, in this dialogue Marcus seemed to be very angry with Mrs. Gruwell who represented the whites in the movie.
Another stereotype for the whites came from Hispanic-American girl, Eva Benitas, she had had a bad experience with Whites since her childhood, when her father and her friend were arrested by white people police for doing nothing. Because of those bad memories of white people, Eva stereotyped all whites were person who could do everything they wanted just because they are Whites. (31min: 57second)
Eva : it’s all about color. It’s about people deciding what you deserve. About people wanting what they don’t deserve, about white thinking they run this world no matter what. You see, I hate white people.
Mrs. Gruwell : you hate me?
Eva : yeah.
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Eva : I know what you can do. I saw white cops shoot my friend in the back for reaching into his pocket! His pocket. I saw white cops break into my house and take my father for no reason, except because they feel like it! Except because they can. And they can because they are white. So I hate white people on sight!
In this conversation, Eva reveals her feeling toward white people, it is clearly seen that as a Hispanic-American she hated white people because of so many unfair treatment she and her race had undergone before. From the dialogue, seen that Eva stereotyped the white people as over-superior people, that they felt to have the right to do anything they want just like the cases of Eva’s father and friends. Harbeck (2009) in her article stated the negative stereotype or unfavorable stereotype can lead to hostility and discrimination against other group.
4.2.2.1. Teaching Technique Dealing with Stereotype inside the Classroom
Stereotyping matters that happened in class 203 forced Mrs. Gruwell to introduce tolerance toward diversity to her students to create a peaceful environment along the teaching-learning process. She believed that a conducive classroom climate was important to help the students to understand the material and improve their skill during the teaching-learning process.
Conducive classroom climate itself is define as the atmosphere inside the classroom that is created by the teacher, run on it means the way teacher interact with the students and the way a physical environment is set up, because the classroom climate influences the students’ achievement, their self-esteem and participation in the lesson, according to Kumar.
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had to find a teaching technique to deal with this problem. So, in her effort to deal with the negative stereotypes, Mrs. Gruwell applied Information-Driven and Thought-Provoking teaching technique during the teaching-learning process.
Bishop (1994) stated that to build a conducive situation is started with Information-Driven technique that informs students about other cultures and provides information on the ways of life in different cultures with a view to broaden the reader vision of culturally diversity. After that, followed with Thought-Provoking that challenges the students to think about issues that they may face in reality, just line up with Barta and Grindler (1996) points out where simply reading about cultural variation may do little effect the degree of inequality in our society.
Mrs. Gruwell adopted the Information-Driven teaching technique by taking all the students into Museum of Tolerance and having dinner with the Holocaust survivor. After they got back to the class, she asked them to read some books including The Diary of Anne Frank. She chose the book because Anne Frank’s story was almost same with the student’s conditions in some cases, for example, Anne Frank lived in the city where the Jews people could killed everyday without reason, only because they were Jews. (01hour, 07min, 31second)
Marcus : Good to see you, man.
Ben Samuels : hey, yeah.
Marcus : How was your summer?
Ben Samuels : Great
Marcus : You still white, I see.
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bags, which contain the four books, we’re gonna read this semester.
The dialogue above happened after they came back from the Museum of Tolerance that brought a positive impact for the students and class climate. They were starting to communicate as friends. We could see that Ben Samuels, the only white inside the class (it is shown in 20min: 27sec when Mrs. Gruwell asked Jamal to switch his seat with Ben and Ben said, “I can’t go back there alone”.) and in the beginning Ben was afraid to become part of the class who seems to hate each other so much, until he know the awful truth that his friends experienced with White. On the other side, the rest of the class also realized that Ben knew nothing about the white police who had arrested Eva’s father and friends.
Besides Information-Driven and Thought-Provoking techniques, Mrs. Gruwell also taught writing especially writing letter technique to help her students to find out the impact of negative stereotype.
Bank (1999) believed that giving new knowledge about diversity only a basic step for the students in the multicultural education. Knowing the new concept, idea and problem from several ethnic is not enough without combining them with activities to strive for social change. Students are not only instructed to understand and question social issues, but also do something important about it. For example after participating in a unit about recent immigrants to North America, students may write letters to senator, Congress and Newspaper editor to express their opinion about new policies.
