Best Movies Involving Education

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Permalink Reply by Tiger on November 9, 2008 at 4:19pm

I am partial to Born Free, but I wish the lion would have shown some spirit and eaten her psuedo-parents in the end. Let's remember they killed her mother.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Dunlap on November 29, 2008 at 2:30pm

"Chalk" was surprisingly good. Reminded me a lot of my first year, except a much smaller cast (and more forgiving students).

Came across a paper couple of years ago about using movies to deconstruct pre-service teachers' images of the profession. It included an immense filmography of education-related movies-- fascinating stuff.

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Permalink Reply by Galen Rosenberg on December 3, 2008 at 5:39pm

It's Election for me. No heroic teachers. Normal-sized classes. About as dark as a comedy version of Macbeth. Half Nelson is pretty good. If you want something uplifting try Etre et Avoir (To be and to have) or Goodbye Mr. Chips.

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Permalink Reply by Hazen Devine on December 19, 2008 at 7:07am

For me, it's got to be "Teachers," released in 1984 and starring Nick Nolte and a whole bunch of other notables in bit parts, including Laura Dern, Judd Hirsch, Morgan Freeman, Crispin Glover, and Ralph Macchio (Karate Kid I came out the same year). It's sort of the "M*A*S*H" of education, though I suspect it's one of those things that if I viewed it again now, it wouldn't hold up as well as my memory of it. The closing line comes close to as classic as "It's the stuff dreams are made of" when Nolte says, while striding away: "I'm a teacher, dammit!" Or something likewise inspiring.

"Election" is a close second, but should be viewed immediately following "Ferris Bueller."

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Permalink Reply by andy knote on January 8, 2009 at 11:21am

Rushmore is a better film, but Election is a better portrait of teaching.
I think Class of 84 (with Michael J. Fox in a riveting debut) hits the nail right on the head for me.

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Permalink Reply by Erin Michelle on January 18, 2009 at 7:05am

If I really want to be moved and inspired, I will choose a documentary. "Resolved" (an HBO doc) is one of the best I've seen in recent years. The experiences of an inner-city debate team gives us another perspective on the urban/suburban educational divide. As an urban teacher, I always watch the newest remake of "Dangerous Minds" -- "Freedom Writers" -- etc. It's nice to be able to romanticize my job for a few hours, no matter how unrealistic the depiction.

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Permalink Reply by Raul C. Rodriguez on March 25, 2009 at 12:58pm

Raul C. Rodriguez said:

Definitely, my all-time favorite is Stand and Deliver, followed by Lean on Me. Some honorable mentions have to be The Graduate and Napolean Dynomite. Every year I would start my middle school Language Atrs class with Stand and Deliver. We would watch it the first week, do some character sketches, write a paragraph on each character(character analysis) and then combine those paragraphs for a short essay. Everybody would get an A or B and start out the year on the right foot. Even the wanna-be gangsters enjoyed writing about the movie.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Kohn on April 15, 2009 at 7:31am

Blackboard Jungle.

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Permalink Reply by Linda Emm on April 29, 2009 at 5:46am

I agree about "Teachers". And I think if you revisit it, you'll be amazed at how it does hold up. Every school has a "ditto", even though it's now Ms. Xerox, and the most engaging teacher in the school is an escapee from a mental hospital. I've worked in that school!
Linda Emm

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Permalink Reply by Michael Pryor on May 4, 2009 at 8:39pm

The best movie has to be "Teachers!". Many of us have watched it over and over with the help of popcorn and an occasional beer. All of the characters bring to life those we have taught with or shared a laugh with.

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Permalink Reply by Will Best on May 22, 2009 at 10:17am

I saw the French movie "The Class" a few weeks ago. It's definitely the best movie about teaching and schools that I've ever seen, despite its awfully bland English title. It's amazingly realistic, and gets right into issues of respect between teacher and students. Not uplifting, but you can talk about it and unpack it for days.

I have to give props to Rushmore and Election, too.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Perino on May 30, 2009 at 9:34pm

I will have to say my favorite movie involving education is The Power of One with a very young Stephen Dorff & Morgan Freeman. It focuses on the importance of education and using the real world to educate a child. Learning is a tool to freedom.

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