A Critical Analysis of Ron Clark's Educational Philosophy and Impact

This essay provides a detailed analysis of the educational philosophy presented in the movie "Ron Clark Story." It examines Clark's approach to teaching, emphasizing his belief in the potential of every student and his methods for fostering a positive and engaging learning environment. The essay highlights Clark's strategies for building interdependency among students, his use of motivational techniques, and his ability to connect with students on a personal level. It also discusses his classroom management techniques, including the establishment of clear rules and expectations, and his innovative teaching methods, such as using rhymes and storytelling to make learning more accessible and enjoyable. Furthermore, the essay explores how Clark's philosophy challenges traditional approaches to education, demonstrating the importance of teacher dedication, perseverance, and a belief in the power of education to transform lives. The essay references key concepts such as creating interdependency, motivation, and using humor and patience to handle situations. The essay concludes with a reflection on the impact of Clark's methods, illustrating how hard work and determination can lead to academic success.

Running head: EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY IN RON CLARK
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY IN RON CLARK
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY IN RON CLARK
Movie Ron Clark is a very influencing movie and motivates the student. Ron Clark joined a
middle school located in Atlanta and asked for the most mischievous student in a class who
continuously scored severely. His education philosophy was apparent where he believed that
each student could perform well in academics only when they are provided with a teacher who
will mould according to their need. Ron Clark made few rules and asked the whole class to
maintain so that they can achieve the desired goal. The First rule was, everyone in the class
should behave like a family, and in the family, and no one lies and always stands by each other
in difficult times. Secondly, everyone should give respect to each other including Ron Clark and
no one should misbehave with other (O'Connor, 2016). The next rule was to maintain a line
while going for lunch and until the line is managed correctly, no one will get lunch. This essay
tends to discuss the philosophy used by Ron Clark, that how learning can be made useful in the
school by creating interdependency among the student and with great effort and motivation every
student can score well.
Ron Clark where he was able to create inter-dependency among the students rather than
making them dependent on him and was able to transfer the belief of them from worst to the
right regarding them used the motivational philosophy in school. He had visited each student and
interacted with their parents about the student separately. And during the class, Ron Clark used
to call every student by their name which helped the students to get closer to Ron Clark. He
treated all students with love and patience so that they can understand him and allow him to
teach appropriately (Skovsmose, 2013). Ron Clark had a great sense of humor’ to handle every
situation. In the movie, there was a scene, where two students were fighting, and Mr. Clark
entered into the fight to handle the situation. After this the boy who was fighting left the

2EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY IN RON CLARK
classroom, Clark stopped him in the staircase and asked him not to leave, and he gave the reason
that he will miss his glowing personality. Therefore, it is better to join the class. This situation
tells that humor can diffuse difficult situations(Noddings, 2018). Ron Clark believed that the
teacher should never lose hope as for the student, the teacher is the only ray of hope. Besides, the
teacher should never give up on the student and their future. The main philosophy used by Ron
Clark was to show that in spite of the immense distraction, the teacher should not quit at any
cost. If the students were unable to cope up with the studies, he gave extra time for them every
day. Whole class thought that Ron would leave the job, but to their surprise, Clark did not
quit(AFIDHA, 2015). Everyone thought they were useless, and the worst class, but Ron showed
faith in them. Ron Clark used the technique of teaching history by making rhymes and explained
things like a story so that the student feel it interesting and gets attracted towards Ron Clark’s
lectures. To gain the attention and to maintain the silence, he instructed the students to listen to
him without disturbing the class, and in return, he offered them chocolate milk every 15 seconds.
Ron made rap on presidents name so that student can easily remember the history and names.
The students of his class scored best and topped the section. This movie shows that nothing is
impossible and with hard work and determination, everyone can achieve.

3EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY IN RON CLARK
Reference
AFIDHA, Z. M. (2015). The Politeness Strategies Used by Ron Clark in the Ron Clark Story
Movie. JurnalIlmiahMahasiswa FIB, 2(9).
Noddings, N. (2018). Philosophy of education. Routledge.
O'Connor, D. J. (2016). An introduction to the philosophy of education. Routledge.
Skovsmose, O. (2013). Towards a philosophy of critical mathematics education (Vol. 15).
Springer Science & Business Media.