American Teacher<\/i> does more than just warn us about our country. \u00a0It relates the story of dedicated, intelligent educators.\u00a0 These teachers love what they do, put in extensive hours despite popular belief, and in turn they receive little monetary reward.\u00a0 The deeper rooted issue, embedded in the script of the documentary, is the lack of respect for the profession as a whole.\u00a0 In other countries such as Finland, Singapore, and South Korea, aspiring teachers\u2019 training is paid for.\u00a0 (McGinn, Roth 1:05:29).\u00a0 That means these teachers do not begin their careers in debt.\u00a0 These countries value their teachers in society.\u00a0 They have a very low rate of teachers switching careers. \u00a0The simple statistics which show the abandonment of the profession in the US serves to show the Nation’s view of its importance. \u00a0There is little emphasis on the profession as a whole if the passionate members are able to walk away from it. \u00a0Whether it is their personal choice or not, out nation makes it difficult for them to stay in comparison to other nations around the world.<\/p>\n This is due to the fact that their culture recognizes the importance of having strong teachers to educate future generations.\u00a0 American Teacher<\/i> points out the flaws within the American system.\u00a0 After all, children are our future; so would it not be important to take pride and give respect to those responsible for the education of this precious resource?<\/p>\n However, Americans are taught to aim for higher paying jobs.\u00a0 Rhena Jasey is a Harvard graduate and was told that being a teacher was a waste of a degree from Harvard.\u00a0 In turn, she responded with a remark along the lines of \u201cWould you not want your children to be taught by someone who went to Harvard?\u201d\u00a0 These four teachers embody the qualities that all teachers should have regardless of what country they live in.\u00a0 Dearman is described as a teacher who holds all of his students to the same standards.\u00a0 He told them what they needed to do, what they needed to learn, and who he wanted them to be by the end of his class.\u00a0 These are the type of qualities parents want their children to be influenced by.\u00a0 American Teacher<\/i> shows the epitome of a quality teacher. \u00a0Once again, TEP is an attempt to ensure these types of teachers are available to those who are less fortunate and ensures they will stay with those children in underprivileged schools. \u00a0However, American Teacher<\/i> also shows how difficult it is for these passionate individuals to stay with their profession. \u00a0How do we get these teachers to stay? \u00a0The answer in incentive other than pure joy of helping children.<\/p>\n The role of a teacher in America is highly influenced by gender roles. \u00a0There is a clear lack of respect, low pay, and something called the \u201cburnout circle\u201d as described by the teachers.\u00a0 To begin, the society we live in is based on the assumption that the man in the relationship is meant to be the provider.\u00a0 Therefore, in teaching, being a predominately female dominated field, it is \u201cokay\u201d to pay them less because their spouses will supposedly bring in more money. With this being said, males have existed the teaching force in order to live up to the stereotype of the “bread winner”. \u00a0It would be very difficult for a male to fully support his family simply on a teaching salary. \u00a0As well, it is thought that women have a maternal instinct that is better suited to teach children. \u00a0Truthfully, males and females can be great teachers but our society is socially constructed, which makes it difficult for men to stay in a “female profession”. \u00a0In addition, these teachers work more extensive hours than everyone believes.\u00a0 On top of working ridiculous hours (most 7 to around 6), many teachers are in desperate need of a second job.\u00a0 In fact, 62% of American teachers have a second job.\u00a0 Does this really allow them to give their all in the classroom?<\/p>\n As well as having these compelling arguments as to why living the life of a teacher is quite difficult, I think the creators of the film make significant choices to make the audience feel even more sympathetic.\u00a0 The teachers were chosen wisely.\u00a0 There is one of Latino descent, one African-American descent, one white female, and one white male.\u00a0 Most of the population was targeted which ensures the viewers will all relate to the issues and hardships these four underwent.\u00a0 In addition, it is impossible for viewers to not have sympathy for a woman who just gave birth and a man who lost his wife and children in a divorce due to his low salary from teaching. The music is peaceful and coincides with the intense scenes to truly let viewers feel as if they are a part of the teachers’ lives.<\/p>\n Outside source, rotten tomatoes allows for outsiders to comment on the documentary.\u00a0 Comments such as \u201cTerrific, uplifting and heartbreaking study of what it’s like to teach in America today should inspire intense admiration and even more intense anger over what is revealed.\u201d (David Noh).\u00a0 However, while I think it is unanimous that this film is hear-breaking and heart-warming, there are also negatives to be noted.