American Teacher by Lin

Film Series: American Teacher

Sponsored by Agenda for Education in a Democracy presents

Friday, October 28th, 5 - 8pm


University Hall 1070


Montclair State University

This is a film screening followed by a panel discussion by attendees.

The film was viewed from four dedicated teachers who discussed their joy and horrors of teaching. The film was extremely depressing because it showed the tolls that grueling hour with little support have on real lives. In the movie, there were two male and two female teachers that were featured. Both male teachers considered themselves the bread winner of the household and as much as they loved teaching and their students, their salary was not enough to support a comfortable living standard, which drove them to get another job and another finally to move into a better paying job.

There are tolls to being a good teacher and not being paid well enough. In the movie, they followed one female teacher who had just gave birth and had to return exactly six weeks after delivery because she had no more time. The demands of a baby in addition to all the work of planning and grading were overwhelming, she was giving and giving and knew that she wasn’t taking care of herself.

The film also compared United States’ teachers to three other countries who were most proficient: Finland, Singapore and South Korea. In the other three countries they noticed these trends: teachers were a highly valued profession in society, the turnover rates were less than 4%, teaching programs were highly selective and free, teachers did not have to spend money on school supplies.

Although the film was focused on the teacher’s perspective, during out discussion, we touched upon more political aspects of other individuals with power in the education system. Specifically, there was an interesting discussion on tenure. For most people when they hear the word tenure, they think of immunity and having a stable job. “After three years and a day, you’ll be set for life.” That however isn’t the case. Tenure was first introduced as a buffer to prevent wrongful firing and nepotism, and it can and should still be used the same way today. As someone mentioned, if a school really want, they can get someone fired. The procedure, however, like a child who needs an IEP is base on evidence. If the principal or superintendent wants someone out, they’ll work to provide evidence and if they don’t care enough, then the individual teacher will continue to keep their job. The key difference is that it is up to the principals and superintendents to make sure that all their teachers are doing their job!

Although the movie was depressing, it is still worthwhile to watch. Go enjoy!