In the last few weeks, since the “Education Nation” talks and Oprah show on Education, there have been numerous references towards “Waiting for Superman” in blog posts. Many have talked about the “Superman” that will come and save our schools, while many have been upset about the roles three non-educational celebrities (Oprah, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg) have taken as “leaders of education reform”. This story seems less to me about “Superman”, than it does about the Three Amigos.
If you have never seen “The Three Amigos” movie, here is a quick synopsis from IMDB:
When silent film stars Lucky Day, Dusty Bottoms and Ned Nederlander get fired, they take a job offer from Mexico: Doing a show with El Guapo, supposedly the most famous actor there. Traveling there in hope of getting good money, they arrive only to learn soon that El Guapo is not an actor, but a cruel gang leader suppressing people. He abducts the mayor’s beautiful daughter Carmen (to be his wife) in revenge for the people’s cry for help. Now, all hopes of the village folks rest on the weak shoulders of three minor-talented actors, who can’t just walk off the set this time.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092086/plotsummary
Obviously, the Three Amigos in our story would be Oprah, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg. It relates quite nicely as although the Three Amigos in the movie play action heroes, they are actually only celebrities. Our Three Amigos in education reform, aren’t really educators, but they are actually only celebrities. El Guapo is the villain in this movie, while failing schools are the villain in American education system.
I won’t go through the whole movie, but ultimately it is revealed that the “heroes” are nothing more than celebrities (sound familiar?). It is not until the “people” (educators) are empowered and learn that THEY need to use their strengths, do they ultimately defeat the villain El Guapo.
Any real education reform will happen through the positive stories of our success and based upon the strengths of our current educators, not the celebrities. We need to share more of these stories, and many would argue that this is not optional anymore. Yes sometimes we can be motivated by these “celebrities” to make change (either in a positive or negative way), so take all this talk, and start your own conversations. Talk about what makes our schools great. How we are positively impacting the future of our students and are teaching our students to become self-directed learners. Share their creative and passionate projects that our students are creating.
Don’t wait for the story of Superman but recreate the ending of the Three Amigos. Sharing the strengths and the positives of what is happening in our schools, and real change will be made.
How can you not love this movie?
