Indonesian EFL Journal (IEFLJ) p-ISSN 2252-7427, e-ISSN 2541-3635 Volume 8, Issue 2, July 2022 https://journal.uniku.ac.id/index.php/IEFLJ/index 259 TEACHER PROFESSIONALISM IN RICHARD LAGRAVENESE’S FREEDOM WRITERS MOVIE Sri Rahayu Astuti English Education Department, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Mercu Buana Yogyakarta, Depok, Yogyakarta 55283, Indonesia Email: srirahayu2843@gmail.com Restu Arini English Education Department, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Mercu Buana Yogyakarta, Depok, Yogyakarta 55283, Indonesia Email: arini@mercubuana-yogya.ac.id APA Citation: Astuti, S. R., & Arini, R. (2022). Teacher professionalism in Richard Lagravenese’s Freedom Writers movie. Indonesian EFL Journal, 8(2), 259-269. https://doi.org/10.25134/ieflj.v8i2.6476 Received: 07-03-2022 Accepted: 12-05-2022 Published: 31-07-2022 INTRODUCTION Teacher is one of the important elements in education who manages and facilitates the process of transferring knowledge from learning sources in order to be accepted by students. Teachers should make efforts to raise the standard of student learning and have the responsibility to develop human capital (Maria et al in Husain, Harefa, Cakranegara, & Nugraha, 2022). In order to be called as competent, Afriyanli and Sabandi (2020) explained that teachers have to own certain skills: educate, teach and train In short, being a teacher is a profession that requires special skills that cannot be carried out by anyone (Sulastri, Fitria, & Martha, 2020). Teacher and professionalism are terms that are important in the world of education. Teacher’s professionalism is seen from the behavior, expertise, and broad insight, known as personal competence, which is carried out sincerely. Further, professional teachers are those who are able to implement learning strategies into practice and present the materials well; they also do not only focus on finishing the learning objectives but also have great attention on the process of developing the potential of students that includes cognitive, affective and psychomotor aspect (Sulastri et al., 2020). For this reason, professionalism is an important thing that every teacher must have. The low professionalism of teachers will result in low quality of education (Muis, 2019). Wardani (2012) explicated four reasons why teachers must develop professionalism: professionalism trait, rapid development of science, technology and arts, the paradigm of lifelong learning, and legal request. All are crucial but one of the reasons highlighted here is legal request. In the Law of the Republic of Indonesia number 14 of 2005 article 8, teachers are said to be professional if they have four competencies: personality competence, professional competence, pedagogic competence, and social competence. Professional teachers are required to master special competencies in the field of education in order to optimize the implementation Abstract: Professionalism is pivotal for teachers because it influences student accomplishment and qualifies educational goals. The demeanor of professional teachers encourages students to develop what is inside them and present it to the world. Based on Socket's professional teacher theory, the study analyzes Lagravenese’s Freedom Writers movie to describe teacher professionalism through Erin Gruwell's character. To answer this problem, literature study, in-depth analysis and descriptive-qualitative methods are used. The study revealed that professional teachers' performance by Erin Gruwell contains five aspects: character, commitment to change and continuous improvement, subject knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, obligations and working relationships outside the classroom. The impact is also seen by the changes in students’ behavior from being difficult to manage to being obedient students with good achievements. Thus, teacher professionalism produces prestige for students making them able to become learners with good behavior, motivation, and academic performance. Keywords: teacher professionalism; teacher competences; student behavior; teacher education. mailto:arini@mercubuana-yogya.ac.id Sri Rahayu Astuti & Restu Arini Teacher professionalism in Richard Lagravenese’s Freedom Writers movie 260 of their duties (Kunandar in Nastiti, 2016), have academic qualifications and competencies to achieve national education goals (Mulyasa in Arlita, Ahyani, & Missriani, 2020), as well as increasing work productivity (Asmarani, Sukarno, & El Widdah, 2021). Many studies have found that professionalism encourages teachers to contribute to the determinants of the quality education process. As we believe that the more professional teachers are, the better their performance in carrying out their duties. Professional teachers are more responsible for their duties, collaborating effectively with students, teachers, parents, and the community, as well as innovating to increase knowledge and skills and broad insight in their field. Unfortunately, fact on the ground claims that the numbers of professional teachers in Indonesia has not met the expected target. This is due to the low