A Great Way to Get Ahead in Life

Director Lee Daniels’ film Precious, Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, stars Gabourney “Gabbie” Sidibe as Claireece “Precious” Jones, a sixteen-year-old girl who cannot read or write, but has reached 9th grade with good grades. When Precious is threatened with being expelled after being impregnated for the second time by her father, she is forced into an alternative GED program. The film has been praised for its excellent acting by Gabbie Sidibe and Mo’Nique, who plays the main character’s abusive mother, but more than that, it has opened up dialogue about GED and adult education programs, and it provides a compelling portrait of an adult learner that many GED students can identify with.

The alternative GED program that Precious enters gives her something that has been lacking in her school, personalized attention and a route to self-determination. Although many students pursuing a GED are older than Precious, adult learners will find many points of empathy with Precious. Her difficulties at home and at school speak to both educators and learners in adult programs, and this has opened a dialogue among film viewers in GED and literacy programs.

Ben Merrion writes about viewing the film with adult education students and staff. Precious’s achievement in the film is raising her literacy from a second grade level to a seventh grade level, and adult learners realize the significance of this huge achievement. The film is laudable for recognizing how great an advance this is. Read Ben Merrion’s article at http://dclearns.org/?tag=adult-learners

Newsweek criticized the film for focusing on teaching Precious to write, instead of encouraging her natural talents for math, and a response appeared in the blog qualities-communities-literacies supporting promoting literacy in all adult learners. Read the response here: http://wendell-communitylit.blogspot.com/2009/11/why-ask-learners-like-precious-to-write.html

The film Precious is a good one to view for any adult in a literacy or GED program, or for adults who need their GED. Precious struggles with many of the problems adult learners face every day: an abusive home life, embarrassment, and criticisms from those around her. Though the film is fiction, it inspires discussion of these important issues.