Freedom to realize.

There have been many, in fact countless movies made about educators. One of the more recent ones is “Freedom Writers” starring Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) and Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy). But what makes this movie stand out from all other dime-a-dozen movies about teachers is that this one starred real people. They are people who auditioned fresh off the street. They are people with real-life street problems.

Not actors. It is not presented by people whose one paycheck is equivalent to two of our lifetimes. Or maybe even three. There is a real and raw energy that effused from the screen.

Beyond the acting and the cast, it is the message that truly hits the audience. It speaks about those whose desire is to teach; why they want to, why they feel compelled to. It also speaks about the learners; why they learn, why they want to learn and how they learn. Within those lines, tangled in the plot and subplots is a little message that anyone can pick up.

Nobody really learns anything per se. Everybody, it seems, already knows what they need to know. The real learning actually, discovering within yourself what one already knows. The real key to learning, therefore, is to find that trigger that sets one on the journey of exploration, realization and ultimately recognition of the knowledge.

The role of the trigger inadvertently lands on the teacher. A teacher finds the language necessary to facilitate communication – the vessel that sets one on the ocean of cacophony, journeying inwards to the beacon that is the realization of the knowledge. The beacon is there – is just needs to be found. In order to be found, one must be interested to want to explore and discover it.

A teacher should pique your interest and curiosity – the necessary and powerful first ripple.

A teacher, on the other hand, may also frustrate, negate and ultimately neglect the duty to find the medium to communicate. And ultimately become the stumbling block to learning, which means the teacher obstructs the learner to discovery. That inevitably makes one the snuffer, the murderer of light. It is the light that is the wisdom and knowledge of self and the world.

It is commonly said that one can only bring a horse to the water. One cannot force the horse to drink. But a good groom or steward allows the horse to realize that it needs to drink. Not because it is necessarily thirsty, but that the water is good nourishment for the horse. Not just one time, but ALL the time.

Note: Freedom Writers Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1997, was started by Erin Gruwell (whose real-life story the movie is base on) and her students to positively impact communities by decreasing high school drop out rates through the replication and enhancement of the Freedom Writers Method. You can find out more about them here.