pedagogic competence and professional competence of teachers as shown by Sennen (2017) in teachers’ certification. Teacher certification is a program to prove the fact of a teacher's eligibility as a professional one by meeting teacher professional standards, creating quality education systems and practices, carrying out educational functions and goals. Aji (in Jayani, 2019), the former Secretary of the Directorate General of GTK, said that almost 50 percent of the three million ten thousand Indonesian teachers did not pass the test when taking the teacher certification program. The reasons why teachers fail the teacher certification program 1) lack of quantity and quality in education and training, (2) low motivation for self-development, (3) time limitation, (4) lack of knowledge and misconception about government regulation (Muis, 2019). In fact, this teacher certificate is a proof of a teacher's professionalism as mandated by Law Number 14 of 2005 concerning teachers and lecturers. According to him, a good teaching and learning process is influenced by teachers who can educate and fulfill competencies as professional teachers. Moreover, professionalism of teachers is related to state-level issues, where government support is needed to improve the quality of teachers in meeting the needs of students. As revealed by Wardoyo & Herdiani (2017), the increasing need in education is a challenge for the government and teachers. The study concerns analyzing the movie "Freedom Writer" directed by Richard Lagravenes. The aim of the study is to discover how teacher professionalism is portrayed through Erin Gruwell's character in the movie which highlights the five aspects of professional teachers: character, commitment to change and continuous improvement, subject knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and working and obligations outside the classroom. METHOD The study used a qualitative descriptive method, where a movie is analyzed through understanding the scene and dialogue and then identifying its meaning. The study focused more on textual data analysis - the content was a comprehensive summary of what happens to an individual or group (Elliott & Timulak in Pramudyani & Arini, 2022) and related to aspects of social life. In the study, there were two kinds of data; primary sources and secondary data. The premier data was Freedom Writers Movie directed by Richard Lagravenese in 2007; while the secondary data were the theories and research articles about teacher professionalism, teacher competences, teacher certification program, and the impact of teacher professionalism. The process of analyzing research data based on the theory of Miles & Huberman consisted of three steps: data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. Data reduction was done by watching the film Freedom Writers, identifying research topics by looking at Erin's role in the movie; the presentation of the data was shown from the analysis and categorizing the content data through dialogues or words used by Erin which showed the professionalism of the teacher; results discussion is considered as conclusion drawing. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Considering that teachers and education are very important aspects in human life, it is necessary to carry out an in-depth discussion on this matter. It relates to a movie about a teacher entitled Freedom Writers, which is one of the interesting things to discuss in the world of literature. The movie is directed by Richard Lagravenese, a white American man who was educated in acting and known as a writer and producer whose performance and dedication in his career led him to several achievements: Oscars for Best Screenplay Written Indonesian EFL Journal (IEFLJ) p-ISSN 2252-7427, e-ISSN 2541-3635 Volume 8, Issue 2, July 2022 https://journal.uniku.ac.id/index.php/IEFLJ/index 261 Directly for The Screen At the 64th Academy Awards, Dramatic Special in 2013 and Outstanding Nonfiction Special In 2004. In 2007, he began writing and directing a based on true story movie, Freedom Writer, that awarded him the Humanitarian Award. Freedom Writers is a movie starring Hilary Swank and Patrick Dempsey which was filming the life of a very strong and professional teacher, Erin Gruwell. It is an inspirational movie that shows how a teacher struggles with her students in room 203, facing several problems such as students of various races, disputes with other teachers, and manages to show that she is someone who is brave and professional. The five aspects of teacher professionalism shown by Erin Gruwell In order to be called professional, a teacher must possess five qualities: character, commitment to change and continuous improvement, subject knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, obligations and working relationships outside the classroom (Sockett in Tichenor & Tichenor, 2005). Besides, professional teachers have to acquire a strong fighting spirit and enthusiasm in carrying out and practicing their skills and insights for the success of the teaching and learning process of their students. In the movie, Erin meets all criteria of