The profession of teaching has had numerous common misconceptions for many years now and it seems as if the myths keep continuing to grow as a new age of technology and expectations expand. From the common myths that “a teacher’s day ends at 3:00” to other myths that require some thought to take a side on. Most myths prove to be misconceptions because of the unrealistic expectations put into place from day to day media. The two articles (“The Myth of the Hero Teacher” by Allison Ricket and “Classroom Distinctions” by Tom Moore”) I read along with a section in a textbook, “To Teach: A Journey of a Teacher” by William Ayers, helped me find a distinction between the real facts behind the myths and made up ones like in the heroic teacher movie,
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The myth that “students need to be saved from something something to be a heroic teacher,” is one that Allison Ricket points out in her article in January of 2014. The film I watched displayed this myth perfectly. Robin Williams played the character of a new English teacher, Mr. Keating, at a prestigious all boys boarding school and comes to meet a student by the name of Neil Perry (played by Robert Leonard) who, like most of the boys, come from a very strict household and holds a high level of expectations from his family. Neil seeks the help of Mr. Keating for advice and, for a short while, is the hero of the story for encouraging Neil to pursue his dream of acting. This section of the movie demonstrates what the myth represents because it gives an example of a student being “saved” by the teacher by creating this heroic persona. In the real world, that simply doesn’t happen. Ricket goes on to explain that “it’s an egotistical pin” on a teacher rather than the students. It “demeans students’ identities to cast realities of their lives as circumstances from which they may be saved”. In other words, casting the realities of the students lives into identities does more harm than good in the sense that the teacher is labeling the students in return to place the label of a “hero” upon themselves. As great as it would be to consider teacher as heroes, …show more content…
Coming on an age were not even parents seem to get respect from their children, teachers certainly do not get enough respect and credit for what they do in and out of the classroom. In the movie, the boarding school is very distinguished in its curriculum and demands respect from all. Thus, Mr. Keating automatically gets a very good amount of respect being a teacher and starting at a new school. This, however, is not even close to what it is like to be a teacher in today 's society. Moore implies that most teachers don’t get the respect they rightfully deserve and that teachers constantly get blamed for what their system doesn’t provide. “I don’t expect to be thought of as a hero for doing my job. I do expect to be respected, supported, trusted, and paid,” Moore explains being a tenth grade history teacher. More and more teachers are being seen with higher expectations, yet still lack the respect they have
The myth that “students need to be saved from something something to be a heroic teacher,” is one that Allison Ricket points out in her article in January of 2014. The film I watched displayed this myth perfectly. Robin Williams played the character of a new English teacher, Mr. Keating, at a prestigious all boys boarding school and comes to meet a student by the name of Neil Perry (played by Robert Leonard) who, like most of the boys, come from a very strict household and holds a high level of expectations from his family. Neil seeks the help of Mr. Keating for advice and, for a short while, is the hero of the story for encouraging Neil to pursue his dream of acting. This section of the movie demonstrates what the myth represents because it gives an example of a student being “saved” by the teacher by creating this heroic persona. In the real world, that simply doesn’t happen. Ricket goes on to explain that “it’s an egotistical pin” on a teacher rather than the students. It “demeans students’ identities to cast realities of their lives as circumstances from which they may be saved”. In other words, casting the realities of the students lives into identities does more harm than good in the sense that the teacher is labeling the students in return to place the label of a “hero” upon themselves. As great as it would be to consider teacher as heroes, …show more content…
Coming on an age were not even parents seem to get respect from their children, teachers certainly do not get enough respect and credit for what they do in and out of the classroom. In the movie, the boarding school is very distinguished in its curriculum and demands respect from all. Thus, Mr. Keating automatically gets a very good amount of respect being a teacher and starting at a new school. This, however, is not even close to what it is like to be a teacher in today 's society. Moore implies that most teachers don’t get the respect they rightfully deserve and that teachers constantly get blamed for what their system doesn’t provide. “I don’t expect to be thought of as a hero for doing my job. I do expect to be respected, supported, trusted, and paid,” Moore explains being a tenth grade history teacher. More and more teachers are being seen with higher expectations, yet still lack the respect they have