Composing in Their Own Language: Feminist Pedagogy in Richard LaGravenese’s Freedom Writers

This paper explores Richard LaGravenese’s 2007 film adaptation of Erin Gruwell’s teaching memoir, The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them. LaGravenese’s adaptation chronicles the challenges and triumphs Gruwell faces as she earns her disenfranchised students’ trust and respect both inside and outside of the classroom. Gruwell uses feminist pedagogical practices in order to transgress institutional practices that seek to silence her “Students’ Right to their Own Language.” My purpose in analyzing this particular popular culture text is to evaluate the specific teaching practices that identify Gruwell not only as a feminist pedagogue, but as an exemplary composition instructor. While a considerable amount of scholarship has analyzed the way educators are both positively and negatively portrayed in film, there has been no attempt to critically assess how feminist pedagogical practices work to challenge traditional educational ideologies in film. My analysis also seeks to identify and evaluate some of Gruwell’s exemplary teaching practices in order to analyze the ways in which feminist pedagogy might enhance other theoretical approaches and pedagogical practices in education.