a professional teacher (Table 1). She puts all of her energy into her students. She is very enthusiastic in teaching and motivating her students to achieve their success. Her passion is always burning in teaching and awakening her students to achieve good results from their learning efforts. Table 1. The five aspects of teacher professionalism shown by Erin Gruwell Character Commitment to change and continuous improvement Subject knowledge Pedagogical knowledge Obligations and working relationships outside the classroom 1. Motivating personality 2. Oriented toward success 3. Professional demeanor 1. Adapt to change 2. Adjust to the needs of the students 1. Preparing and studying the material 2. Mastering the material 1. Innovative 2. Using appropriate learning strategies 3. Learning motivation 1. Effective communication with colleagues 2. Teacher-parents collaboration Aspect 1. A teacher with character: Erin Gruwell’s personal competence Teaching is the process by which teachers impart knowledge, facilitate learning, and help increase understanding. A factor that influences teaching is teacher characteristics. Character is related to the personality or traits and qualities of teachers that distinguish one from another. According to Neugebauer (2019), character is related to personality, abilities, experience, knowledge, and beliefs. The ‘character’ that must be possessed by a professional teacher are 1) motivating personality; 2) orientation toward success; and 3) professional demeanor; which are described as enthusiastic, warm and humorous, credible, optimistic about the success of themselves and their students, adaptable, and knowledgeable. In the movie, Erin performs all the characteristics. Motivating personality of a teacher is seen from the way teachers enjoy what they do to encourage a sense of enthusiasm and show great interest in something. Since the first day Erin entered Woodrow Wilson High School, she showed her passion and optimism as a teacher. Even the head of department, Ms. Campbell - was happy to meet a bright and good young teacher. However, in the meantime Ms. Campbel also lamented that Erin was there after the voluntary integration program, a program that allowed anyone to enter and increased knowledge at the school regardless of race. Because of the program, the problem of war between races in LA was carried over to the school, it was what makes the school not as famous as it used to be. Nonetheless, Erin saw Woodrow from a different perspective. For her, the school was very interesting because it was where the war actually took place. Ms. Campbell: “… We used to have one of the highest scholastic records in the district, but since voluntary integration was suggested, we've lost over 75% of our strongest students.” Erin: “Well, actually, I chose Wilson because of the integration program. I think what's happening here is really exciting, don't you?” Sri Rahayu Astuti & Restu Arini Teacher professionalism in Richard Lagravenese’s Freedom Writers movie 262 Erin: “... And I remember when I was watching the LA riots on TV ... I think the real fighting should happen here in the classroom.” (05:33 to 05:36) A teacher with a motivating personality must also be able to make students comfortable by creating fun learning situations so it needs to be humorous. Erin could be fair to her students as a wise teacher. She was capable of solving the existing problems without creating an atmosphere of tension. During the lesson, Tito bullied Jamal. He drew Jamal's face on a piece of paper. Tito exaggerated his drawing by drawing a black man with big and thick lips. Jamal felt sad, all his classmates laughed until Erin realized that. Instead of scolding and taking sides with one student, Erin responded that it was an art. Erin communicated Tito and Jamal's problems well. She controlled the atmosphere as calmly as possible so that none of the students felt judged for the matter that occurred. Erin really lightened the mood with her humor. Erin: "Tito? Would this be funny if it were a picture of you?" Tito: "It ain't." Erin: “Maybe we should talk about art. Tito's got real talent, don't you think?” (29:55 to 29:59) Erin always saw everything in positive ways. It is said that she was a teacher with success orientation (oriented toward success). She never gave up, even though she faced noisy students who were difficult to manage and were judged as being ‘different’ from other classes. Erin believed that her students had the ability to learn and it was her own ability to help students be successful. She saw there were hidden talents in her students, and her job was only to explore and lead them to reach it. Brian: ".... By then, most of your kids will be gone anyway." Erin: "Well, if I do my job, they might be lining up at the door." (12:35 to 12:38) Lastly, Erin had a professional demeanor inside her. Teacher's professional demeanor is shown in the teacher's attitude in focusing activities on the tasks that are most likely helping students to learn. After the issue of Tito and Jamal, Erin unintentionally discussed the Holocaust - an event of persecution and murder of Jews who