The Mind of A Child
"Do you think you are stupid?" a teacher asks Clarissa, a ten year old aboriginal child in the Vancouver schools who is two years behind her classmates. This question opens an inquiry into the story of Clarissa, and many like her who appear to be slow or unteachable, damaged by the forces of racism, poverty, and the destruction of families.
This documentary follows the work of Lorna Williams, a teacher from a First Nations reserve on the west coast of Canada, and her search for help for the aboriginal children who have lost a belief in themselves. Lorna was hired by the Vancouver schools to help the 2,000 aboriginal children in the inner city schools who are dropping out, pushed out onto the streets, where drugs, abuse and violence are waiting.
In Israel, Lorna discovered the extraordinary work of an Israeli child psychologist, Reuven Feuerstein, who began his work 50 years ago, helping children who had survived the Holocaust, and she returned to Canada with an extraordinary, powerful teaching system that helps Clarissa and her teachers to see that behind her mask of frustration and anger, she is a bright and capable student.
During the program we also meet three "children at risk", students from inner-city Washington DC, and their teacher Lettie Battle. Lettie is a passionate activist who believes that Feuerstein's approach allows teachers to work with street kids who have been rejected by most schools. Using teaching tools developed by Feuerstein and his colleagues, she helps the children to develop skills and knowledge that will allow them to break out of a cycle of frustration and violence.
The Mind of a Child documents this breakthrough by Lorna and Lettie who are adapting Feuerstein's work for use with inner city children. The background for this film is tragic, but the story it tells is optimistic, as it reveals new ways to treat and heal children.
