EVERY CHILD IS SPECIAL MOVIE ANALYSIS LOPEZ |1

EVERY CHILD IS SPECIAL

Shaira T. Lopez
BSEDEN 4-2D
Prof. Lina Felices
The Teaching Profession
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INTRODUCTION

Teaching is the noblest profession of all; also, the most rewarding and precious

profession. In teaching you cannot see the fruit of today’s labor. It is invisible but will

remain in the minds and hearts of the students forever. Teaching is not like any ordinary

profession, it is living the profession itself; it is a crusade –a vocation.

In teaching, it is not enough to only spare some time and effort for our students.

Moreover, teaching is giving all the greatest and the best for the students. Teaching is

giving the 100.1% of love, effort, understanding and patience without asking anything in

return. Henry Brooks Adams said that, A teacher affects eternity, he can never tell

where his influence stops. By this, teachers can both make and break a student.

Teachers can make successful individuals as well as can create perilous monsters.

Therefore, it is the teachers’ responsibility to ensure that they are not only teaching the

students the academics but also instil to the hearts and minds of the students the values

of life, for them to be better citizens of the society.

Furthermore, it is the teachers’ duty to promote quality education for the students.

Teachers’ must cultivate minds and develop the intelligence every student possesses.

As what Albert Einstein said: It is the supreme art of teacher to awaken joy in creative

expression and knowledge. Teachers must make an exceptional teaching-learning

process that can encourage students to do more, study more and excel more in their

own pace. Teachers must also create a healthy environment that promotes love,

respect, harmony and equality for all learners. As well as, considering individual

differences and the strengths and weaknesses of every learner. Teachers are
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considered as the second parents of the students so they must take the responsibility of

giving the students the love and understanding they deserve.

Teaching is not as easy as it seems. Teaching is giving your whole life, giving all you

have and all you are for the sake of the students.

I. ANALYSIS

1. Relate four pillars of Educational Learning to the Movie ‘Every Child is

Special’.

Learning to know pillar of education may be regarded as both a means and an

end of human existence. Looking at it as a means, people have to learn to

understand the world around them, at least as much is necessary for them to live with

some dignity, develop their occupational skills, and communicate with other people.

In relation to the movie, Ishan is a child who is suffering from a neurological disorder

called dyslexia. He has a condition wherein he has a difficulty in recognizing letters

and numbers. Since he has this condition he can’t write and read properly. People

around him do not realize his condition because they are blinded by his wrongdoings.

They haven’t realized how difficult it is for him to have that kind of condition. They call

him as a disobedient, shameless, lazy and stupid kid because they do not understand

how hard for him to be like that. At first, his teachers do not understand him but when

teacher Ram learned about his condition, he tried his very best to help him cope with

this. He spent lots of his time, effort, and patience in teaching Ishan the basic

knowledge in recognizing and perceiving letters and numbers.

Learning to know is a pillar that helps us to have a broader knowledge so that we

can better understand the many different aspects of our environment. It encourages

greater intellectual curiosity, sharpens the critical faculties and enables people to

develop their personal judgement with the world around them. As learning to know

suggest, people must learn to understand first the world around us and the situation

behind it before ending up in conclusions.

Moreover, Learning to do is a pillar of education that implies in application of what

learners have learned or known into practice. Teacher Ram had thought Ishan the

basics, he taught him to read, write and solve equations. After Ishan mastered these

skills, he let him practice these on his own. Even though he saw that Ishan was ready

to adapt in the wicked world, he still stayed on his side by and by to guide him.

Learning to do—means the ability to communicate effectively with others; aptitude

toward team work; social skills in building meaningful interpersonal relationships;

adaptability to change in the world of work and in social life; and readiness to take

risks and resolve and manage conflicts.

Furthermore, Learning to live together implies both discovery of others and

experience of shared purposes. In discovering others, students are taught about

human diversity and to instil in them awareness of the similarities and

interdependence of all people. The title of the movie clearly emphasizes the

discovery of other people, “Every child is special” means that, we all have individual

differences yet we are all special in our own ways. Our strengths, weaknesses,

talents, and imperfections make us all exceptional. Our diversity makes us all unique.
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On the other hand, in experiencing shared purposes, people work together on

different projects with unaccustomed actions. By this, differences and conflicts tend to

disappear. A new form of identity is created by these projects which enables people

to transcend the routines of their personal life and attach value to what we have in

common as against what divides them. The movie showed learning to live together

when they all gathered for a single purpose—to paint. They are together in a single

place, doing the same thing. The activity taught them the importance of unity.