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months. Not only sending the letter to Miep Gies, the students also asked to Mrs. Gruwell to invite Miep Gies come and have a discussion with them. (01hour, 18min, 17sec)
Mrs. Gruwell : Okay, listen up! Marcus has given me an idea. Instead of doing a book report on The Diary of Anne Frank, for our assignment i want you to write a letter to Miep Gies. The woman who help shelter the Franks. She’s still alive and she lives in Europe. In the letter, I want you to tell her how you feel about the book. Tell her about your own experiences. Tell her about anything you like. But I want the letter to be perfect. So, be prepared to do more than one draft, okay?
Marcus : is she gonna read the letter?
Mrs. Gruwell : well, right now it’s a writing assignment. I’ll read them.
Tito : we should get her to read them.
The dialogue has proven that writing a letter, in this case to Miep Gies, became a part of writing assignment. Moreover, in this assignment they should give their opinion and perspective toward the material, which is close toward their life, including negative stereotype.
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In the Freedom Writer, Mrs. Gruwell applied Ethnic Additive approach when she played a video about a white man who sacrificed himself to save other people inside the bus, which is most of them are “colored” people. (01hour: 33min: 37sec)
in 1961, an interracial civil right group travel by bus through the South, to challenge segregation. Blacks sat in the front, Whites in the back. They were attacked, firebomb, but they’re kept going. In Montgomery, Alabama Jim Swerg offered to be the first off the bus knowing there was a mob, waiting for them. He was almost beaten to death, so the others could get away. This kind of courage is unbelievable to me. I was afraid of just being in this class, and I was ashamed. Because I’ve always been a dumb kid in school, even with my friends. But not anymore. And I must have some kind of courage, because I could have lied to get out of there, but I stayed. I stayed.
Ben Samuels’ monologue above, clearly shows that Mrs. Gruwell has not only integrated and added the understanding, but also provided different perspective to the curriculum without changing its basic structure, purpose and characteristic. Here, Ben Samuels, the only white inside the classroom, feels ashamed of what have been done by his race after knowing how hard his friends’ burden is. Some of them lost so many people they love; some of them lived in juvenile detention and the rest experienced violence. While he never knows how it feels personally. However, Mrs. Gruwell is fair enough to let whole class 203 know that there are still kind people like Jim Swerg, who sacrifice his life to save others, although they come from different race with him. This video also changes the students’ negative stereotype in the beginning that said if all White people are the same. The fact is there are some Whites who fight for equality for human beings no matter what their colors are.
4.2.3. History of Gang/Exclusion
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life. Moreover, Peter admits that exclusion is a form of isolation which places limit or restriction upon contact, communication and social relation. However, the worst part of the gang history is the fact that gangs also exist inside the school, just like Eva’s monologue below. (12min, 39sec)
Eva : My PO doesn’t understand that schools are like the city, and
the city just like a prison. All of them divided into separate
sections depending on tribes. There’s little Cambodian. The
Ghetto. Wonder Bread Land and us, South of The Border or
Little Tijuana. That’s just the way it is, and everyone knows it.
But soon enough, you have little wannabes trying to hit you up
at school, demanding respect they haven’t earned. It looks
likes this, one tribes drifting quietly to another’s territory
without respect, as if to claim what isn’t theirs. An outsider
looking in would never see it, but we could feel it. Something
was coming.
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There are still lot examples of gangs’ history inside the school, but the writer will take some examples of gang existence inside the school by Eva, and Andre’s monologue of themselves when she first joined a gang of Hispanic-American people. (02min: 34sec)
Eva : When I got my initiation, into the gang’s life, I became third generation. They beat you so you won’t break. They are my family.
(49min: 28sec)
Andre : My brother taught me what the life is for the young black man. Do what you have to pimp, deal, whatever. Learn what colors to learn. Gang, boundaries. You can stay on one corner. You can’t stay on another.
