Educational Movies for Students and their Educators

There are many movies that provide the necessary education through the cinema. Educationists usually conduct lectures based on such movies and explain the message conveyed by the film to their students. Here are a few education based movies which will surely convey the right kind of message.

1. The Wave (2008)

Original Title: Die Welle (Germany)

This movie roams around a high school teacher and his unorthodox training methods. The movie is based on the actual experiment of the third wave. The teacher instills among his students the values of self-rule and though he was reluctant to take the class at the beginning, he gains interest as he receives a positive response from his students. The class gains its own power as the teacher realizes that the path they are taking leads to communism. So will the teacher be able to lead his class back onto the correct path?

2. Butterfly’s Tongue (1999)

Original Title: La lengua de las mariposas (Spain)

The story is of a young child Moncho who is afraid of going to school due to the customary beating in the repressive education system of that time. But Don Gregorio, his teacher, was different kind of teacher who imparted knowledge to his students through the method of observation. There is also a war raging between the Fascists and the Republicans and Don Gregoria teaches Moncho about the politics of the country and the freedom. It is indeed a magical tale of a person growing up in a country that is growing apart.

3. Like Stars on Earth (2007)

Original Title: Taare Zameen Par (India)

Ishaan Awasthi Nandkishore is an eight year old boy who attends school but fails every test or exam. Everything seems amiss as he is faced with difficult issues and is belittled by his teachers and classmates. But Ishaan’s internal world is rich with wonders. He had an amazing mind, full of magical animals and colors which he could not pass to other people.

4. It All Starts Today (1999)

Original Title: Ça commence aujourd’hui (France)

Daniel Lefebvre is the director of a nursery school, where social status is controversial because of the crisis in the mining sector that has left families without work. The school teachers decide to solve the social problems of their young students by interacting with their parents as well. Daniel leaves his only work for the sake of providing primary education to the children of that community.

5. Between the Walls (2008)

Original title: Entre Les Murs (France)

It is based on the experiences of Bégaudeau as a professor of literature. He teaches in a multiracial school on the outskirts of Paris. François teaches French language in a classroom where students come from very different cultures and have mixed attitudes towards others. As the movie progresses, François finds himself the guardian of the students.

6. School of Life (2005)

Original title: School of Life (Canada-US)

Dylan is a young student at an institute when he receives the unexpected news of the death of his grandfather, ‘Stormin’ Norman, the legendary history teacher. The new history teacher, Mr. D, is obsessed with winning the award for Teacher of the Year. Dylan struggles to keep the family tradition and hence tries to win the title of Teacher of the Year.

7. Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

Original title: Mona Lisa Smile (USA)

A teacher is transferred in full to the post war Wellesley College She is quite passionate about teaching art history to her new class. She expects highly of her students and intends that they turn out to be the best and brightest in the country. But she finds out that all of them are waiting to marry the right person at the right time. Although she develops a strong teacher-student relationship, she discovers that the institution was rooted in tradition and conformity and for that thinking to change; Katherine would have to try very hard.

8. The Emperors Club (2002)

Original title: The Emperor’s Club (USA)

In 1972, the peaceful life of William Hundert, a professor at the elite male college of St. Benedict, is altered with the arrival of a new student, the charismatic and rebellious Sedgewick Bell, the son of a senator from Virginia. Twenty years later, they meet again when the young man is already a powerful businessman. It’s a movie with a plot like Dead Poets Club, but it tells you about the life after school.

9. Take the Lead (2006)

Original title: Take the Lead (USA)

Pierre Dulaine is a dance teacher and one day while returning from work, he witnesses a guy who vandalizes a car and then runs away. He leaves his own card on the windshield of the car which belonged to the Principal of the preparatory school. He visits the school with the intention of joining it to mentor the students and teach them social and moral values. Pierre realizes that there is a general disinterest among his students but he doesn’t give up and wins against the prejudice of the other teachers and parents.

10. Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)

Original title: Mr. Holland’s Opus (USA)

A talented musician and composer faced some financial crisis during the 60’s and he started teaching at a U.S. High School. His life’s mission had been to write a single piece of music so that he may be remembered but upon joining school, his perspective changes as he discovers the joy of sharing his work with his students who greatly admire it.