Favorite Teacher Movies
I've found I'm a sucker for great stories about great teachers.
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- DirectorRamón MenéndezStarsEdward James OlmosEstelle HarrisMark PhelanThe story of Jaime Escalante, a high school teacher who successfully inspired his dropout-prone students to learn calculus.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsJon VoightPaul WinfieldMadge SinclairThe true story of Pat Conroy, a handsome, idealistic Caucasian who is an elementary-school instructor for a group of poor Black children in an isolated school.
- DirectorTom McCarthyStarsRichard JenkinsHaaz SleimanDanai GuriraA college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.
- DirectorJames ClavellStarsSidney PoitierJudy GeesonChristian RobertsIdealistic engineer-trainee and his experiences in teaching a group of rambunctious white high school students from the slums of London's East End.
- DirectorDiane CrespoStefan C. SchaeferStarsZoe Lister-JonesFrancis BenhamouMimi LieberARRANGED centers on the friendship between an Orthodox Jewish woman and a Muslim woman who meet as first-year teachers at a public school in Brooklyn. Over the course of the year they learn they share much in common - not least of which is that they are both going through the process of arranged marriages.
- DirectorTom HooperStarsColin FirthGeoffrey RushHelena Bonham CarterThe story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
- DirectorJoe JohnstonStarsJake GyllenhaalChris CooperLaura DernThe true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.
- DirectorFrançois DupeyronStarsOmar SharifPierre BoulangerGilbert MelkiIn Paris, a Turkish shop owner befriends a Jewish boy in his mid-teens.
- DirectorHerbert RossStarsAnne BancroftShirley MacLaineMikhail BaryshnikovWhen her daughter joins a ballet company, a former dancer is forced to confront her long-ago decision to give up the stage to have a family.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsMichael CaineJulie WaltersMichael WilliamsAn alcoholic professor has been hired by a working-class girl for higher education.
- DirectorMichael RadfordMassimo TroisiStarsMassimo TroisiPhilippe NoiretMaria Grazia CucinottaA simple Italian postman learns to love poetry while delivering mail to a famous poet, and then uses this to woo local beauty Beatrice.
- DirectorRichard FriedenbergStarsJames CromwellJoseph AshtonTantoo CardinalLittle Tree is an 8-year-old Cherokee boy who loses his parents during The Great Depression and begins living with his Indian grandparents and learning the Cherokee way of life.
- DirectorDenzel WashingtonStarsDenzel WashingtonForest WhitakerKimberly EliseA drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsSean ConneryRob BrownF. Murray AbrahamForrester, the author of a famous book, decides to help Jamal, a 16-year-old student, discover his writing prowess by mentoring him and enrolling him into a prestigious private school.
- DirectorJohn Lee HancockStarsDennis QuaidJD EvermoreRachel GriffithsA Texas baseball coach makes the major league after agreeing to try out if his high school team made the playoffs.
- DirectorMarilyn AgreloStarsHeather BermanEmma Therese BiegackiEva CarrozzaThe students of several New York City elementary schools learn ballroom dancing and compete in a city wide dance competition.
- DirectorStephen HerekStarsRichard DreyfussGlenne HeadlyJay ThomasA frustrated composer finds fulfillment as a high school music teacher.
- DirectorDoug AtchisonStarsAngela BassettLaurence FishburneKeke PalmerAkeelah, a young gifted girl, comes from a dysfunctional family and is on the verge of quitting school. She discovers that she has a high aptitude for spellings and enters a spelling bee contest.
- DirectorPaul MorrisonStarsSam SmithLeagh ConwellDominic BarklemEleven-year-old David Wiseman is mad about cricket but no good at it. He has the entire kit but none of the skill. So when a Jamaican family moves in next door and builds a cricket net in the back garden, David is in seventh heaven.
- DirectorJohn G. AvildsenStarsRalph MacchioPat MoritaElisabeth ShueA martial arts master agrees to teach karate to a bullied teenager.
- DirectorEmile ArdolinoStarsPatrick SwayzeJennifer GreyJerry OrbachSpending the summer at a Catskills resort with her family, Frances "Baby" Houseman falls in love with the camp's dance instructor, Johnny Castle.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsRobin WilliamsMatt DamonBen AffleckWill Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRobin WilliamsRobert Sean LeonardEthan HawkeMaverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
- DirectorGeorge GalloStarsArmin Mueller-StahlTrevor MorganRay LiottaA successful artist looks back with loving memories on the summer of his defining year, 1974. A talented but troubled 18-year-old aspiring artist befriends a brilliant elderly alcoholic painter who has turned his back on not only art but life. The two form what appears to be at first a tenuous relationship. The kid wants to learn all the secrets the master has locked away inside his head and heart. Time has not been kind to the old master. His life appears pointless to him until the kid rekindles his interest in his work and ultimately gives him the will to live. Together, they give one another a priceless gift. The kid learns to see the world through the master's eyes. And the master learns to see life through the eyes of innocence again. This story is based on a real life experience.