Watching a race to nowhere

EWING, N.J.--As many as 225 students, teachers and community members attended a viewing of the documentary Race to Nowhere on March 23 at The College of New Jersey.

The filmmaker's goal was to spark discussion about the state of education and its impact on the wellbeing of students. The title, Race to Nowhere, connotes the pressure to achieve and compete in the school system with no concrete objective or goal.

The movie presents vignettes of concerned students, teachers and parents around issues of students' mental health, stress and anxiety related to school.

One of the primary concerns of this film was the dehumanizing of children through the academic process. The current academic process shifts the view of education from learning for the sake of learning to learning as a merit for future achievement. This value shift causes a derailment of mental health among children due to countless hours spent on schoolwork and homework, and the high level of stress associated with it.

The solutions presented by the film include reducing homework, changing concepts of achievement, and abolishing standardized tests. In doing so, the film pushed for greater parental involvement in students' lives and moving towards an education based on the joy of learning as opposed to rote memorization.

Another goal was redefining success for students. Rather than the current status-oriented goal of attending the "best college," the film presents success in terms of the student's personal and emotional wellbeing.

A short discussion followed the movie and made comparisons between Race to Nowhere and the recent documentary Waiting for Superman.

Waiting for Superman targets teachers as the main problem in education, whereas Race to Nowhere focuses on the school system that makes children commodities and only views them as future workers. Because the discussion was short, it did not reach the level of searching for solutions beyond personal solutions, such as increased involvement by parents.

While the film does present the negative effects of viewing students as commodities, it still places the importance of education in the hands of how to prepare students to best succeed and negotiate in a world based on capital. The film's primary sample was upper-middle class white students and parents.

This position creates a conflict between the student's best interests and striving to attain status associated with the "best" post-secondary institutions.

The film presents the problem with the school systems in that it stifles personal well being hindering academic and, therefore, economic success. This critique rests on a view that the ultimate goal is monetary success, which is aided by education and its influence on the economic framework.

Underprivileged and poor students do not have access to this education and status, which is not addressed in the film.

The biggest criticism of the film is that its critique of education practice rests on the individualized achievement of educational justice as opposed to social and economic justice of a wide spectrum of students; this dichotomy arises due to the film's focus on the middle-class students and the structure of their schools.

Based on the attendance and discussion at this event, there is a definite interest in educational reform and addressing the current inequities of the education system.