Teaching + Public

 Teaching and its public view have always been skewed in my opinion as much of what is popularized by media is a gross exaggeration of the field. Many wonder if their teacher is an effective educator for their students as it is hard to determine outside of assessing whether a student is doing well or failing to comprehend the content. Teachers also face this perception that being regular means your undercut or not doing enough in your career as a teacher. Being this super teacher that is on a mission to save a class of underprivileged kids and have them succeed at a greater academic level is kinda a myth. The reality of the situation is that good teachers are the ones that work long hours and are consistent. And with that parents and media might see that as educators underperforming. Rather than this model that if they aren't completely changing the attitude of their students they aren't great or successful teachers. Along with this, there has been a vast shift in teacher and student responsibility in terms of what is seen as the teacher's fault and the student's responsibility. Many now favor their student's and kids' responses to their teachers as it has become commonplace to hear "My teacher hates me"  or something akin to this statement. I think the development of this mentality has resulted in the questionability and hyper criticism of teachers rather than criticizing the learning style or content and how students are learning subjects. Overall the public interpretation of what makes a good teacher is bloated and non-factual compared to many other fields where people actually do their job and are not pompously being seen as the top of their field or the bottom of the barrel. 



Comments

  1. Madison WalshNovember 12, 2021 at 5:30 PM

    Hi Michael, I agree that there is no accurate depiction of educators in films, and the audience usually only sees either "super teachers" like you said, or lazy and boring teachers that are most likely only there to make the super teacher look even better. I think it is sad teachers just can't be teachers anymore, and they have to try and live up to this unrealistic standard where parents expect educators to reflect those in the movies. More specifically, Robin Williams from "Dead Poets Society" and Edward James Olmos from "Stand and Deliver" make the expectations for a good teacher even harder for educators in real life, since they place the "On a Mission" character that ends with them saving the day. Although they are inspiring movies that many potential educators look up to, it creates a very tough environment for those teachers that do put in the effort, yet still get criticized by the public because it still isn't good enough. Thanks for the insightful post, I enjoyed reading it!

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    1. Michael_young1November 14, 2021 at 5:03 PM

      Hi Madison , Stand and Deliver is actually one of my favorite movies ! Having analyzed it looking for stereotypes of the super teacher I have to agree the teacher characterized in these types of movies is often over-qualified and always stirring the pot. Few and far between do we see teachers working their hearts off with a huge volume of students and actually being connected to the area they are teaching at. One of the big things I notice in the media is these super teachers always coming from the outside to these inter city schools or low income areas and often times being held as better to the teachers most likely working just as hard but not as flashily. Our current Media in the U.S needs to change its outlook on the way teachers that are worthy of their jobs aren't set between two extremes of incompetent or cynical or some kind of education savior.

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  2. Naomi's News & NarrationsNovember 12, 2021 at 7:29 PM

    Hi Michael! I loved the way you worded the points you made in this post, I honestly could not think of a better way to say it myself. Educators are depicted in such a black and white way in the media, resulting in a failure to represent the teachers who are working their job according to exactly what is being expected of them. I personally don't think I can think of a single film/show centered around a teacher that has not stereotyped them as either the underperforming, lazy, detached teacher or the overachieving, ball of sunshine teacher. As a result, the portrayal of an educator who performs somewhere in the middle (as most do), is little to none. I think you made a huge point when you mentioned that we don't seem to have this issue when it comes to the depiction of other careers in the media. The total lack of accurate educator representation in the media creates an inaccurate and harmful narrative and standards for teachers to be held to.

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    1. Michael_young1November 14, 2021 at 5:09 PM

      The narrative of teaching is so inaccurate , often times on the big screen people don't see our regular everyday Joe teachers who help students afterschool with tutorials ,or go to there sports events , or even fundraisers. This concept that the above and beyond teacher has to be one that sits down with a students parents and "fights" for their education simply is so uncommon that its almost laughable. We need more accurate representation of teachers working long hours planning lessons for their kiddos and especially teachers coming from the communities they teach. I always find it so hard to believe in these teacher savior movies that its portrayed that the super teacher is the only one in a whole school of staff able to teach or even reach such a small group of students. That speaks to the misguided interpretation that if a teacher isn't seen killing themselves in their work they just aren't giving a care in the world for their students.

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