Produced by Freke Vuijst and Tana Ross, Green Room Productions
This
high-spirited film brings us to the International High School, a public high
school in New York City where recent immigrants from 43 countries create the
most multicultural classroom imaginable. Besides the standard curriculum, much
of their time is spent mastering the new language and exploring their relationship
to their new society and to one another.
The teachers and the principal are sensitive to the conflicts students face between clinging to their cultural roots and assimilating. Although students often gravitate to others from a similar culture, they learn at the school to respect one another's differences. School is a very open environment, with free-wheeling discussions on all aspects of their lives.
Innovative teaching methods are encouraged. Discovering that standard English instruction (ESL) bored the kids, a teacher turned the class into a comparative linguistics lab. He had them examine the structure of their own languages, using that as a base to learn the new language.
High School of American Dreams shows how cultural and racial differences can be reconciled within the educational system by facilitating communication and channeling youthful enthusiasm.
30 min. Video or DVD. Sale $195. Rent $55.
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