Jaime Escalante was a business man that decided that he wanted to go back and start teaching mathematics again. The school which he got allocated to was in a deprived area with many gangs. The class that he got given was very challenging with a couple of gang members in it. As the classes went on, he attempted many different methods to engage the pupils, which is something the other teachers in the school did not do. This worked for a while, but he couldn’t stop the gang members in his class to behave. He soon changed that by making fun of them, to prove that in his class they were not superior but equal, and did not leave them out but used them to teach. In a staffroom meeting they were saying that it was impossible for the maths pupils to pass any of their exams and Jaime would not accept this. He fell out with the other members of staff to prove to them that it was possible if the hard work was put in. He spent his summer with his class in extreme heats to make sure that they would pass. He was one hundred percent dedicated from the start and it paid off. They all ended up passing the exam. Sadly, they got questioned due to who they were and had to resit the exam. They resat it and passed again, proving them wrong.

He was different to the other teachers because he did not blame the bad grades on the socio-economic background, but on the teaching. He was the only teacher in the whole school who tried his hardest to achieve the “impossible”, which ofcourse is possible. He also did not let himself get bullied by the gang members, which put him at an automatic advantage over the other teachers. One thing which I noticed, was that he did not speak to them in the correct manner which is expected from us as teachers, but spoke to them as friends and used the same slang which they did, which allowed them to feel more comfortable and easier learning environment.

I asked myself why our lecturer had given us this tutor directed task to do. After writing what happened in the film above, it became clear. It was to see a teacher who was extremely motivated and what the outcomes of that would be. Stand and Deliver showed me that to really become the best teacher I can be, i have to be as determined and motivated as I can everyday and wanting the best for my class at all times. Jaime Escalante is portraying a teacher wich I admire to and will stride to be like.