As a teacher, I find films about teachers to be inspiring. Even with this inspiration, I often feel a little regret for films about teachers as the representation of teachers does not touch on all the realistic dynamics of the profession. Movies often show teachers with only one class, when realistically teachers have multiple classes and multiple preparations to make. Teachers are often shown as being the only person responsible for the students' education, when it is extremely important that family and other caregivers are involved in a student's education. Films often fit teachers into a specific role such as "savior", "caretaker", or "jailer," (Shannon and Crawford, 1998). Commonly aspects of teachers gives audiences a limited view of the teaching profession that may result in unrealistic ideals for the teachers of their children.
To look into this idea more deeply, let's take a look at the film "School of Rock." In this film Jack Black plays a character, Dewey Finn, who begins as a aspiring rock star in need of money to maintain rent and the relationship with his brother. In an attempt to make money, Dewey pretends to be his brother, Ned Schneebly, and goes to a school as a long-term substitute teacher. As a teacher in this film Jack Black's character is portrayed as a "savior" so to speak. Dewey comes into a classroom full of very obedient grade hungry 4th grade students at a rigid private elementary school. Even though Dewey comes into this job only for the money, he recognizes the student's obsessive need for grades and gold stars. Because of this, Dewey sees himself as being needed to break these students of their reliance on grades and find the joy of learning again. In the end, Dewey is a "savior" in that his students learn for the intrinsic value, rather than to gain a gold star or an A.
In order to be a "savior" Dewey incorporates popular music into the classroom. When Dewey decides to "save" these kids from their impending focus on grades, he takes these students' focus away from an typical academia and revolves their learning around popular music. Unbeknownst to the students, they are learning valuable skills along the way. The use of popular music is essential to Dewey being a "savior" in that it is what he know and loves. Without the enthusiasm he had and was able to bring out in his students, he wouldn't have been able to break students of their grades-are-everthing mentality.
Dewey's use of poular music seems counter to the many types of teachers Shannon and Crawfor (1998) identify. A typical "savior" teacher, like in Dangerous Minds, saves the students by focusing them on traditional acadamia. Jack Black, on the other hand, is still a "savior," but completely neglects the prepared curriculum. Breaking away from the required curriculum and utilizing popular music denies the idea of "jailer" because Dewey continaully encourages the students to "stick it to the man" and be a part of the counter-culutre of hard rock and punk music. Using popular music in his classroom is more liberating to his students than it is confining.
Even though Dewey Finn assumes a role Shannon and Crawford (1998) identifiy as common in movies about teachers, his use of popular music and the way he "saves" his studnets is very counter to those roles. The use of popular music in this film is essential to the creation of Dewey as a "savior" but also to the denial of the other roles.
"This is the end..."
15 years ago
Nice post, Abbigail! I do think though, that the role of the teacher as savior is actually really common in teacher movies. You will notice this with the "nice white lady" phenomenon that is employed in movies like Dangerous Minds and Freedom Writers. So, anyways, I agree with you that teacher movies are often really unrealistic. Have you seen this recent french movie The Class? if not, it's a must-see. In it, a teacher in inner-city Paris (which sounds like an oxymoron, but as you will see, it isn't) tries to teach a racially and culturally diverse group of students how to analyze literature. He succeeds in some respects and fails miserably in others, going so far as to call one of his students a slut in the middle of class (which is insane to watch, but any teacher whose ever had a bad day can almost see him or herself indulging their own anger and frustration to the point that this guy does, which is scary). Anyhow, i thought this movie was uncharacteristic of the "teacher" movie stereotype, and is therefore a little more powerful. Check it out!
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