Teachers and Teaching on Stage and on Screen

Monica Prendergast, Diane Conrad

Description

Why are educators and their profession the focus of so much film and theatre? Diane Conrad and Monica Prendergast bring together scholars and practitioners in education, examining dramatic portrayals of teachers and teaching to answer this very question. Films such as Freedom Writers, Bad Teacher and School of Rock, to name a few, intentionally or inadvertently comment on education and influence the opinions and, ultimately, the experiences of anyone who has taught or been taught. The chapters gathered in this collection critique the Hollywood 'good teacher' repertoire, delve into satiric parodies and alternative representations and explore issues through analyses of independent and popular films and plays from around the world. By examining teacher-student relationships, institutional cultures, societal influences and much more, Teachers and Teaching on Stage and on Screen addresses these media’s varied fascinations with the educator like no collection before it.

Part I: Teacher Reflections/Reflections on Teachers

Chapter 1: Three Perspectives on Freedom Writers: Considering Teaching Across the Career Span by Jaime L. Beck

Chapter 2: Characteristics of a Successful Learner Applied to Why Shoot The Teacher? by Phil Duchene

Chapter 3: The Roles We 'Were Born to Fill': Thinking about Performing Teaching with Mona Lisa Smile by Dorothy Morrissey

Chapter 4: A Curriculum of Diversity in Monsieur Lazhar by Jenny Osorio

Chapter 5: Laughing to Learn: Irony in Election by Carl Leggo and Claire Ahn

Part II: Teachers as Heroes or Antiheros

Chapter 6: The Light and Dark Archetypes of Teachers: What Can Matilda Tell us about Teacher Identity? by Angelina Ambrosetti

Chapter 7: The Problem with Mr. Holland: The Portrayal of Music Teachers in Film – Mr. Holland’s Opus by Nancy Curry and Jeffrey Curry

Chapter 8: The Politics of Representation of Pedagogues in Nollywood: A Critical Analysis of Somewhere in Africa: The Cries of Humanity by Taiwo Afolabi and Stephen Okpadah

Chapter 9: An Unlikely Revolution: Portrayals of Teaching in Strictly Ballroom by Anita Hallewas

Chapter 10: Good Teacher/Bad Teacher…Is that all we are? by Patricia Jagger

Part III: Pedagogies/Pedagogical Moments

Chapter 11: O Brave New World? The Role of Arts Education as presented in the film Hunky Dory by Claire Coleman and Jane Luton

Chapter 12: “You’re not Hardcore, unless you Live Hardcore”: Exploring Pedagogical Encounters in School of Rock by Mitchell McLarnon

Chapter 13: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the Pedagogy of Misdirection by Matthew Krehl Edward Thomas and Bernadette Walker-Gibbs

Chapter 14: Playfulness, Relationships, and Worldviews: Indigenous Pedagogy and Conrack by Matthew “Gus” Gusul

Chapter 15: Bill and Ted’s Assessable Adventure: A Frame Analysis of Assessment Representations in Popular Culture – Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure by Rachael Jacobs 

Part IV: Ethics and Desire in Teaching

Chapter 16: Teaching as a Moral Act: Reflections on Five Plays Featuring Teachers and Students (Shaw’s Pygmalion, Kanin’s Born Yesterday, Riml’s RAGE, Mamet’s Oleanna, and Russell’s Educating Rita) by Monica Prendergast

Chapter 17: Granting “the Wherewithal to Resist”: The Erotic as Pedagogical Supplement in Alan Bennett’s The History Boys by Ian Tan Xing Long 

Chapter 18: Why are You Doing This? Negotiating the Gift of Education in Development Work in Nepal: Kathmandu – A Mirror in the Sky by Ruth Hol Mjanger, in dialogue with Bibek Shakya, Reiny de Witt and Meena Subba Karki

Chapter 19: Learning with Brecht: Exploring the Learning-to-Read-and-Write-Scene in The Mother by Stig A. Eriksson

Chapter 20: Teaching, Fantasy and Desire: Me and Mona Lisa Smile by Kate Bride and edited by Elizabeth Yeoman

Part V: Destabilising Perspectives of Teachers and Teaching

Chapter 21: Wrestling with Vulnerabilities & the Potential for Difference: The Pedagogy of Drug Use in Half Nelson by Diane Conrad

Chapter 22: The Seductress in the Classroom: Female Teacher as Erotic Object and Fantasy in The Piano Teacher by Melissa Tamporello 

Chapter 23: Knowing Where We Came From: An Examination of the One-act play Education is Our Right by Carmen Rodríguez de France

Chapter 24: Art School Confidential: Profound Offence or Just Good Fun? by Anita Sinner and Thibault Zimmer

Chapter 25: Emancipatory Reaggregation of the Irrational Man: (Im)moral Possibilities of an Existential, Lived-Curriculum by Sean Wiebe and Pauline Sameshima 