These two monologues clearly show how big the gang gave them impact in their life. Eva, who feels safer join with gang that became her second family, after her father and some friends that had been arrested by white polices. Moreover, Eva is not the only one, Andre was another one who joined gang and the worse fact, and he joined the gang because his brother taught him. Eva and Andre were not the only students who join the gang; there were lot students in class 203 that experienced a gang’s life. This fact appropriate toward Spergel’s argument (1995), in his book The Youth Gang Problem: a community approach stated that gang life and gang violence cannot be separated from American life. He also added that the influence of family school and prison can be the cause of the gang life.
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4.2.3.1. Teaching Technique in Dealing with History of Gang
Ideally, school is the safest place and free from gang’s life. Mrs. Gruwell has to admit that some of her students become a part of gang member. And that their gang life and gang loyalty also affect them inside the classroom and it affects the classroom dynamics.
However, instead of pretending not to know and care with students’ achievement, Mrs. Gruwell chooses to help them achieve their succeeds. Sharkey et al (2008) state school factor have power to enhance academic behavioral, and outcomes of at-risk youth trough caring, relationship and high expectations.
Mrs Gruwell believes that she has a responsibility to bring her students reach their success, so she set a plan of teaching to deal with gang’s life in her class. The first technique is Fishbowl teaching technique that also used in dealing with negative stereotype classroom problem before. Here, in to deal with history of the gang’s problem fishbowl technique clearly shown in film, when Mrs. Gruwell is let her students invites Miep Gies and have a discussion with a woman who give shelter for Anne Frank. (01hour: 22min: 40sec) earring, or knick-knack, you know, anything I could take back with me, all these things, and the soldier there took out his gun and put it against my head. You could be shot for hiding a Jew or go to a camp. So, another soldier recognizes my accent. He was Austrian and so was I, but I have been adopted to a Dutch family. So, he told the soldier with a gun to let me go. That isn’t a day that I don’t remember, August 4th and I think about Anne Frank. Yes?
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Miep Gies : oh no, no. no. young man, no. I am not a hero. No. I did what I have to do, because it was the right thing to do. That’s all. You know, we are all ordinary people, but even an ordinary secretary or a housewife or a teenager. Can, within theirs own small ways turn on a small light. In a dark room. Ya? I have read your letter and your teacher has been telling me many things about your experiences. You are the hero, you are heroes everyday, your faces are engraves in my heart.
The discussion with Miep Gies above could be held because all member of class actively take a part in fund raising for discussion with Miep Gies. Furthermore, this discussion brings a huge impact to Marcus, an African-American student who was already kicked out by her mother because he got jump into gang’s life. After the discussion with Miep Gies, he decided to see his mother and apologized to her. More than that, he wanted to go back home, which means Marcus left the gang, because her mother never let him get into gang’s life.
In the film, Mrs. Gruwell used some technique to deal with gang’s life among her students, one more example is Information-Driven and Thought-Provoking teaching techniques.
Firstly, Mrs. Gruwell provided several books containing gang’s life issue such as Romeo and Juliet, Durango Street by Frank Bonham and The Diary of Anne Frank to give deeper information about gang’s life toward her students. Moreover, she just encouraged her students to learn from Anne Frank’s life, just like what Marcus said below. (01hour: 17min: 35sec)
Marcus : Cause it’s true?
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Marcus : you’re talking around me. That the same thing. See, to me she ain’t death at all. How many friends did you know they are death now or got killed?
Eva : Too many to count.
Marcus : have you see them on TV or even in the newspaper? That’s
why this story dope. She was our age, man. Anne Frank understand our situation, my situation.
From the dialogues above, we can see that the book of Anne Frank influences Marcus a lot. He gets information from the book about Anne Frank although she died in her young age, and he is comparing his life with this book. Like what he said to Eva, there are a lot people around them, relatives and friends who died in a young age and their death are not published or even informed in media, so people do not know what they had been strove until their death. Marcus learns that he has to make something if he wants to be remembered after he has died later on, that just the way Thought-Provoking technique work. This technique empowers them to be critical thinkers, who are aware of their situation after reading or knowing about new information.
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Students : Ms. G? Can I read something from my diary?
Mrs. Gruwell : that’d be great.
Jamal : who is he?
Gloria : man, he’s been with us from freshman year, fool.
Jamal : What’s his name?