Finally, Learning to be is a pillar that aims the complete fulfilment of man, in all the

richness of his personality, the complexity of his forms of expression and his various

commitments –as an individual, member of a family and a community and a creative

dreamer.

In the movie, Teacher Ram changed Ishan’s whole life, from the time he learned

that he have this dyslexia who himself had this when he was still young. From the

very moment he decided to check Ishan’s records, visited to his home and explained

to his parents and enlightened them about his condition, talked to the principal and

asked him to be considerate up to the time he patiently taught him all of the things he

must had learned. He saved him from being swallowed by his own depression. He

has able not only to improve his studies but also to be a great painter. He boosted his

dying self-confidence. He was able to make Ishan a normal kid with a normal life.

2. The Traditional and Non-traditional role of Teachers.

Traditional teaching is concerned with the teacher being the central of the

learning environment. Power and responsibility are held by the teacher and they play
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the role of instructor and decision maker. They regard students as having

‘knowledge holes that needed to be fill with information. In short, traditional teacher

views that the teacher is sole and the fountain of all information inside the

classroom. In relation to the movie, Ishan’s teachers in his former school as well as

his new teachers are all traditional teachers. They are just bounded with the rules

they have set inside the classroom. They do not ask the children’s opinions and

suggestions. The children’s former art teacher is considered as a traditional teacher.

He is requiring the students to do only what he had said, he is bounding the students

in their boxes. He is the sole authority and source of all knowledge in the classroom.

He is also giving the students corporal punishments if they didn’t follow his rules and

dictations.

However, non traditional teaching is learner-centered. Learners’ needs, interests,

skills, strengths and weaknesses are all taken into consideration. The environment is

a teaching-learning environment. Teachers will give a lesson and then he or she will

ask the students insight about the certain topic. In here, learning is a two way

process —students learn from their teachers and teachers learn from their students.

The teachers are not bounding the students, instead they are encouraging them to

do more, and excel more; teachers encourage the students to go out of their comfort

zones. Non-traditional teachers are no longer called fountain of knowledge, instead

they are called as the facilitator of learning inside the classroom. Non-traditional role

of teachers are being a manager, counsellor, supervisor, facilitator, motivator,

instructor, curriculum specialist, and parent-surrogate. In relation to the movie,

teacher Ram asked the students to express themselves through painting. He didn’t
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ask them to draw only what he will say or imitate what he had drawn. Instead, he

encouraged the students to draw anything they want to. He told them to search in

their endless imagination. Teacher Ram is considered as a non traditional teacher

because he facilitated learning and motivated his students to excel in their own

pace.

3. The attributes of a good teacher.

Many are called but few are chosen, one of the most inspiring verses in the Holy

Scripture. Everyone can teach but not all can be good teachers. Good teachers are

heaven sent. A good teacher loves to teach, demonstrate a caring attitude and can

relate to his/her students. A good teacher can also think outside the box, an

excellent communicator, a proactive than reactive and strives to do better. He/she

also uses varieties of media in the lessons as well as challenges the students.

Finally, he/she understands the content he/she is teaching and knows how to

explain the content in a manner that students can understand. Teacher Ram is one

example of a good teacher, maybe the best. He is not the kind of teacher that only

cares for students when inside the classroom. He is a teacher that can be leaned on

in times of problems and troubles. In the movie, he showed if not all, most of the

attributes of a good teacher.

II. RECOMENDATION/REACTION

I will give more of my reactions to the movie. While watching the movie, I cannot

help myself but to cry. I am emotional throughout the movie. It gave me roller

coaster of emotion—I became happy and sad amazed and angry.

The time when Ishan parents decided to send him in a boarding school caused

pain in my heart. Even if I, myself is already a young adult, I’m being a crybaby

whenever I am not with my family, how come Ishan who is only a young boy with a

dyslexia? My heart swelled when the time they left Ishan in the boarding school, I felt

the pain of the mother who doesn’t want to be away from her child but she cannot do

anything to help his son. I also felt the pain of Ishan, it’s like he was sent away because

they believe he can change his attitudes without knowing what his condition is. I can

feel his pain, his longing and his dying self-esteem; he almost surrendered painting

because he thought that he is a worthless being, that even his parents sent him away.

The flip book Ishan made who tell story about his longing to his family broke my heart

many times.

Teacher Ram made me realize that I do not yet deserve to be a teacher because

up until now, I am honestly saying that I am not yet as passionate as he is. Teacher ram

opened my eyes to the true reality of life of a teacher. It is not enough to do good for the

students; it must be always the best. From his simple efforts and sacrifices, he was able

to change a life; he was able to preserve a one of a kind being. He was able to discover

a precious gem amongst us—who is a child with dyslexia, Ishan.