\u00a0 The film is entirely one sided and does not look into an entire economic view on available money.\u00a0 The movie does not tell the story of the rich, white, upper class.\u00a0 It does not account for private schools and for children who are paying for their educations.<\/p>\n American Teacher’s original name started out as Come Back Mr. Dearman. \u00a0I believe the title was broadened to reach a wider variety of audiences. \u00a0Originally, the film was debuted in New York City and was praised for showing the public how hard the educators in our country work. \u00a0However, economists and other scholars followed by completley disagreeing with the movie’s plan. \u00a0They believed they should be able to hire any teacher regardless of their educational background and only raise his\/her pay if test scores improve. \u00a0(Goodwin 1). \u00a0There is also research to show that merit pay does not necessarily correlate with an increase in school performance. \u00a0This would prove the entire movie to be false. \u00a0As well, teachers with high educational resumes appreciated and enjoyed this film. \u00a0This in itself, has sparked an intense criticism of Obama’s policies which benefit merit pay. \u00a0(Goodwin 2). I think it is also important to note, Matt Damon promoted this film and was the narrator. \u00a0He is one hundred percent part of the upper class and this has a large impact on the film’s audiences. \u00a0The entire film was funded by the Teacher Salary Project. This is a project to ensure “teaching becomes the prestigious, desirable, financially viable, and professionally exciting job we all know it needs to be.” \u00a0(TSP 2). \u00a0 I think it is interesting to not TSP is a non-partisan organization, technically this should be the film would take no side. \u00a0However, this proves to be false.<\/p>\n Fortunately, American Teacher<\/i> gets the main concern across which is, if we continue at the rate we are going, America will have few people willing to be educators and few quality educators to teach our future generations. \u00a0It reaches the hearts of every lower class American parent who wants the best for their children and it is easy to become very biased while watching this film. \u00a0Once again, the upper class is not accounted for and while it may alarm the parents there is little hope and opportunity that can be gained because they are not represented within the film. \u00a0The two audiences will definitely take different aspects away from the film. \u00a0An upper class parent may watch this film and be unaffected by the educational realities because his\/her child is receiving a quality education. \u00a0To an extent, the emotional scenes will reach everyone, but the overall message is only alarming to those being affected by the lack of money. \u00a0Without looking at external factors, these facts seem troubling and appalling.\u00a0 When watching, it is important to note there is a whole side of an untold story. \u00a0However, I think one point that all sides can agree on, is that the profession of teaching needs to be more nationally respected.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Works Cited<\/p>\n “American Teacher (2011).” N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.<\/p>\n “Full Cast & Crew.”\u00a0IMDb<\/i>. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.<\/p>\n News, Liz Goodwin Yahoo. “\u2018American Teacher\u2019 Film Argues Teachers Aren\u2019t Paid Enough, but Ignores Merit Pay Debate.”\u00a0Yahoo! News<\/i>. Yahoo!, 26 Sept. 2011. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.<\/p>\n Roth, Vanessa, and Brian McGinn.\u00a0American Teacher<\/em>. Video documentary, 2011.http:\/\/www.theteachersalaryproject.org\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n “TEP Charter – Philosophy.”\u00a0TEP Charter – Philosophy<\/i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. <http:\/\/www.tepcharter.org\/philosophy.php>.<\/p>\n “The Teacher Salary Project.”\u00a0The Teacher Salary Project<\/i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2014. <http:\/\/www.theteachersalaryproject.org\/about-the-project.php>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" American Teacher is a heart-warming, yet heart-breaking, factual documentary dealing with the everyday lives of school teachers in America.\u00a0 Our country, in general, does not respect our teachers.\u00a0 The film delves into the lives of four teachers and shares their hardships and struggles with its viewers.\u00a0 The goal of the documentary is to influence the … Continue reading Harsh Realities of an American Teacher<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":608,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[63,66],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5376"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/608"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5376"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5404,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5376\/revisions\/5404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Percentage](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/edreform\/files\/2014\/02\/Screen-Shot-2014-02-19-at-10.32.04-PM.png\")
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