One of my all time favorite movies is the class “school movie” to Sir with Love. This classic movie, with a very young Sidney Poitier, tells the story of a teacher from a privileged world taking his first teaching job in a poor working class part of the city. At first he struggles because his students could care less about the history, science and math that was spelled out in antiquated, oversize textbooks. The students just didn’t give a damn and they let the teacher (Sidney Poitier) know it each and every day of class. This is the Amityville Horror for teachers!
But then the teacher decides to chuck all of the textbooks into the trash and bring the classroom to the students – to meet them where they live – to talk about jobs, family, drugs, relationships and surviving in a harsh world. To hell with book learning – “life” was on the lesson plans. Of course in the perfection of movie land, one by one, the students converted to very confident, compassionate adults who learned how to navigate their rough world and work their way out of the despair.
And here is my favorite part. Just as the school year is drawing to a close, all of the soon-to-be-graduated seniors throw a secret party and bring Mr. Poitier in for the climatic final moments – and then, wait for it – – the song “To Sir with Love” sung by Lulu plays loudly as the students now show respect and love for a teacher that was so much on their butt for most of the show. They loved him BECAUSE of his sternness and high standards. I cried. I get weepy just thinking about it. I might have even gone down this career route BECAUSE of this movie.
Although I do not have any textbook of note for my class – and although I get to talk much more about life and living then other disciplines – I still want this moment! HINT HINT seniors past, present and future – – if you want to make an old theatre teacher happy arrange someday and some place to have many of you gathered and someone take on Lulu’s To Sir with Love. I am a teacher with a reputation to have NO feelings – but, I assure you, that on that day you will see a hot mess.
8 comments on “To Sir with Love”
I LOVED this.
I’ll admit I’ve never watched the film, but now I want to.
Truth is, I hated school – but there were a couple of teachers who had made an impact on me (similar to what you’re describing here). One, in particular, took the classroom outdoors, used the “f” word freely and encouraged us to just sit and talk about things. Life.
I loved this class, and over 25 years later, I still remember this teacher fondly because of his imaginative way of inspiring us. It made me want to write (it was an honors English class – even though I almost flunked out of high school for skipping since I hated being there). His approach is what kept me connected to my creative nature – and now, here I am – a writer – doing what I love.
I think students WANT to learn. I feel humans are capable of amazing things such as enthusiasm, compassion, creativity, etc. We just don’t like to be made to do things against our will. No one wants to be bored or force fed info that doesn’t excite us.
I feel that if more teachers handled a classroom situation the way described in this post (and I understand that politics get in the way and often prevent this)…we’d have far fewer dropouts and more kids growing up to be the adults you’ve described in this post.
Very inspiring. This should have been a review for the film itself.
I plan on seeing it now that I’ve read this.
It’s an awesome movie! You’ll enjoy it! And I identify with your feelings about school. The teachers who spoke with kindness and stimulated thought were the best. 🙂
I absolutely adore that film! It’s great to know that it had such a big effect on others (maybe even the cause of your wanting to teach)!
Of course, it was absolutely un-cool to reveal just how much I loved this move, even the song, at the time it was hot. But let’s just say that I loved it anyway!
I don’t know about your seniors, but seniors in my class would never have been organized to throw a surprise like that, but you never know…. I hope you do get a surprise party one day, ’cause I think you deserve it! 🙂
I actually didn’t get a chance to see this movie but after reading the description and doing some research on my own, it kinda sounds like another version of Lean On Me. I know you guys remember ‘Lean On Me’ with Morgan Freeman. That’s one of my favorite movies. But also Sidney Poitier is a actor that doesn’t get as much credit as he should. I think Sidney Poitier is unsung. I think Sidney Poitier is underrated. So this is a movie that I would definitely want to say thank you for introducing. I would definitely check it out.
What I do know Sidney Poitier has won the Oscar and it just kinda made me think about whole the Oscar being so white hasgtag trending this year. I think that Hollywood need to recognize more black actors and actresses. And it can start with recognizing some of the older actors who paved the way for the younger actors. Actors like Sidney Poitier. Maybe the Oscars could dedicated a segment of the show to some of the older actors that paved the way for the new actors today. But once again Sidney Poitier is one of my favorite and this movie is something that I would check out, I’m just surprised I never heard of it before.
Thanks for reminding me of such a beautiful and classic film. I’m not an educator but I remember being moved by this great example of the power of human compassion to change lives. The ending of this movie had Thackeray realizing that he still had work to do with a whole new crop of students. You sound like a devoted teacher, I hope your students throw you a great party.
Great film. There are many out there that follow a similar path and when you see the transformation, even on screen, you know that deep down you can have hope that something like that can really happen. It is too bad that these days, there are not enough willing teachers to take on that role in the many poor areas of today.
Aw, that’s so sweet. I believe you really DO want them to throw you a surprise party. And it would definitely be a surprise, that’s for sure, because high school students just aren’t always that organized.
But you deserve a party befitting of Sir, because I think it sounds like you’ve touched all their hearts.
🙂