Movie Night! Top 5 Movies about teachers

“Every great film should seem new every time you see it” Roger Egbert

Spoiler Alert!

There is nothing like sitting down on a Friday night and enjoying a good movie.  It’s a chance to relax, to forget about the week that’s passed and to let the noise of the classroom slowly fade away.

At Impact Teachers, we spend our time finding positions for teachers coming from overseas to teach in the UK and looking for roles for those already based here.  Therefore, we thought, what films are out there that would inspire our teachers.  What are the top movies about teaching?  Here’s our rundown of the top 5:

Movie 1 – To Sir with Love 

We previously recommended this in our blog on the top 5 books all teachers should read and the movie deserves equal credit.  A classic movie starring Sidney Poitier and Lulu in her film debut, the movie tells the story of Mark Thackeray and his attempt to win over a tough class of students in an inner city London school.  The film deals with issues of racism and social issues that occur at the school.

Movie 2 – Dead Poets Society

An award-winning movie starring Robin Williams as English teacher John Keating, Dead Poets Society tells the story of a group of students who are inspired by the their teacher through his untraditional methods of teaching poetry.

Keating’s different methodology helps the students to embrace what they want to do in life however, when tragedy strikes Keating is dismissed leading to that famous scene where the students protest at Keating’s dismissal by standing on their desks.

Movie 3 – School of Rock

Although this film isn’t technically about a teacher (Jack Black pretends to be his friend in an effort to make some money) School of Rock is an uplifting movie about a teacher who after recognising his students talents enters them into the Battle of the Bands tournament giving each of them confidence to be themselves.

The students are part of a very formal school where the parents disapprove of rock and roll or anything that isn’t graded.  However the students all band together to help the class enter the competition in spite of their parents’ wishes.  The movie was subsequently turned into a successful stage musical.

Movie 4 – Freedom Writers

Based upon the book – The Freedom Writers Diary, the movie tells the story of Erin Gruwell who was a new teacher starting out in Los Angeles taking on a role at a school going through a voluntary integration program.

Erin works hard to bring together a class of students from many different backgrounds who rally against her efforts whilst also struggling to get the help and resources she needs from her school.  Over time she wins their trust breaking down the barriers in place.  The events are based upon the real life experiences of Erin Gruwell – see her talk about it here!

Movie 5 – Mr. Holland’s Opus 

Our final choice tells the story of a musician and composer, Glenn Holland, who decides to take a break from performing which isn’t currently paying the bills so he becomes a teacher.  He quickly discovers that his beloved subject is not well respected by the other members of the school’s faculty, nor liked by the students.  Over time he wins over other staff members while impacting the lives of many students in return.

For more on our series of blogs see here!

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