"What Teaching Really Takes"

I often viewed those movies such as “Freedom Writers,” “Dangerous Minds,” and “Stand and Deliver” with a kind of awe before I began teaching. Now, as a teacher, I really did not know what to think of them. Do they portray urban youth correctly? Do they portray urban teachers correctly? My answer to both was no, but I could not really describe why. I knew I was not seeing my reality on a movie screen. But if asked what needed to be changed, I could not quite pinpoint my argument. Thankfully, in an article first published in the New York Times and later reprinted in American Educator , tenth grade teacher Tom Moore explains it more eloquently than I ever could have.
Perhaps my favorite part of the article is when Moore discusses Hilary Swank’s character in “Freedom Writers.” He says that as soon as a fight breaks out in her classroom, the security guard appears immediately. Has this ever happened to anyone? He goes on to say that the only people running down the hall in his school would be kids because they heard about a fight. Now that sounds more like it.
But the main point of Moore’s article is what he calls “The Myth of the Great Teacher.” Basically, these movies portray “good” teachers as people who martyr themselves to the cause. They give up their personal lives, spend all their time and money on their students, and expect nothing in return. Also, these movies portray urban youth as simply needing someone to believe in them. Forget the basic skills, just give them a hug and a smile and everything will be fine.
But what does it matter? It’s Hollywood. Nobody really believes that movies portray real life, right? But as Moore puts it, “no one believes that hospitals are like ER…[but] no one blames doctors for the failure of the healthcare system.”
However, our profession is constantly trivialized and the idea that love and dedication will overcome is broadcast. I don’t want to be considered a terrible person because I expect to get paid for my job, and I expect to have a life outside of my classroom. Just because I am part of a system that is not successful does not mean that it is my fault. I couldn’t fix it by giving up my life, even if I wanted to.
(Unfortunately, I cannot find a free link to this article online, but it is available from the New York Times. It is entitled “Movie Fantasy vs. Classroom Reality: What Teaching Really Takes.”)