have very big noses, during World War II. She finally knew what she was supposed to teach, it was about gangsters. Without support from the school did not stop Erin from continuing trying to help her students learn, she asked for support from the school board - Dr. Cohn. As a form of professional demeanor, Erin helped students learn in real terms in the field because it is important to open their mindset and increase new knowledge. Dr. Cohn: “Look, I appreciate your intentions, but there's nothing I can do on a class-by-class basis.” Erin: “... I'm thinking of trips. Most of them have never been outside of Long Beach. They haven't been given the opportunity to expand their thinking about what's out there for them. And they're hungry for it. I know it. And it's purely a reward system. They won't get anything they haven't earned by doing their work and upping their grades." (57:39 to 57:56) Aspect 2. Erin Gruwell and commitment to change and continuous improvement Teacher commitment is an internal drive to give better dedication in order to build an effective learning environment for students. This is related to the teacher's efforts to show improved performance (Altun, 2017). Teacher commitment is the teacher's efforts to find ways to create learning to enable students to achieve their goals (adjust to the needs of students). Meanwhile, continuous improvement is a process related to teaching that requires teachers to continuously make changes by way of thinking, identifying, evaluating what has been applied and then trying to improve it (adapt to change) (Szőköl, 2018). Commitment to change and continuous improvement in education become a form of teacher's internal strength regarding the potential to develop teaching practices for the creation of learning strategies that lead to students' achievement (Altun, 2017). In the latest literature on teacher commitment, one of them focuses on the commitment of teachers to their students while continuous change refers to a process of progressive improvement. Thus, the aspect here should show: adapt to change and adjust to the needs of students. Adapt to change refers to the desire of teachers to do more, best and better than before. In the film, Erin brought her desire out to make a higher quality of education for her students. Erin protested the school's policies which she considered did not give any significant effect on students. The policy implemented by the school only requires students coming to school as an obligation, not coming to Indonesian EFL Journal (IEFLJ) p-ISSN 2252-7427, e-ISSN 2541-3635 Volume 8, Issue 2, July 2022 https://journal.uniku.ac.id/index.php/IEFLJ/index 263 school to get an education. To her, it was like a pointless waste of time. Dr. Cohn: "Ms. Gruwell, there's a system in place based on years of running an educational facility. You have to follow that system." Erin: "No. I won't. Look, I'm just trying to do my job here. What's the point of a voluntary integration program if the kids making it to high school have a 5th grade reading level? ...All that program is doing is warehousing these kids until they're old enough to disappear. Dr. Cohn, why should they waste their time showing up when they know we're wasting our time teaching them?" (57:02 to 57:13) A further point, Erin proved that she can adjust to the needs of students. After Erin knew her students were interested in stories of gang riots like the Holocaust, she finally thought about provided books related to gangsters. In this case, Erin as a teacher fulfilled the necessity of students by seeing something related to their real life. The daily lives of her students were filled with interracial enmity. Every day, they struggled with how to survive violence such as shootings that could happen anytime and anywhere. Infrequently, they had to be involved in violence and fights until they had to go in and out of prison and eventually dropped out of school. Erin: "We were discussing the Holocaust." Ms. Campbell: "No, they won't be able to read that." Erin: "What about these? Romeo and Juliet. That's a great gang story." Ms. Campbell: "No, not the books. This is what we give them. It is Romeo and Juliet, but it's a condensed version. But even these, look how they treat them. See how torn up they are? They draw on them." Erin: "Ms. Campbell? They know they get these because no one thinks they're smart enough for real books." (39:11 to 39:23) Erin's role here was to ensure that she knew all the resources her students needed to succeed. She believed that by explaining something related to how they feel can enlighten them to imitate the good side of it. “...I really think that the stories like The Diary of Anne Frank and that they'd be so great for them … they could relate to these stories considering all that they face." (39:11 to 39:23) Aspect 3. Subject knowledge: Erin Gruwell’s professional competence Subject knowledge is Understanding of teachers' subject matter which becomes an important factor in determining teacher effectiveness. Teachers need a deep concept of the subjects to be delivered to develop their professional skills (Mee, 2020). Before