Sujets

• Histoire du cinéma
• Histoire du cinéma
• Histoire du cinéma
• Performing Arts
• La sonrisa de Mona Lisa
• Película fotográfica
• Bad Teacher
• Theatre
• Popular culture
• Conrack
• Irrational Man: A Study in Existential Philosophy
• Order of the Phoenix
• Freedom Writers
• Mother (disambiguation)
• The History Boys
• Cinema of Nigeria
• Mona Lisa Smile
• The Piano Teacher
• School of Rock
• Strictly Ballroom
• Indigenous
• General officer
• Cultural studies
• Television
• Écrire pour exister
• The Mother
• Art School Confidential
• General
• Nollywood
• Half Nelson
• Ballroom Dancing
• Hunky Dory
• Election
• Matilda
• Harry Potter
• Film
• Hollywood
• Cinéma
• Cinema

Informations

• Publié par: Intellect Books
• Date de parution: 07 octobre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781789380682
• Langue: English

Extrait

First published in the UK in 2019 by Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2019 by Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright © 2019 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover designer: Aleksandra Szumlas
Copy editor: MPS Technologies
Production editor: Faith Newcombe
Typesetting: Contentra Technologies
Print ISBN: 978-1-78938-067-5
ePDF ISBN: 978-1-78938-069-9
ePub ISBN: 978-1-78938-068-2
Printed and bound by Hobbs, UK.
To find out about all our publications, please visit www.intellectbooks.com .
There, you can subscribe to our e-newsletter, browse or download our current catalogue and buy any titles that are in print.
This is a peer-reviewed publication.
We dedicate this book to Dr. Carl Leggo (1953–2019) whose interest in the dramatic representation of teachers led us to envision this project. Carl was an inspirational mentor, colleague, and friend; he is much missed.
Contents
Editors’ Introduction: We Are Therefore We Teach
Diane Conrad & Monica Prendergast
P ART I: T EACHER R EFLECTIONS /R EFLECTIONS ON T EACHERS
1. Three Perspectives on Freedom Writers : Considering Teaching Across the Career Span
Jaime L. Beck
2. Characteristics of a Successful Learner Applied to Why Shoot The Teacher?
Phil Duchene
3. The Roles We “Were Born to Fill”: Thinking about Performing Teaching with Mona Lisa Smile
Dorothy Morrissey
4. A Curriculum of Diversity in Monsieur Lazhar
Jenny Osorio
5. Laughing to Learn: Irony in Election
Carl Leggo & Claire Ahn
P ART II: T EACHERS AS H EROES OR A NTIHEROES
6. The Light and Dark Archetypes of Teachers: What Can Matilda Tell Us about Teacher Identity?
Angelina Ambrosetti
7. The Problem with Mr. Holland: The Portrayal of Music Teachers in Film Through Mr. Holland’s Opus
Nancy Curry & Jeffrey Curry
8. The Politics of Representation of Pedagogues in Nollywood: A Critical Analysis of Somewhere in Africa: The Cries of Humanity
Taiwo Afolabi & Stephen Okpadah
9. An Unlikely Revolution: Portrayals of Teaching in Strictly Ballroom
Anita Hallewas
10. Good Teacher/ Bad Teacher … Is That All We Are?
Patricia Jagger
P ART III: P EDAGOGIES /P EDAGOGICAL M OMENTS
11. O Brave New World? The Role of Arts Education as Presented in Hunky Dory
Claire Coleman & Jane Luton
12. “You’re Not Hardcore (Unless You Live Hardcore)”: Exploring Pedagogical Encounters in School of Rock
Mitchell McLarnon
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix : A Pedagogy of Misdirection
Matthew Krehl Edward Thomas & Bernadette Walker-Gibbs
14. Playfulness, Relationships, and Worldviews: Indigenous Pedagogy and Conrack
Matthew “Gus” Gusul
15. Bill & Ted’s Assessable Adventure: A Frame Analysis of Assessment Representations in Popular Culture Through Bill & Ted ’ s Excellent Adventure
Rachael Jacobs
P ART IV: E THICS AND D ESIRE IN T EACHING
16. Teaching as a Moral Act: Reflections on Five Plays Featuring Teachers and Students (Shaw’s Pygmalion , Kanin’s Born Yesterday , Riml’s RAGE , Mamet’s Oleanna , and Russell’s Educating Rita )
Monica Prendergast
17. Granting “the Wherewithal to Resist”: The Erotic as Pedagogical Supplement in Alan Bennett’s The History Boys
Ian Tan Xing Long
18. Why are You Doing This? Negotiating the Gift of Education in Development Work in Nepal through Kathmandu: A Mirror in the Sky
Ruth Hol Mjanger, in dialogue with Bibek Shakya, Reiny de Wit, & Meena Subba Karki
19. Learning with Brecht: Exploring the “Learning to Read and Write” Scene in The Mother
Stig A. Eriksson
20. Teaching, Fantasy, and Desire: Me and Mona Lisa Smile
Kate Bride, edited by Elizabeth Yeoman
P ART V: D ESTABILIZING P ERSPECTIVES OF T EACHERS AND T EACHING
21. Wrestling with Vulnerabilities and the Potential for Difference: The Pedagogy of Drug Use in Half Nelson
Diane Conrad
22. The Seductress in the Classroom: The Female Teacher as Erotic Object and Fantasy in The Piano Teacher
Melissa Tamporello
23. Knowing Where We Came From: An Examination of the One-Act Play Education is Our Right
Carmen Rodríguez de France
24. Art School Confidential : Profound Offence or Just Good Fun?
Anita Sinner & Thibault Zimmer
25. The Emancipatory Reaggregation of the Irrational Man : (Im)moral Possibilities of an Existential, Lived Curriculum
Sean Wiebe & Pauline Sameshima
Biographies
Editors’ Introduction: We Are Therefore We Teach