Gloria : I don’t know
Student : “this summer was the worst summer in my short 14 years of life. It all started with a phone call. My mother was crying and begging, asking for more time as if she gasping for her last breath of air. She held me as tight as she could and cried. Her tears hit my shirt like a bullet and told me we were being homeless? The bus stops in front of the school. I am wearing clothes from last year, so old shoes and no new haircut. I kept thinking I’d get laugh at. Instead, I’m greeted by a couple of friends who were in my English class last year. And it hits me, Ms. Gruwell, my crazy English teacher from last year is the only person that make me think of hope. Talking with friends about last year’s English and our trips, I began to feel better. I receive my schedule and first teacher is Mrs. Gruwell in room 203. I walk into the room and feel as though all the problems in life are not so important anymore. I am home.”
Mrs. Gruwell : Yes, you are
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with the situation when first the student from the different ethnicities and gangs gathering in room 203 brings their own race and gangs identity.
4.2.4. Gang or Race Extreme Loyalty
According to Snyder and Sickmund (2006), most of gang member begin their involvement in gangs as youth, just like Eva’s confession in the monologue when she became third generation of her gang.
Then, after she joined with a gang, there are some advantages that she got. The first is safety need: security and protection, as we know that the situation at that time is not secure, becoming gang’s member provide protection. Walker-Benes and Mason (2001) explain that gangs provide “backup” and powerful collectivist perception that messing with one member meant having to deal with other people in the gang.
The clear example of this case, shown in the film when Grant Rice, an African-American mess-up with Hispanic-American’s student by walk through theirs territory without respect. Just like Eva’s monologue said, when one tribe drifting to another’s territory without respect, as if to claim what is not theirs, it will end up with fight.
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the Asian-American boy by his gun. After this case, Eva officially become witness and Rice Grant become suspect who have to be jailed and responsible toward the death of Cindy’s friend.
Here, there is scene of Eva’s monologue about the reason behind her decision to tell the police that Rice Grant is the one who killed the boy, instead telling the truth that Paco did. (50min: 33sec)
Eva : I don’t even know how this war started. It’s just two sides who tripped each other way back. Who cares with the story behind it? I am my father’s daughter. And when they call me to testify I will protect my own, no matter what.
Clearly shown in the monologue above that Eva has had her own decision to keep the fact, Paco killed the boy. Moreover, she did that because she as her loyalty and wants to protect her gang from the police, although that means she is sacrificing other people who did not do anything.
Loyalty toward gang is also shown by Marcus, an African-American who left his mother after he joined a gang. Marcus was kick out by his mother, because his mother did not let Marcus jump into gang’s life, she is worried something bad will happen to him, but he decided never to leave the gang, so her mother kick him out from the house. According to Charlie (2000), gang members may experience feelings of powerlessness and alienation and seek out gangs to establish a sense of power and control over one’s self, others and life situation.
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As soon as joining the gang, Marcus is willing to exchange everything he had, including his mother. He prefers losing her mother to leaving the gang; he prefers living in street to feeling safe at home with her mother. Not only leaving her mother, Marcus’ loyalty toward gang is also shown by the scene when he talks to Mrs. Gruwell below. (33min: 10sec)
Marcus : Lady, I am lucky if I made it to 18. We are in a war. We’re graduating every day we live. Because we ain’t afraid to die protecting our own. at least when you die for your own, you die with respect, you die a warrior.
From what Marcus said above, we can see that for him, the loyalty of being a gang’s member is dying respectfully when they die to protect their gang’s reputation. This belief fits Stretesky and Pogrebin’s (2007) opinion that stated gangs can influence a person’s identity development and personality, and that loyalty is extremely important. Moreover, gang’s member indicates that gang provides them with companionship and support and opportunities to participate in fun social events. Some gangs member feel as though as they can depend on or rely on each other whenever they need it and gangs member maybe willing to kill or be killed for the gang in order to sustain their self-perception as a loyal gang member.
