Movie- Finding Forrester

    In the movie Finding Forrester, Jamal has two literature teachers, Forrester and Crawford. However, their ways of teaching Jamal are different in two parts-style and trust. Teaching style of Forrester and Crawford are obviously different. Literature that Crawford teaches is directly from the textbooks. As a result, the students in his class only learn to memorize the quotes from essays of famous writers. 

    In addition, Crawford doesn’t teach Jamal how to write a draft. All he does is giving his students a deadline to complete an essay. On the other hand, Forrester teaches Jamal in a flexible way. He always answers Jamal whenever he asks him questions. It is a relatively effective way to teach a student what he or she particularly needs. Also, Forrester teaches Jamal to write a draft in a special way. “You write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite it with your head.” This writing method helps Jamal a lot to complete his draft in a short time. 

    After Jamal handing in the draft to Crawford, Crawford and his colleagues are amazed at Jamal’s talent for writing. Nevertheless, Crawford doesn’t believe that Jamal, a black student who is brilliant in basketball, is able to write perfectly. To confirm Jamal is truly talented, he asks Jamal to write another draft in his office. This movement outrages and frustrates Jamal. On the contrary, Forrester encourages Jamal to keep writing every day and asks Jamal not to be mad at Crawford. Because of trust, Forrester spares no effort to teach Jamal. With Forrester’s help, Jamal’s writing improves dramatically. 

    In conclusion, teachers should be aware of their teaching styles and trust their students, and it will be a way for a teacher to become a better teacher.