On a day which recognises the seminal contribution of educators who have shaped our lives, a look at some who lit the silver screen and told us that learning needs to extend beyond textbooks and classroom walls. By Team Viva
From changing roles as a mentor to a guide and to a friend, a teacher plays an important role in shaping the life of a child. There are some films which have walked around the relationship of a teacher and a student giving an insight into how a teacher is so much more than just a “knowledge-giver”. They inspire you in a million ways to bring that extraordinary element alive or might make you understand the realities of life over a moral science lecture.
Chalk n Duster
The film describes an emotional journey of two teachers whose passion and love for teaching bonds them in a special relationship with their students. It speaks out loud about different issues of the education system. There is conflict between teachers and management when it decides to pass on the chairman’s wand to an ambitious lady. Generally teachers follow orders from the management but here it pushes their role. They give core importance to the students over everything. In the present system, the emphasis is on bookish learning and the excellence of a student is calibrated by conducting written tests and interviews. Chalk n Duster subtly touches upon these issues and steps forward with an attempt to bring some change.
Dead Poets Society
The film revolves around an enigmatic and unconventional teacher, John Keating (Robin Williams) who turns the lives of his students upside down. It revolves around the theme of contemplating life from a different perspective. The teacher uses unorthodox methods to reach out to his students, who face enormous pressures from their parents and the school. With Keating’s help, students Neil Perry, Todd Anderson and others learn to break out of their shells and pursue their dreams. He inspires his students to look at poetry with a different perspective of authentic knowledge and feelings.
Freedom Writers
The film revolves around a young teacher who inspires her class to learn tolerance, use their potential to the fullest and pursue education beyond high school. As the year goes along, she explores different dynamics and projects to show her students that they are capable of touching the sky. Therefore, she asks them to write about their lives and what they want their teacher to know about them, in a notebook. Through this, she wants each of them to reach their goals and make them believe in themselves no matter what situation they will face throughout their lives. During the course, the teacher faces various obstacles but that did not put her down as she was firm enough to bring a change in her students life.
The Class
Teacher Francois Marin and his colleagues teach at a racially mixed high school and discuss about their perspectives with respect to students, both good and bad. They collectively want to inspire their students, but each teacher is an individual who will do things in his or her own way to achieve the results they desire. They also have various viewpoints on the students, and how best to praise and discipline them. The administration of the school tries to be as fair as possible, which includes having student representatives sit on the student evaluation committee.
Finding Forrester
This is a story about the transformation and redemption of students through the power of writing and reading. Rob Brown plays Jamal, a young African-American male who has won a scholarship to a prestigious prep school. He has got the brains to go, but he also is a fantastic basketball player. When he meets up with Mr Forrester, an eccentric old man who lives alone as a hermit, he finds a surprisingly kindred spirit. The two develop a relationship that benefits both of them, as the teacher eventually learns from his student and a young writing prodigy finds a mentor in a reclusive author.
To Sir, With Love
Mark Thackeray, an immigrant to Britain from British Guiana via California, is offered a teaching post at North Quay Secondary School in the tough East End of London. Thackeray learns from the staff that most pupils have been rejected from other schools and their antics drove their last teacher to resign. The pupils live up to their reputation and their antics progress from disruptive behavior to distasteful pranks. Thackeray retains his calm manner but a turning point comes when he becomes very angry and then changes his approach. He informs the students that he will treat them as adults and allow them to discuss issues of their own choosing for the remainder of the term. Thackeray gradually wins the class over.
Mona Lisa Smile
While most teacher-student films are biased in favour of men where both the students as well as the teacher who turns their life around is a male, this is certainly the exception. In 1953, Katherine Ann Watson (Julia Roberts), a 30-year-old graduate student in the department of Art History at UCLA and Oakland State, takes a position teaching “History of Art” at Wellesley College, a conservative women's private liberal arts college in Massachusetts. At her first class, Katherine discovers that her students have already memorised the entire textbook and syllabus, so she uses the classes to introduce them to Modern Art and encourages discussion about topics such as what makes good art. Katherine comes to know her students and seeks to inspire them to achieve more than marriage to eligible young men.
Hichki
The film revolves around the story of a teacher who turns her most daunting weakness into her biggest strength. She suffers from Tourette Syndrome and lands up with her dream job as a teacher in an elite schools. She realises that the class she has been assigned to comprises underprivileged students who are defiant and impish. Despite facing a few problems initially, she ensures that her students realise their true potential and defy all the odds. A believer, a motivator and an inspiration, Naina Mathur (Rani Mukherji) is hands down one of the best teachers seen in Bollywood films. Her challenges and struggles to make these children winners in their lives which defines the role of a true teacher.
Paathshala
The film depicts the story of one who leads other teachers and students to revolt against the school management. During the course, it shows the friendly relationship between the teacher and students and stresses on how tyranny-free environment is crucial for the development of a child. The messages are relevant and mirror some unpalatable truths of our society — the state of teachers in our country and how poorly rewarded they are. It also shows that the modern infrastructure in schools doesn’t necessarily mean progressive thought.
Taare Zameen Par
It is a story of a child who suffers from dyslexia, because of which he is unable to cope with his routinely activities, during his early childhood. His life changes when his teacher (Aamir Khan), explains the problem to the child’s parents and gradually puts in efforts to improve his life. His world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate but with the efforts of the teacher, people and especially his parents do.
