Teachers Represented in Film

Popular film and media have become prominent sources of influence over contemporary society. Mitchell & Weber (1999) suggests that this is because “the knowledge and images that are embedded in popular culture might be taken as common ground” (p. 164). The representation of teachers in filmic bodies has generated clichés and stereotypes of ‘larger than life teachers’ that have had irrefutable influence on how the ‘everyday teacher’ is viewed by society and how the practice has been shaped. In Weber and Mitchell’s (1999) book Reinventing ourselves as teachers, the complex relationship between fictitious and real teachers is explored and analysed. In particular they emphasise the importance of close readings of popular texts in assisting teachers and pre-service teachers to fully understand their professional practice. This essay will examine the 1978 film ‘The Getting of Wisdom’, a literary adaptation that contains popular representations of teachers (Beresford, 1978).

Film has played a major role in the development of teacher stereotypes, and in particular, the stereotype of a teacher as a ‘charismatic’ and ‘inspiring hero’ (Mitchell & Weber, 1999, chap. 5). The image of ‘teacher’ has become a cumulative cultural text, where the clichés of teachers have become intergenerational, multidimensional and inter-textual. In other words, there are multiple texts that represent identical stereotypes that have become so powerful it is valued in consecutive generations. Whilst these stereotypes are highly romanticised and dramatised, they “give members of society a common frame of reference and a shared pool of expressive images to use” (Mitchell & Weber, 1999, p. 169). It is this common mindset that the complex relationship between fictional and real life teachers is created, because society begins to have an opinion on how teachers should behave and hence teachers become increasingly shaped by the popular. The argument suggests that ‘real’ teachers are directly