View movie

View thumbnails
Run time: 0:13:09

Stream (help)

64Kb MPEG4 (dialup)
256Kb MPEG4 (broadband)
HiRes MPEG4

Play / Download (help)

(15 MB)64Kb MPEG4
(35 MB)256Kb MPEG4
(208 MB)MPEG1
(248 MB)HiRes MPEG4
(401 MB)MPEG2

Resources

Education for Excellence (Part I)

0722 PA8847 Education for Excellence


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Audio/Visual: sound, color
Keywords: need meta

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

Individual Files

Write a review
Downloaded 1,118 timesReviews
Average Rating:

Reviewer: jafran - - February 10, 2006
Subject: See Part Two Before Comments
Viewers should see Part II and read the reviews there before making negative comments about reviewers who watched this film.

Reviewer: BinuBird - - February 10, 2006
Subject: Nice children, typical of the time
I'm appalled at the criticisms directed both at the children and at the system.

Sure, the system is typical of its time : nothing surprising. Should we judge it by today's standards?

As for the children, I can but wonder whether those who criticize them, calling them "nerds", are precisely those torturers who pride themselves in being the "nerds"' bullies?
The children look polite, well-educated and decent children to me. Why should they instead look "fashionable", and somewhat indisciplined in order to make you feel they're "acceptable"?

You know what?
There's nothing worse than this intolerance against those who succeed, against those who happen to be both clever and high achieving... I was seriously bullied when in 10th grade, but even worse than this extreme expression of discontent from a group of children who saw in my success an unbearable affront underlining their failure, was the feeling that my classmates could not and would not understand how I thought, who I was, why I was that way... No understanding, no acceptation of myself as being a human being, no way of communicating with them safely.
That is the worst part of it all. Not being beaten. Not being spat at. But looking into their eyes, and seeing their judgement : "you are not a human being, so we don't have any feeling for you, any compassion, any friendship".

Just think for a few minutes, now that you are adults, how much harm your hatred of a group of kids, just because of what they wear, of the way they talk, or of the way their hair is combed (!), can do.

Binu

Reviewer: Wilford B. Wolf - - February 6, 2006
Subject: Young, Black and Gifted
Early 1960s film touting New York's gifted student program for elementary schools. Many reviewers feel that the students are giving scripted answers, but I think it's more a different style of presenting information than is the norm in more comtemporary schools. This film is very New York in tone, and the education style is more "stand and deliver." Notice how all the kids, when in class discussions, get up from their seat and stand when they deliver the response.

What worries more is the dubious pedagogy on display in this film. The principal at the begining says that students are selected for displaying greater vocabulary and creativity, yet the type of questions that are asked by the teachers are mostly simply spitting back facts (again, leading to the impression their answers are scripted). Sure, the kids are learning geometry (big deal), Spanish and Shakespeare, but any notion of engaging higher-order reasoning is painfully scant. The Breakfast Club (not starring Molly Ringwald) is a weird exercise that tries to show reasoning, but winds up failing. The discussion about the merits of robot teachers is quaint, and yet ironic, given the almost automaton nature of some of the teachers.

I will say that I'm glad see at least a few African-American students in the classrooms in the time period. Also note that the foreign languages offered included Italian and Hebrew, which reflected two major populations of the time.

Reviewer: Christine Hennig - - July 5, 2004
Subject: Geeks and Nerds Aplenty
This early 60s film about educating gifted students in New York City does nothing to dispel the geek stereotype, unfortunately. Most of the children are very nerdy, and some even project a bit of smugness. Most of the teachers are pretty nerdy, too. The film goes on and on about how the program is developing critical thinking abilities in the kids, but when the kids open their mouths, they recite memorized passages in such a stilted fashion that you doubt they really understand anything about them. The film should bring back lots of memories, mostly unpleasant, for people who went to elementary school during the 60s, and itÃÂÃÂs very mstable, especially the shots of kids who donÃÂÃÂt know their being filmed, and the incredibly nerdy principal with aerodynamically sound ears.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: ****. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

Reviewer: HuckleberryFinn - - April 13, 2004
Subject: Any reasonably intelligent kid would not be this enthusiastic to go to this school
That's all I have to say.

One friggin' star, and it's lucky to get it.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - September 11, 2003
Subject: All about those gifted kids who you gladly picked on while you were in school.
Nice looking film with overachieving gifted students, you know, the ones you were always jealous of? spurting out suspiciously scripted-sounding answers to their extremely peppy teacher's questions. I like how one of the teachers wears a furry hat to class while demonstrating how an engine works. THAT'S surreal. Another hilight is the assembly where the students ask experts of many different fields questions. Look for the girl with the EXTREMELY unkempt hair and the army major who looks to be falling asleep. A curious film.

Reviewer: Steve Nordby - - May 27, 2003
Subject: Propaganda
This film hypes NYC's public school's gifted children program of the 1960's but shows students as uncritical conformist parrots. Because this film shows much that is wrong with gifted education programs even now, I find it worth viewing but horrific.