teaching-learning takes place, teachers are required to understand the curriculum and subject syllabus first to build confidence and ensure that they are ready and able to explain the material in order to make students understand it. Teachers should also reconsider their position as subject matter experts, where it is related to the teachers' professional competence. In other terms, subject knowledge relates to a component that concerns professionalizing school teaching and recognition of the professional autonomy of individual teachers. Effective subject knowledge for teaching depends on mastering and combining the subject content that teachers teach to suit the needs of their students (Bagoum & Suking, 2020). Aspects of subject knowledge consist of preparing and studying the material then mastering the material. Before the teaching and learning process, Erin always prepared (preparing) everything well. She studied (studying the material) it before giving it to the class to make her comprehend and deliver the material well. In this case, Erin taught authentic material, the use of material related to real life where students interact (Setyaningrum & Sabilah, 2017). Authentic material has the potential to make lessons interesting and fun. Here, Erin used the lyrics of the song 2Pac Shakur, about the struggle of African Americans for equality in life - to study poetry. The form of Erin's readiness before teaching could be seen when she provided a song lyric of 2Pac Shakur and printed it so it was ready to share with students. The students were asked to pay attention to the lyrics which contain some sophisticated phrases. During the teaching-learning process, Erin confidently responded to the song's lyrics because she had already learned it. She also knew the purpose of this lesson was to improve students' listening and reading skills. Erin: "We're gonna be covering poetry. Who here likes Tupac Shakur?" Jamal: "It's 2Pac." Erin: "Raise your hand." (Just two of the students raise their hand) Sri Rahayu Astuti & Restu Arini Teacher professionalism in Richard Lagravenese’s Freedom Writers movie 264 "Really? I thought there'd be more fans." Erin: "I have the lyrics to this song printed out. I want you to listen to this phrase I have up on the board. It's an example of an internal rhyme. What he does is very sophisticated and cool, actually." (20:16 to 20:28) In another case, a scene of another subject knowledge showed Erin developing her professionalism by mastering the material deeply and directing student learning activities to achieve learning objectives (scene in minute 28:28 to 28:35). Erin asked students to arrange some ambiguous sentences into sentences with the right tenses. According to Freeman (2002 in Rahman, 2021), the method used by Erin educated students in the use of grammatical sentence patterns. Erin as a teacher plays a role in controlling and directing students' language behavior. In this situation, Erin focuses on how to give practice to her students in analyzing grammar. Erin's learning objectives are for students to master vocabulary, especially in pronunciation and spelling of words. Aspect 4. Erin Gruwell’s pedagogical knowledge Pedagogic knowledge is the teachers' capital in carrying out their professional duties, referring to the teachers' knowledge in creating an effective teaching-learning environment. Pedagogy is useful for teachers in understanding educational phenomena systematically as well as instructions on what to do and what to avoid. Teachers' pedagogical knowledge is related to pedagogical competence, namely doing assignments and developing teachers' abilities in managing the teaching and learning process (Kumala, Susilo, & Susanto, 2018). According to Prihatin (2022), pedagogical knowledge includes understanding of: creating teaching-learning situations that have never been done before (innovative), using learning models to encourage learning progress based on student needs (using appropriate learning strategies), fostering student learning motivation (learning motivation). Erin presented memorable learning, where the interest of students appeared to be actively involved in the classroom. It is called pedagogical knowledge - teachers’ skill in improving the quality of the learning process so that the scope of learning and interaction becomes more alive (Prihatin, 2022). Erin's pedagogical knowledge is pervasive and innovative, using appropriate learning strategies and giving learning motivation to the students. The way Erin teaching introduced something new by utilizing her creative ideas as a teacher (innovative). To find whether the students got involved in the riots between the gangs or not, Erin invited them to play a game, line game. It was a game that started by asking questions to the students; if the questions were related to them then they had to step closer to the line that Erin had drawn. On the other hand, if the questions did not apply to them, they could go back or even sit down. Erin: “We're gonna play a game, all right? It's a lot of fun. I promise. Look, you can either sit in your seats reading those workbooks, or you can play a game. Either