Diane Conrad & Monica Prendergast
Why This Book?
We began this book project with a shared intrigue in our favourite plays and films that portray teachers and teaching. Ever the drama teachers and teacher educators that we are, we were convinced that a book of discussions focusing on such portrayals would offer a tremendous pedagogical resource. As we began looking at dramatic depictions of teachers and teaching, we were astounded – the more we looked the more we encountered. There are indeed a vast number of such plays and films, not to mention television portrayals, which we do not have the space to explore here. The overwhelming response we received to our call for chapters confirmed that our interest in the topic was shared by others and brought to our attention an even greater variety of relevant works. The phenomenon of dramatized teachers appears to be true across cultures, as evinced by the number and variety of proposals we received from international contributors about current or historical international plays and films. Some of the authors in this collection take up in their chapters the questions of why teacher films abound and what work these portrayals do. Dorothy Morrissey cites Dalton (2010), who “contends that the popularisation of teaching performances in Hollywood movies, not only influences, but constructs our individual and collective perceptions and expectations of teachers.”
The plays and films the contributing authors suggested writing about go far beyond what Dalton (2006) calls the Hollywood curriculum of simplistic representations that work to maintain the status quo. On the contrary, the chapters we have gathered critique the Hollywood “good teacher” (Dalton, 2006) repertoire, delve into satiric parodies and alternative representations, and explore issues through analyses of independent and international films as well as several plays. They examine teacher–student relationships, institutional cultures, societal influences, and much more.
Why do so many plays and films portray teachers and teaching? It is not a coincidence that so many such films exist. Taiwo Afolabi and Stephen Okpadah acknowledge the great number of films that incorporate “themes that revolve around the import, status and significance of teachers in the society.” They propose that it may be “because it is believed that pedagogues are instrumental to the growth of any society and teachers’ intelligence and intellectual capability determine the pace of development in any nation.” Angelina Ambrosetti (2016) avers that, “throughout old and new history, teaching is considered to be an honourable profession, one that is complex and involves specific skills and knowledge to be effective. Society has high expectations of teachers as they are entrusted with shaping the future generation” (p. 1). School is one of the iconic settings, along with family home and workplace, where life unfolds for all of us. We have all spent countless hours in schools and other educational settings. Our relationships with teachers are a significant part of our life experiences. Who does not have a story of a memorable teacher? Whether in formal primary, secondary, or tertiary contexts, or in informal educational settings – the soccer coach, piano teacher, girl-scout leader, or driving instructor – teachers were there. They may be remembered because they were beloved or despised, inspiring or boring, hilarious or harsh. Whatever the case, they were there and had an impact on us.
Many of the plays and films analyzed in this collection speak to complex and ongoing educational issues and debates. This suggests the high level of investment that we have in education in society that is in turn reflected in cultural representation on stage or screen. Everyone seems to have a stake in the state of education. As a topic or setting for plays and films, education, the world of teachers and teaching, provides a familiar backdrop to allow for an exploration of cultural issues relevant to the field of education and to society in general. What is worth teaching? How do we know? What are the best ways to teach? How do we teach diverse learners? How do we prepare young people for adult living? What are the challenges of teaching? How does a teacher stay resilient in her chosen profession? What is the cost of living a life in the classroom? Teaching portrayed on stage or on screen provides vivid reflections of the state of education, on how teachers teach, how students respond to school, and where success and failure may be found. These portrayals have an influence on popular opinion. As such, these plays and films do important work, work that demands our serious attention.
What Lies Behind?
There is a small but very engaging body of literature on the topic of educational settings and characters in film (less so on stage representations). Mark Readman’s (2016) collection Teaching and learning on screen: Mediated pedagogies focuses on how the act of pedagogy is portrayed in film, in both formal and informal educational spaces. Readman describes the intent of his book: “[I]t is an exploration of the imaginative terrain of teaching and learning and is underpinned by the idea