Stand and Deliver

Bad teaching vs. good teaching

After watching the movie Stand and Deliver, I have come to the conclusion that there is no bad teaching involved at all. Of course this is all based on personal perspective, but in every scene where Mr. Escalante comes across as too "harsh", or maybe too belittling of his students, he manages to always make a strong point of why he acts the way he does, which is also a lesson in itself why we should never be too quick to judge a situation.
Mr. Escalante criticizes his students and sometimes even humiliates them. At first glance his strategies might come across as bad teaching, but in reality he uses his methods to encourage his students to try harder and do better. He challenges them.
In one particular scene, Pancho is solving a Calculus problem on the board in front of the class. He becomes overwhelmed with the problem and feels he cannot do it. Pancho expresses to Mr. Escalante in front of the whole class, that everybody knows he is the dumbest person in school and doesn't have what it takes to learn Calculus. Pancho goes on mentioning to the whole class that he wants to quit school instead of letting the rest of the class down by failing the test. But Mr. Escalante refuses to give in to his outburst of self pity. He mocks Pancho by telling him in a very sarcastic voice how "heartbroken" everybody must feel for the "noble sacrifice" his student is making for the "sake of his team". He asks Pancho:" You want me to do this for you," referring to the Calculus problem on the board. Pancho answers:" Yes," and Mr. Escalante answers by telling his student:" You're supposed to say NO." He does not want Pancho to just give up and quit, he wants him to try harder and succeed. In the movie Pancho also mentions how he wants to join a union and work in construction. He tells Mr. Escalante that in two years, he will be making more money than his teacher does. So the teacher takes his student for a car ride. During the ride he speeds up the car and almost crashes. He gives his student the choice of which way to turn to avoid an accident. Pancho makes a split-second decision and tells Mr. Escalante in a very panicked moment to turn right. The teacher follows his students instructions and turns right. The erratic car ride comes to a stop at a Dead End. Mr. Escalante tells Pancho then:" All you see is the turn. You don't see the road ahead." Even though his approach to getting his point across is much exaggerated, it does seem to have a very positive effect on Pancho. He stays in school and keeps working hard at learning Calculus.

Another example of "bad teaching" happens, when Mr. Escalante exposes Claudia in front of the class as she decides to just leave early. He makes the comment:" She has more boyfriends than Elizabeth Taylor." Claudia get's upset with how he humiliates her in front of everybody by replying:" I don't appreciate you using my personal life to entertain this class," then she storms out of the classroom. Mr. Escalante realizes that something is wrong and that he's crossed the line. He goes after Claudia to find out what's really bothering her. Apparantly she's dealing with the regular teenage issues that many adolescent kids have. Mr. Escalante does not shrug her problems off, but offers Claudia comfort and support instead. Even with that gesture he's showing that he's a good teacher because he cares for his student and let's her know he's there for her, no matter what.

The other teachers feel as if Mr. Escalante is setting up his students for failure by raising the standards higher than the schools expectations, but Mr. Escalante disagrees with this way of thinking and says, quote:" Students will rise to the level of expectations," suggesting his students need to be more challenged to succeed and also do better than society gives them credit for.
It makes him a great teacher for setting up a path to a better future for his students and implementing self confidence in teens that are under privileged and had no faith in their own abilities before.