way, you're in here till the bell rings. Okay. This is called the Line Game. I'm gonna ask you a question. If that question applies to you, you step onto the line, and then step back away for the next question. Easy, right?" Students: “Yeah, whatever (41:23 to 41:33) The Line Game that Erin gave to class was a way of teaching that had a great opportunity to familiarize teachers with the students, the students learn it in an interactive way. In my point of view, the game allowed Erin as a teacher to analyze the learning by knowing the background of the students. Erin's focus was teaching communicative language, where the students were indirectly given the opportunity to say something happened in their lives, even though it did not come out through their words. In another scene, Erin exhibited that she used a learning strategy that fits the needs of the students (using appropriate learning strategies). She had adequate knowledge of teaching methods which she believed she could apply in the classroom. Through an empty book that she shared to each student, Erin opened up opportunities for herself to get to know each of her students better. The book functioned as a daily diary for them to use and write about anything, Erin created a specific condition; she required the students to write every day. Besides, she did not include this diary task in the assessment. From this assignment, Erin applied strategies to practice writing skills and make students learn how to express ideas. Erin: “Now, I have something for each of you. Everyone has their own story, and it's important for you to tell your own story, even to yourself. Indonesian EFL Journal (IEFLJ) p-ISSN 2252-7427, e-ISSN 2541-3635 Volume 8, Issue 2, July 2022 https://journal.uniku.ac.id/index.php/IEFLJ/index 265 So, what we're going to do is we're gonna write every day in these journals. You can write about whatever you want, the past, the present, the future. You can write it like a diary, or you can write songs, poems, any good thing, bad thing, anything. But you have to write every day. Keep a pen nearby. Whenever you feel the inspiration. And they won't be graded..." (45:26 to 46:06) Erin also provided learning motivation, which was needed to achieve learning goals. The movie showed that the motivation of the teacher succeeded in encouraging students to learn and do their best. To increase students' motivation, Erin held a celebration through toast for change, an activity to increase students' academic fulfillment, foster self- confidence, cultural and racial diversity. The activity focused on internal learning motivation, where Erin as a teacher accommodated students' voices, attracted interest, and developed their problem solving skills. In addition, toast for change was also a form of commitment for each student to start the process towards something better than before. Erin arranged all the chairs that were set aside while a few tables were full of some bags and some drinks on them. She invited the students to take a glass of drink and picked it up then said what happened to them in the past and promised to change and make it even better in the future. Erin: "Okay, guys, listen up! This is what I want you to do. I want each of you to step forward and take one of these Borders bags, which contain the four books we're gonna read this semester. Students: "All right!" Erin: "They're very special books and they each remind me, in some way of each of you. But, before you take the books, I want you to take one of these glasses of sparkling cider, and I want each of you to make a toast. We're each gonna make a toast for change. And what that means is, from this moment on every voice that told you "You can't" is silenced. Every reason that tells you things will never change, disappears. And the person you were before this moment, that person's turn is over.” (01:10:50 to 01:11:17) Aspect 5. Obligation and working relationships outside the classroom: Erin’s social competence Obligation and Working outside the Classroom refers to the ability of teachers to understand that they are an inseparable part of society outside the classroom, it is called social competence of teachers. It can be defined as the ability to carry out work demands that require teachers to adapt to the surrounding environment as a form of social communication both with school devices and even with society. The strongest finding of Abdullah, Shamsi, Jenatabadi, Ng, & Mentri (2022) stated that the support from the society outside the classroom on the students' learning environment had a positive influence. From the teachers’ collaboration with colleagues and also parents, each person's awareness arises that they have a role and responsibility for the progress of students' learning. Thus, this aspect consists of effective communication with colleagues and teacher-parents collaboration (Ahmad, 2019). In the movie, Erin made effective communication with co-workers and also the school board, Dr. Cohn, supervisor's support for his members (effective communication with colleagues). The authority in the school was entirely in the hands of the head