From a perspective of a soon to be teacher such as yours truly, I can say that the movie entitled “Miracle Worker” serves as a memento that there are things we believed to be impossible, but became possible because we exerted sufficient perseverance into it. I salute the passion and commitment of Annie Sullivan to tutor a deaf, mute and blind child in the person of Helen Keller. Annie Sullivan is just one out of many teachers out there who have given their life to become catalyst for well –rounded development of the differently able children. In relation to the subject EDUC. 1 Child and Adolescent Development, I can say that the movie is quite appropriate to be viewed by students who were enrolled in Teachers Certificate Curriculum for Non Education Professionals (TCCNEP) because the movie provided us the unique and effective teaching strategies that are well designed to provide special education to those children with multiple sensory impairments. As soon to be teacher, I should be equipped with competence and be prepared for possibilities that I soon to be encountered as I practice my teaching profession later.
I can still remember that during those moments before I viewed the movie, I really asked myself if it is still possible for a person to learn if he/she has multiple sensory impairments such as the defects of the sight, hearing and speaking. Hence, after I viewed the movie, I definitely realized that even if the senses were impaired and not the mind, there would still be a possibility to learn the same way like those with normal sensory functioning if there is a collaborative support from the community, home and school which nowadays proposed by DepEd through the School Improvement Plan (SIP). I realized through the movie, that children with multiple sensory impairments just ultimately need to have a language in a most unique way in order to learn since according to Annie Sullivan, “language is more important to the mind than light is to the eye.”
The movie is very controversial as I had read some of the articles about it. One article have questioned the reality of this depiction , as Keller had not spoken a single vowel in the course of the film, and, as an apparently prelingually deaf and blind child, would not have been aware of the existence of verbal communication. In my case, I really have a hard time believing the veracity of the movie. I thought it was not a true to life story but after I read a lot of articles about the movie, I just realized that there is really an existence of a Helen Keller as her autobiography entitled “The Story of My Life” revealed some exciting scenarios of her life that people from different walks of life can learn into.
The movie exhibited the true to life symbiotic relationship between a teacher/tutor and her/his student. As viewed in the movie, the teacher and the student should conform to the symbiotic relationship. A symbiotic relationship is a relationship between two entities which is mutually beneficial for the participants of the relationship. As we observe, Helen Keller learned a lot from Annie Sullivan and the latter also learned a lot from the former. If I relate it to the real life teaching situations that I soon to be experienced, I can say that the movie is a big help especially in telling that the teacher –student relationship creates a more effective teaching strategy if there is a “give and take” or “symbiotic connection” wherein the teacher is open to learn from the student and the student is also willing to learn from the teacher.
It is also apparent in the movie the phrase that tells “experience is the best teacher.” As I observed in the movie, Annie Sullivan became as an effective tutor of Helen because she also has a sensory impairment that triggers her to relate to Helen’s condition. She can understand how difficult it is for Helen to do things and to cope with the defects she has. However, because of the patience that Sullivan exhibited in teaching Helen, it is indeed to be not difficult to expect a lot of progress from Helen that made her to graduate from Radcliffe College with a B.A. (honors), became a world famous advocate for social equality and was awarded “The Presidential Medal of Freedom” which are all stated in the autobiography of Helen Keller.
There are some scenes from the movie that cultivate my emotions. As a viewer of the movie, I must suggest that for people with disabilities they just don’t need our sympathy, instead, they need much of our empathy. People with sensory impairments like Helen Keller can make us to feel compassionate about them but to pity on them doesn’t help a lot. What they need is our empathy wherein we must put our feet on their shoes and inquire on ourselves for a moment about what kind of life could there be if we have that sensory impairments. Being empathetic on them will open our hearts and minds to understand them and provide them the best assistance for them to become better person as they journey towards life. Apparently, Annie Sullivan showed her empathetic characteristics to Helen Keller and made Helen to realize that she is not alone and she is not the only person who has sensory impairment in this world. She taught Helen to become a better person like her and made Helen to be a productive person in the society. As a lesson I obtained from the movie and as soon to be teacher, I really need this empathy to become a better teacher later.
There are a lot of lessons I gained from the movie. I learned how to respond to special cases and special types of students that I soon to be encountered. I learned that patience is a virtue. I learned that teaching a student with or without sensory impairments should require the collaborative participation of the teacher, the school and the community. I learned that as a teacher I should let my students to do and experience things so that they can understand. I learned that learning is a process. I learned some teaching strategies like, ‘hand spelling’, things have names, orienting the sensory impaired learner about the unseen environment like letting a sensory impaired learner to use the sense of touch as substitute for the lost sensory, encouraging the sensory impaired child to be independent as often as possible and avoid the trap of “learned helplessness.” Ultimately, I learned that all things can be learned.