4.2.4.1. Teaching Technique dealing with Gang’s Loyalty
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but also as collaborators in provision of other social service, recreational programs and antigang and psychosocial curriculum delivery, although many gang members are dropouts who have been long alienate from school environment, sizeable percentages of gang members are still active school participants (Spergel, 1990)
Knowing that fact, Mrs. Gruwell wanted to encourage her students to graduate from high school and reach their success. Furthermore, Mrs. Gruwell is trying to help their student by using Information-Driven and Thought-Provoking teaching techniques, that are also used to deal with negative stereotype before.
Mrs. Gruwell starts the information-driven by letting her students to read a material close to their experience although the material is not included in the curriculum. Some books like Durango Street (talking about gangster) and The Diary of Anne Frank (talking about Holocaust) were given to broaden the students’ vision of
something related to their life.
Then, for the thought-provoking, Mrs. Gruwell asks them to have discussions about the book and make a book report on it. Not only that, she also brings her students into the Museum of Tolerance as information-driven, before letting them think about similar problems that they may have in the reality, which is one of the problems coming from gang involvement that creates intolerance and conflict between each member of the gangs.
Besides using Information-Driven and Thought-Provoking, Mrs. Gruwell also applied Ethnic Additive to deal with loyalty into gang’s problem. Here, she accomplishes this approach by adding a book, unit or a course of the curriculum without changing it substantially (Bank 2006).
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Student : I know.
Mrs. Gruwell : okay, guys, gals. Listen up! The only problem with this book is it’s about a gang member and there’s violence in it, so, you may not be able to read it as a part of curriculum. So, I am going to try my best to get permission, alright?
From this dialogue above, the writer found that Mrs. Gruwell tries to integrate the existing curriculum with adding its content, concept, themes and perspective without changing the basic curriculum. She considers the book, Durango Street, will give a new perspective and understanding toward students’ understanding of gang’s life.
Then, Mrs. Gruwell also asks her students to write a Letter to Miep Gies following the both Ethnic Additive and Information-Driven & Thought-Provoking technique. Here, writing letter become evidence of students understanding of the book and comparing with their own experiences.
After writing a letter to Miep Gies, they also invite her into Woodrow Wilson High School and have a discussion with her about what students’ opinion toward them; finally she said that what she did to Anne Frank is not something tremendous. She just did what she had to do because it is right to do, and this simple understanding let Eva to tell the truth when she give testify in the court. (01hour. 28min: 48sec)
Eva : I saw…. I saw… Paco did it. Paco killed the guy.
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However, Eva never regrets her testimony in the court; because she has made did the right decision, as expressed in the following quotation.
Eva : My father won’t talk to me anymore. And I have to lay low
for a little while because there’s word out to jump me. So, I am gonna be living with my aunt. See, my aunt lives even further away, so I was just wondering if I could, like, stay here late with you. So, I can get my homework done, cause’ it’s late by the time I get home.
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSION
5.1.CONCLUSION
In this chapter, after doing analysis and interpretation of the data, the writer is going to conclude and summarize the answer of the following question: what are the challenges or problems that occur in multicultural class in the “Freedom Writers” film and what the teaching techniques that used to be deal with the problems. The writer concludes that the challenges or problems that occur in the multicultural class are mockery, negative stereotypes, history of a gang and gang’s loyalty.
The first conclusion is mockery inside the class. This was shown when someone draws or says something bad about others because of their diversity. This behavior is reflected when a Hispanic-American student drew and passed picture that mocked at African-American student, and also when an African-American student said something bad about others although they come from the same race. These behaviors came up because they considered others as lower than them, so they thought they did not need to respect the others.
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The existence of gang’s life and its history also become another conclusion of how class situation were not conducive for teaching-learning activity, because some students became member of the gang. For example, when Hispanic-American students got a fight with African-American students where finally it killed Asian-American who stood around them when they had fight, and when African-Asian-American sold a drug and had a part in violent behavior because his brother taught him this way to become a real Negro. Another reason for students’ decision to join into gang affiliation were they wanted to look for security or were introduced by theirs family.
Then, gang’s loyalty also becomes a problem inside the class, because what they and their gang do outside will bring an impact inside the room. For example, when Cambodian guy died of being shot by a Latino who actually wanted to kill an African-American, there were some students that join a gang’s member and take part in criminal behavior that led them into juvenile or connected into law field, and also an student who was kicked-out by his mother because he joined a gang life.