department, Ms. Campbell. Unfortunately, Ms. Campbell did not support Erin's efforts to prosper her students on stupidity. Ms. Campbell disagreed with all of Erin's ideas which she considered a waste of energy. Instead of despair, Erin even bravely went to the school board to gain strength. Erin expressed her desire to do anything to make her students grow. She asked for help from Dr. Cohn to ensure no one could hinder her including Ms. Campbell. Dr. Cohn: “…you united and that’s a step. What can I do for you?” Erin: “I want to do more with them. I need the support of someone in power” Afterwards, Erin's action was to try getting support from the parents of her students (teacher- parent cooperation). This showed Erin's efforts in preparing for the school parents night event were because she wanted to be close and get to know the parents of her students. Erin arranged and decorated the classroom well, her attitude was very respectful of the parents' presence but no one came. It was very different from Brian Gelford's class, a Junior English and Distinguished Honors teacher - almost all parents attended the event. Gelford's class was filled with good and smart students, quite the opposite of Erin's class. The possible reason that the Sri Rahayu Astuti & Restu Arini Teacher professionalism in Richard Lagravenese’s Freedom Writers movie 266 parents of her students did not come to the event, may be because they knew how their children were doing at school, who considered their children had less intelligence so they thought coming to the event would only be in vain. Although what Erin hoped for had not been successful, at least she had tried to build cooperation with the parents. CONCLUSION Law Number 14 of 2005 teachers and lecturers requires teachers to develop four competencies: personal competence, professional competence, pedagogic competence, and social competence. This is in line with what is portrayed in the "Freedom Writer" movie through Erin Gruwell’s character who showed all the competencies: character and commitment to change and continuous improvement (personal competence), subject knowledge (professional competence), pedagogical knowledge (pedagogic competence), obligations and work relations outside the classroom (social competence). Freedom Writers movie showed teacher professionalism through Erin's character. The movie is a true story that tells the story of Erin Gruwell, an idealistic and anti-discriminatory teacher who arrives hopeful at a school – a place that became a violent war zone, at Woodrow Wilson High School, United States in 1992. The tension between races increased and was inevitable, a feeling of hatred was mounting in each group of races. It carried over to the school environment, where students sat based on their race. As a professional teacher, Erin's task is not only to transfer knowledge to students, but also to educate and direct students to become virtuous human beings in order to be able to achieve educational goals. Faced with students who were problematic and lacking in academics as well as the absence of support from the outside classroom, it did not stop Erin from carrying out her duties as a teacher by carrying out aspects of teacher professionalism. The movie exemplified the importance of teacher professionalism in education. With aspects of professional teachers, Erin had: (1) a personality that motivated students to learn and felt optimistic about the students' success, (2) a reformer spirit who was moved to make changes to learning and adapted to the needs of the students, (3) actual knowledge for thorough understanding so teacher had more prepared to teach and master learning materials with confidence, (4) teacher who created a learning atmosphere that allowed students to learn comfortably in an innovative and creative way and used learning strategies to facilitate student understanding, (5) maintained good relations with parents and the community outside classrooms to foster participation and shared responsibility for education. Overall, teacher professionalism on Erin had been shown to have a significant effect on education. When Erin developed her professionalism with the aspects of professional teachers, it not only improved her professional quality as a teacher, but also succeeded in changing the character of unruly students into students who had good attitudes and were able to improve academically and achieve what they dream. Therefore, what Erin did as a professional teacher can be an inspiration for other teachers to prosper the world of education. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Special thanks to Mrs. Restu Arini, S.Pd., M.Pd., the second author for her proofreading the article; for lovely parents and family for the never-ending love, support and prayers, last but not least for precious friends, thanks for making happiness and being great discussion partners. REFERENCES Abdullah, N. A., Shamsi, N. A., Jenatabadi, H. S., Ng, B. K., & Mentri, K. A. C. (2022). Factors affecting undergraduates’ academic performance during COVID-19: Fear, stress and teacher-parents’ support. 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