Lean on Me

Lean on Me

Morgan Freeman stars in a film about a group of inner city children who conquered their ultimate goals in the midst of insurmountable odds. Morgan Freeman portrays Joe Clark in this movie adaptation of a true story that occurred at Eastside High School in New Jersey in 1987. This movie teaches lessons about rising despite what negative thoughts other persons imprint in one's mind. It also shows that one should be responsible for learning and the development of oneself.

Initially a school with a predominantly white population in the 60's, Eastside High School was thriving. Due to the radical protest activities of teacher Joe Clark which tarnished the school's reputation, the other teachers agreed to take the administration's offers of transferring Mr. Clark in exchange for higher salaries. Twenty years later, the school transformed into a 'hell hole' with acts of violence and drug dealing prevalent on campus and a Basic Skills pass rate a staggering thirty seven percent lower than the required seventy five percent. After two decades of absence, Mr. Clark was summoned to assume the position of principal in an effort to change the image of the school and increase test scores. Still hurt by the betrayal in the past, Mr. Clark reluctantly accepts his appointment to the position. Through motivation and establishing a feeling of one-ness, Mr. Clark achieves the task of improving the test scores as well as school conditions. Regardless of the numerous roadblocks on the path to success, Mr. Clark, with the help of faculty and students was able to accomplish his initial goal.

Though appointed as principal, Mr. Clark still assumed the roles of a teacher in addition to his role as an administrator. As an administrator, he commanded attention and the recognition that he is the only one in charge. His first order of business was to hold a meeting with the staff to make changes and give them a glimpse of his personal style. He used a very authoritative method of addressing staff members, he demoted a teacher, though in a very degrading manner because he felt that the area in which he was being demoted to needed improvement.

He systematically criticized the teachers' methods as he postulated that it was because the teachers were not doing their jobs that the students had failing grades. Mr. Clark used the principles of teaching as a science in his way of addressing the teachers. He changed his intonation; spoke in a raised, stern voice when addressing serious issues. Furthermore he instructed teachers to take back control over the students and to treat them how they would want to be treated. Mr. Clark says "if you treat them like animals, that's exactly how they will behave". This shows that a little respect can go a long way. When the faculty did a good job, he complimented them with a simple nod or a 'thumbs up'.

Regardless of his seemingly rough exterior, Mr. Clark was extremely understanding and tolerant of his students while still enforcing the view that discipline comes first. In his first encounter with the students, he called a general assembly in which he expelled all the troublemakers, using the analogy that one bad apple spoils the rest. He met some resistance at a parent teacher meeting held subsequently where some parents of the 'bad apples' felt that their children's rights were being violated. He addressed their concerns by suggesting that parents help their children with their schoolwork and help them keep their priorities straight. At that assembly he offered the students the opportunity to take responsibility for their learning. He shared with the students the benefits of working hard versus giving up. He counselled a female student and assured her that if she had any problems she could come to him. In addition, Mr. Clark showed interest in his students by walking among them in the cafeteria during lunch and allowing them to voice their concerns, recommendations and suggestions. He listened and took measures to help them. For example a student who had been taking care of her siblings did not want to take the home economics class as she had a sufficient knowledge of the content through life experience. Mr. Clark wrote her a note in which she could enter a mechanics class where her time would not be wasted. In addition to hearing the students' problems, he also gave students viable advice and sometimes a little shove in the right direction. He took a student who had been abusing drugs and not taking school seriously on the roof and compared his use of crack cocaine to jumping off the roof, stating that since the drug kills the brain anyway, the better option might be to just jump. This somewhat harsh method of extrinsic motivation worked as the student, though needing a little shove now and then, was on the right path to scholastic success. On the other hand, Mr. Clark shows that not every student can be helped: a student who was involved in fighting incidents over drugs announced to Mr. Clark that he was dropping out of school, rather in his terms; he was 'moving on'. Mr. Clark tried to coax the student out of this radical decision and firmly stated the he would be dead in a year if he dropped out but was unsuccessful as the student stuck to his decision to leave. However, in the majority of the cases where Mr. Clark's extreme methods worked, he did not simply speak to his students, he followed up on them to ensure that they were on the right path and were not falling into their maladaptive ways again.