There are many different kinds of teachers, some are good, and some are
great and others not so much. I have had my share of experiences with both good
teachers and bad teachers. The movies we watched show examples of very good
teachers. Mr. Keating from Dead Poets Society is an example of a great teacher;
he connects with the students on a personal level and gets them to believe in
themselves in a way they never thought to before. In contrast my high school
history teacher, Mr. Robinson, was not such a great teacher. He was
disconnected from the students of his class and this lead to a big conflict
between the students and Mr. Robinson. His teaching style was quite the
opposite of Mr. Keating’s in that Mr. Robinson only wanted to teach the
curriculum and as the headmaster of Welton says “Prepare them for college, and the rest will
take care of itself.”
My junior high school history teacher was an
example of a difficult teacher; he was precisely the type of teacher that Mr.
Dalton at Walton Prep School would approve of. When I was 15 years old and
still an ornery teenager, I walked into Mr. Robinson's eighth period History
class on the third floor of Heritage Jr. High. Having been a monastery before
it became a school, Heritage was the newest and nicest of the three Jr. Highs
in town. Mr. Robinson sat at his huge grey metal desk always wearing a black
coloured shirt and khaki trousers. His oversized bright yellow pencil never
went unnoticed, sitting at the front of his desk it boasted his
name engraved in big bold black letters "Mr. Robinson".
His class was held toward the end of the day, there were nine periods in total
for a full day of school and Mr. Robinson's lengthy history class was in
period eight. As each student drug their feet slugging into the
classroom, already weary and worn down from the long day of classes, our first
sight was of Mr. Robinson sitting proudly at his desk straight in front of the
door. After the students sat down in their chosen seats, each one next to their
best friend or favourite classmate, Mr. Robinson made everyone stand up and
line shoulder to shoulder against the far wall of the classroom. He then called
out each student very official-like, by last name first and first name second.
Pointing to a specific faded brown desk in the room directing that
each student called must sit there in the exact assigned seat. Once all seats
were assigned Mr. Robinson handed out a contract which stated that each
individual in the classroom would be responsible for coming to class daily,
paying attention, remaining in their assigned seats, taking notes, and keeping
quiet; "quiet" having been printed in bold, larger font and
underlined. This contract was to be signed, in black ink only, by every student
sitting in the classroom. This all was only the first day of class; Mr.
Robinson’s lectures were drawn out, lengthy monotone hours of excruciating
torture. The moment which stands out to me the most from Mr. Robinson’s class
was on a very dark and rainy day, the lights were shut down low and the overhead
projector was showing an image of something very historical I’m sure; many
students had dozed off for a nice afternoon nap and Mr. Robinson announced in a
loud boisterous voice, “if you want to sleep in my class I don’t care, but you
better learn to sleep with your eyes open and at least pretend like you’re
paying attention.” Mr. Robinson was so disconnected and disengaged that I still to this day
view him as a cold, empty robot.
Mr. Keating was quite the opposite of my lackluster history teacher; he
was a positive example of a great teacher. Mr. Keating was a great teacher
because he was personable, connected with the students and pulled in their
attention. When Mr. Keating first entered the classroom he was whistling and
walking with a strut, he was happy and proud to be there. He walked straight
through the classroom, back out through the other door and poked his head back
in and said “well come on”. The students didn’t know what to do; they had never
in their academic careers experienced such a strange professor before. Mr.
Keating lead the students to the hallway where pictures of past alumni hung
behind glass cabinets, he made the students realize that these men could be
their possible future. Mr. Keating opened the students eyes to what really lies
ahead of them and the choices they have in front of them to decide on who and
what they will become “these boys are now fertilizing daffodils…But if you listen real close,
you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys, make
your lives extraordinary.” Seize the day was his advice to the students; in
only the first class Mr. Keating took the students outside of the classroom and
pulled in their attention leaving them mesmerized and excited to learn. In his
vision of what a teacher should be Mr. Keating felt passionately that “the idea
of educating was to learn to think for yourself.” I love this point of view
because it resonates with me and makes me want to do better for myself. Mr.
Keating takes the students outside to the soccer field and tells one of the
boys “let it fill your soul”, this shows how he wanted his students to open up
and become more than what society demands of them and what it wants to place
them in.
Mr. Keating and Mr. Robinson have two very different styles of
teaching. While they both managed to get their knowledge, information and
desired messages across to their students, one was much more dynamic and
effective on the lives of each student. Mr. Robinson’s monotone and lackluster
lectures were able to help students pass tests and learn what the curriculum
required of them, but it was not conducive to creative thinking or
self-enrichment. Mr. Keating however, was very personable and connected with
his students; he saw potential in each one that perhaps they had not yet seen
in themselves. Mr. Keating’s methods of teaching captivated all the students’
attention and inspired to be more than they originally thought they could be.
Mr. Keating was a great teacher because he cared; his passion for teaching
allowed him to make learning fun and interesting for all of his students,
despite their reservations and inhibitions.
Although there are many types and styles of teaching, some may be more
effective than others. The comparison and contrast of both Mr. Robinson and Mr.
Keating show that while some styles of teaching allow for a sensible
acquisition of scholastic and programed material, others allow for students to
break into their own and think for themselves. Students who have teachers like
Mr. Keating can make the most of the time that has been given to them; these
students can become more than the societal belief of what is successful. My
favourite moment from the movie is when Mr. Keating explains the stanza, “Gather
ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a flying, and this same flower that
smiles today, tomorrow will be dying." from Robert Herrick’s poem “To the
Virgins, to Make Much of Time”. Mr. Keating makes it very simple and easy to
understand, while inspiring his students at the same time; his translation of
Herrick’s poem is simply “Carpe Diem, seize the day.”
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