J M
May 20, 2012
Film Application Paper
“Freedom Writers”

“Freedom Writers” is your typical story of one naive teacher sent to change the lives of what society views as under privileged kids with little or no hope for true success based on social stigmas, race, and assumptions. This movie addresses what we have many key factors addressed in this week’s lesson. It illustrates that not only businesses are faced with these types of issues, but any environment that follows a detailed system structure of organization. Through the movie, we are faced with the five stages of organizational development found on page 88 of out text. After being faced with the problem concerning the students pre-conceived notion of failure, the character played by Hillary Swank, now must anticipate the need for change. In this circumstance, she would be considered the practitioner, and the students the clients. This brings us to stage two. At this point she must develop a relationship in order to institute change. Our text outlines that the next stage is to start the diagnostic process, in this instance I consider stage two and three to be a two-part process. In order for the teacher (Mrs. G) to develop that relationship, she must diagnose how to do that. She does this by simply asking, or collecting data. Mrs. G is surprised to find out many smaller, more personal issues that are detrimental to the overall problem within her class. What is also surprising is that many of the issues are not with her students, but portions of the school administration, specifically Margret, the staff administrator. Her next step is stage four. In this stage to create action plans, strategize, and develop techniques. Again, she is met with resistance, both by administration or “management.” Stage five is not really as concrete here. Do to stage four; she now must follow the steps of stage five within her personal life. Stage five depicts the concepts of self-renewal, stabilization, and evaluation and to disengage. With all of the extra work and effort, her husband Scott, played by Patrick Duffy, leaves. Our text describes the five typical OD practitioner styles on page 90 as being a stabilizer, or “low profile individual”, the cheerleader, this being Mrs. G herself, the analyzer, persuader, and pathfinder. She takes on these rolls, but in an interesting twist, we find these types of characteristics portrayed by the students themselves. This can be further illustrated by reviewing the concepts that I addressed in this weeks final discussion question. This week we were asked, what strategies could we use to gain acceptance for an OD program. I broke it down into for groups. They included developing: * Leaders (10%) * First Followers (30%) * Followers (50%) * Resisters (10%)
To my astonishment, the movie followed my concept to a tee. The leaders could be considered Mrs. G and Ava. The students would be the first followers, followers then being other students, community, and upper school administration, with Margret, and select staff, being the resisters. One key factor that played a role was Mrs. G’s unwillingness to fail. This was initiated by her ambitious attempts to find additional supplemental income in order for her OD plan to be effective. This is not a common practice with business today. There is sometimes a negative stigma placed on the saying, “money is power”. But this movie provided a positive example. With the money that both she, and the students were able to rise, allowed the OD plan to be effective. This brought not only community awareness, but also change and assistance. Mrs. G was faced with a situation most companies are faced with, just on a different level. She was faced with those who not only fear change, but accepted change, implemented change, and those that resist change. As illustrated through the film, many individuals do want change. But it comes with a price. Proper planning, strategies, communication, and sometimes equipment are needed. What seems to makes the implementation of change hard in many companies, as well as society is the demand for instant results. I sometimes compare exercise. Many people buy a workout DVD, or gym membership, and expect instant results. When the ideal changes go unseen in a minimal amount of time, the DVD or membership is simply discarded. Many people don’t want to put in the time and or effort. This is proven by the constant disapproval, social, as well as racial stereotypes of Margret. Margret is your classic resistor. Even though the implemented change is positive, and creating results, because she disapproves, she spends most of the movie trying to negatively influence others. I can see, as do many others, that Margret feels threatened. This can be felt in many businesses today. When someone new thinks outside of the box, or tries to restructure an age-old system, any individuals feel threatened. In conclusion, I was skeptical to see how this movie could fall into a business type structure. It was a script that is often duplicated, yet watching the movie with and OD frame of mind; I was able to pick apart key parts that would have otherwise gone un-noticed. This film just illustrates that they type of business is irrelevant; it’s the policies, processes and procedures that remain constant. Rules and regulations may differ, but the overall OD model is the same. In business you will always find leaders, followers, and resistors. The key is communication, patience, perseverance, and positive reinforcement.

References:
Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
DeVito D., LaGavenese R. (2007). Freedom Writers, USA: Paramount Pictures.
Malama J. (2012). Discussions Questions #4 Detroit, MI.

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