Tuesday, August 21, 2007 6:18 AM
by
jtspencer
5 movies teachers should watch
I am a big fan of movies. Though I don't watch many, I think they are the legends, the myths and the folktales that we pass on from generation to generation. Often the scripts contain profound insights about life. So, I am listing movies that have had a strong connection to the way that I teach.
1. Goodwill Hunting
True, this movie might have more “F-bombs” than Scar Face, but it has a powerful message. In terms of teaching, it is a great reminder of the trap of teachers who use student success for personal gain. The approach of the professor (who wants Will to be “successful” in terms of fame and a good government job) and the psychologist (who wants Will to be “successful” in terms of knowing how to love people well) is a stark contrast. There are some great dialogues about book vs. life knowledge, about connecting a subject to life and about what it means for a counselor to listen.
2. Requiem For a Dream
This movie is not for the faint of heart. The drug scenes are gritty and disturbing. Yet, the major theme is not “don’t do drugs,” but rather what happens when people pursue the American Dream without any ethical boundaries. In a era of post-modern “anything goes,” it’s a valuable message for teachers to consider. Yet, it is also important for teachers thinking philosophically about education. For all the high-minded talk of “lifelong learners,” it is interesting that most schools focus their “success stories” on the American Dream of fame, fortune and beauty. Hence, we have beauty contests where we knight a king and a queen during Home Coming. I have never seen a school with a banner stating, “Welcome home Juan! He used to go to school here and now he is doing a great job loving his family!” Instead, we invite star football players and actresses to tell us that fame and beauty are not as important as education. (Ironic, perhaps?)
3. Cars
Okay, so this is pretty different from Requiem for a Dream. Yet, it has been a great reminder for me of a few things: my arrogance as a rookie, the notion of learning from people who are “uneducated” (in Cars this is a tow truck named Mater), about what happens to a community due to outsourcing (in this case an interstate) and what happens when a town can recover its own history and use it to develop a better future. Because I have watched it about 87 times (with my two year old) I am always surprised how bits and pieces of it relate to education.
4. Click
I am not a big fan of Adam Sandler. His physical humor and over-emotional hijinks get old. Unlike most men of my generation, I never memorized the lines of Billy Madison or Happy Gilmore. Yet, Click resonates with me for so many reasons. In a world of standardized test scores, in that Skinnerian box rat race, there is a sense that we can fast forward through life. It starts early, with parents who want to raise the next baby Einstein and then hours of Little League and private lessons and AP courses and no one seems to ask why. Click is a reminder to savor the relationships of life. In teaching, this has a profound impact on the daily grind. It’s a clarion call to abandon my to-do list mentality and spend some time talking to students before and after class.
5. Mr. Holland’s Opus
For me, this is the only teacher movie that captures it fairly accurately. Mr. Holland begins with the notion of teaching as an easy gig and slowly falls in love with the profession. Unlike the typical Hollywood teacher, he spends years developing a program – one that is good, but not “the best.” It’s not the miraculous story of a Dangerous Minds or Stand and Deliver. Instead, it shows the reality that someone can spend years in teaching and rarely see the results and that extra time and energy devoted to one’s profession can take a toll on the family. Yet, in the end, when he conducts the orchestra, it is a reminder of all the lives a teacher touches.