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Nov 22, 2023 · My new research looks at teachers in popular TV shows and films and finds they are often portrayed as losers or villains. Why status matters
- Matilda
- Dead Poets Society
- Sister Act 2: Back in The Habit
- Bad Teacher
- School of Rock
- Coach Carter
- Remember The Titans
- Freedom Writers
- Stand and Deliver
- Lean on Me
If we can agree that Matildais the greatest film of all time, by default, that would make Miss Honey the greatest teacher of all time. She had a lot on her plate: home visits to parents who didn't care about their child, trying to reclaim a box of chocolates, braiding students’ pigtails after they were hammer-thrown over a fence, and protecting chi...
Latin may be a dead language, but many of us can translate “Carpe Diem” all thanks to a special senior English teacher, John Keating. It’s also because of Mr. Keating that we were able to see what it actually means to seize the day. If you somehow missed this coming-of-age film, it’s a relatable story, despite being set in 1955 and released 32 year...
I spent most of my life completely unaware that there was a Sister Act even though I was very aware that Sister Act 2implied that it was a sequel. I still prefer the subsequent film with Whoopi Goldberg reprising her role as Sister Mary Clarence who teaches kids to sing in a choir at St. Francis Academy. It doesn’t sound like much of a plot, but I ...
While we are honoring all of the great teachers, we must also talk about bad teachers because even if they’re the worst, we still might learn something from them. If we’re being honest, we’ve all had a not-so-great teacher, but hopefully, you didn’t have a teacher that forced the entire 7th grade to wash cars in the hot sun so she could use proceed...
When you’re in school, unconventional teachers are typically the most enjoyable, and there is no teacher more unconventional than a music teacher. With the exception of Miss Frizzle (who taught all things including music), one of the most chaotic teachers of pop culture is the School of Rock’s Mr. S. What kind of crazy music teacher cons his studen...
There’s technically no “High School Sports Coach Appreciation Week,” but because they work at schools with teachers and students, we are still honoring them. And one of the most famous film high school sports coaches is Coach Carter, played by Samuel L. Jackson, and we’re honoring the real Coach Carter, too, who this biopic is based on. The film, w...
Another great high school sports movie based on a true story? Remember the Titans. This 2000s film stars theDenzel Washington as a Black high school football coach who integrates a football team in a town where most residents prefer segregation. Give it a watch if you’re looking to learn about this real-life team and a piece of actual American hist...
Freedom Writersis based on a true story of a white teacher, Erin Gruwell, in 1994 Long Beach, California, who had to do quite a bit of learning to better understand and serve her students of color. Facing unfamiliar situations for the first time, but wanting to help her students maximize their potential and see a future for themselves outside of th...
Imagine quitting your high-paying job to become a computer teacher (in the 1980s at that), only to show up on the first day and learn that the school does not have computers. With “ganas,” which is Latin for motivation or desire, real-life teacher Jamie Escalante was determined to make teaching work. He taught calculus to a group of students who we...
I’m slightly biased because “Lean on Me” is a karaoke favorite, but the movie that got its name from the Bill Withers’ anthem is great too. Lean on Meis based on a true story of a principal nicknamed “Crazy Joe” who was brought in to turn around a high school that was on the verge of closing due to underperforming test scores and mounting violence....
- Mr. Feeny from Boy Meets World. Cue the "Feeny Call!" Though most kids might dread having a teacher for a neighbor, Mr. Feeny, played by William Daniels, was the exception to the rule.
- Manish Kulkarni from Never Have I Ever. Everyone wants one cool teacher who knows when you give you a hard time and when to show you some support. Mr. Kulkarni (Utkarsh Ambudkar) isn't afraid to tell it like it is to Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), and we love him for it.
- Miss Honey from Matilda. With a name like Miss Honey, this iconic teacher (played by Embeth Davidtz) was bound to be sweet. Dedicated to giving her students a happy place to learn and nourish their (at times telekinetic) talents, we would have braved The Chokey if it meant we got to be in her class.
- Economics Teacher. The real-life version of the "wah wah" teacher from Peanuts, Ferris Bueller's never-named economics teacher (played by real-life economist Ben Stein) cemented his status as an education icon thanks to his memorably droning roll call: "Bueller...
- Mädchen in Uniform (1931) Director: Leontine Sagan. Girls in uniform and, ideally, as per the rigid strictures of their Prussian boarding school, uniformity.
- Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) Director: Sam Wood. The daddy of all inspirational teacher movies (Blackboard Jungle, Dead Poets Society, Mr. Holland’s Opus, etc) follows the life and career of humble teacher and, later, childless widower and headmaster Mr Chipping.
- To Sir, with Love (1967) Director: James Clavell. “So you’re the new lamb to the slaughter… or should I say ‘black sheep’?” It’s safe to say that the boisterous London Docks secondary school hasn’t met anyone like Sidney Poitier before.
- Election (1999) Director: Alexander Payne. What type of teenager will stop at nothing to become high-school student body president? And what kind of teacher would wage an all-out campaign to thwart them?
- Goodbye, Mr. Chips (Sam Wood, 1939) “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” is a wonderful nostalgia story about the highs and the lows of being a teacher. The film begins in 1928 in the home of retired school teacher Mr. Chipping (Robert Donat).
- Blackboard Jungle (Richard Brooks, 1955) Stories about teachers, coming to inner-city schools to inspire the children and lead them to a better life, have been told and retold over the course of cinema history.
- The Miracle Worker (Arthur Penn, 1962) It is very possible that the duet between Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke in this film is the most powerful female duet ever put to screen.
- To Sir, With Love (James Clavell, 1967) James Clavell is mostly known in the art world as a writer. He is the author of best-sellers such as “Shogun”, “Tai-Pan” or “The Noble House”.
Sep 30, 2023 · Some of cinema's best teachers applied their craft across multiple film genres. They range from very serious to light-hearted to straight-up whimsical.
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Movies about teachers that changed the life of their pupils. To good or worse, that remains to be seen.
