It astounds me to see all those things Joe Clark boldly did to reform the school. Of course, at the beginning itself, I was taken aback at the realisation of the existance of such a terrible school as portrayed in the movie. The way the students conduct themselves, the lack of respect for teachers, the vandalism, the crime committed within school compounds really threw me off guard. For a moment, I was a little scared, imagining if I were to face the same circumstances in my future teaching career.
Anyway, back to the movie. Joe Clark is this assertive, strong-willed, uptight man whose ways to reform the school caused a whole lot of controversial. It landed him behind bars at one point. However, it touched me that though his ways weren't acceptable by everyone, still; he managed to gain recognition and respect, and most importantly thoroughly reformed the entire school for the better.
One of the first things Joe Clark did to reform this school was expelling 300 minority students who he claimed were educationally hopeless and overage underachievers, parasites, hoodlums, and drug pushers. To make sure these now ex-students stayed out and could not return, Clark chained and locked the school doors from the inside. Clark demanded respect from not only his students but also with the facility. If respect was not given Clark simply removed you from the school.
There was this instance in the movie whereby a certain music teacher was being rude to him. I enjoyed that particular scene where he fires her for her lack of respect. Also, the way Joe Clark dealt with the boy who got expelled and wanted to come back to school was amazing. In fact, the way in which the principle deals with his students are : he threatens them, locks them inside the school, embarrasses them in front of others and intimidates them. (- . -)
Joe Clark's mission was to turn this crime, drug and graffiti infested school and completely reform them in one year's time.. This seems like a pretty challenging thing to do. But, alas; he managed to achieve it, and was in fact popular with many of his students.
However, though Joe Clark is often portrayed as strict and such, one could see that he has a softer side to him. He personally attends to the needs of certain ones of his students - such as that young girl whose mother didn't want her anymore.
Finally, my favourite scene in this show was when Joe Clark praised the piano teacher when she taught a different version of the school song to some of the students. This shows that Mr. Principle isn't such a hard-hearted man after all. He is seen to give reward and praise when it's due. Furthermore, though at most instances in this movie he seems to carry about an aura of terrorism, he also exudes confidence and possesses wit in his dealings.
'Lean on Me" has surpassed the expectations I have on teachers nowadays, and I hope that I too, would be able to learn valuable lessons and practical
discipline methods from this movie.
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