Replay a Live Chat About New Documentary 'The Learning'

ECONOMIST FILM PROJECT -- September 15, 2011 at 10:20 AM EDT

Replay a Live Chat About New Documentary 'The Learning'

Updated September 15, 7:45 p.m. ET Here's a sneak preview of an excerpt from "The Learning," which follows four Filippina women recruited to teach in public schools in east Baltimore. The women hope to earn enough to transform their families lives back in the Philippines. However, their dreams collide with Baltimore's tough realities.

Filmmaker Ramona Diaz is Filipino-American and lives in Baltimore. She began this project in 2006. This excerpt focuses on the experience that year of one teacher: Dorotea Godinez and it will also air on the NewsHour broadcast in coming days.

Join us Friday, September 16 at 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT) for an online panel discussion, hosted by the PBS NewsHour, NewsHour Extra, Independent Television Service (ITVS), POV and the Economist Film Project centered around the new documentary "The Learning."

"The Learning" is the story of four Filipina women who are recruited to teach in Baltimore city public schools. With their increased salaries, they hope to transform their families' lives back in their impoverished country. But the women also bring idealistic visions of the teacher's craft and of life in America, which soon collide with Baltimore's tough realities.

The Newshour will air an excerpt of the "The Learning" on September 16 as part of the Economist Film Project, and POV will present the film in its entirety on PBS stations all over the country on September 20.

The live chat is open to the public, and participants are encouraged to log on and ask questions.

Here are the participants in the chat:

Hari Sreenivasan, moderator - Correspondent and Director, Digital Partnerships - PBS NewsHour
Ramona Diaz - Director, 'The Learning'
Grace Gonzales-Amper - Teacher featured in 'The Learning,' and current teacher in the Baltimore City Public Schools
John Merrow - Education Correspondent, PBS NewsHour and president, Learning Matters television
Sara Neufeld - Freelance journalist whose articles in the Baltimore Sun inspired the film
Erica Green - Journalist at the Baltimore Sun who reports on current education issues
Anthony Japzon - President, Filipino Educators of Maryland

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