Musings from a Not-So-Master Teacher

Growing up, the show was controversial.  Parents hated it.  Groups boycotted it.  Kids reveled in it, because it was real.  Unlike the plastic, pollyana Cosby show or the TGIF line-up, The Simpsons spoke to a generation of youth who loved the satire on childhood.  Nowadays, its shock value pales in comparison to South Park or Family Guy.  Yet, the satire remains as biting and realistic as possible.  There is a scene where Bart writes repeatedly on the chalkboard, “I will not waste chalk in class.”    Still, in watching The Simpsons, is that Springfield Elementary fails both Bart and Lisa.

Bart is a trouble-maker.  Yet, it doesn’t help when he is shamed by Mrs. Korpbopple.  Whether it is in their field trip (where he is blamed by the well-behaved twins) or when he cheats his way into the gifted school, there is the realization that the system labels Bart and never really gives him a chance.  True, he enojoys being a rebel.  Yet, the greatest problem is that he is bored with school.  Teachers miss his social competency, his creativity, his quick problem solving skills and instead stick him in a corner as if he is a leper.  I wonder what would happen if Bart worked in a hands-on, authentic, creative environment. In one episode, he studies for hours in order to avoid flunking a social studies exam on colonial America.  As he reads the textbook, his mind wanders into bizarre imaginary scenes.  Yet, according to the test, he's a failure. 

Lisa is a drifter, an existentialist wanderer who earns good grades despite the fact that she doesn’t care about extrinsic motivation.  When she attempts to play the blues, the music director kicks her out and tells her to play a patriotic ditty with the rest of the class.  Eventually, she finds Bleeding Gums Murphy, who gives her saxophone hints and teaches her the lesson of blues, “It’s not so that you can feel better, but so others can feel worse.”  Throughout the episodes, whether it is in trying to reform Mr. Burns or becoming a vegetarian or creating a feminist centerpiece for thanksgiving, Lisa constantly searches for meaning.  Yet, the system has no room for questions and simply uses her as a means to display their “top grades.”   I guess that's what I love about The Simpsons.  The characters are not simply caricatures, but rather a deeper revelation of what it is like to be a student.  I think every teacher's college should require a course that includes segments of the classic show.