Hong Kong Baptist University
EDUC 1080
“To Sir With Love”
Group 2
Agenda
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Introduction of the main characters(Role play )
Brief introduction to the movie
Highlights of the movie
Scenario and underlying philosophy discussion
Related education issue discussion
Messages from the film
Limitations
Feelings and Conclusion
Role Play (1)
Characters - Mark Thackeray
 comes from British Guiana
 holds a degree in Communication Engineering
 has had no prior teaching experience
Role Play (2)
Characters - Bert Denham
 student of Thackeray’s class
 troublemaker
 against Thackeray
Role Play (3)
Characters - Pamela Dare
 Student of Thackeray’s class
 has a crush on Thackeray
Role Play (4)
Characters - Theo Weston
 looks down on the students in North Quay,
 doesn’t care about the students at all
 discourages Thackeray from being a teacher at North
Quay
Role Play (5)
Characters - Gillian Blanchard
 was scared of the students
 supports Thackeray on outings
Brief introduction to the movie
It’s about…
 Mark Thackeray’s teaching experience
 Classify teaching as a temporary job
 Using different teaching methods to teach his
students
 Building trusting relationships with students
 Abandoning his engineer offer and deciding to be a
teacher
Highlights – minorities under
education
 Racial discrimination and teaching
 Racial discrimination was still existed in the UK during 1960s
 A student’s racial discrimination against Mr. Thackeray was
unintentionally
 Unprivileged background students
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Came from unprivileged families
Rejected by other schools
Bad discipline and making troubles
Ignoring rules and instructions
Challenging teachers’ authority
Not mature
 Should they get more supports from society?
Highlights – Teaching methods
Which one
is better?
At beginnings
After adjustments
Methods
Lectures (traditional
and one-way)
Discussions
(interactive)
Curriculum
Stick with Curriculum
(topics are restricted)
Free Curriculum
(topics are free)
Materials
Textbooks (limited in
classroom)
Life experience ( field
trips)
Focus
Knowledge delivery
only
Mutual respects and
moral standard
development
Teacher and students
relationship
strange
close
Highlights - curriculum
 Every student was studying under the same curriculum in
the movie.
 They all experienced the same, despite their different
interests and abilities.
 The curriculum was not suitable for all students! (e.g. A fat
students was forced to do some exercise which was unachievable
for him! Finally he was injured because of it!)
 Both Pragmatism and Post – modernism reject all
students studying under same curriculum!
Highlights – Learning experiences
What can students take away from their educational experiences?
Are they similar to pragmatism’s idea?)
Learning experiences
Learning outcomes
Attitude
Discussion and Q & A
section in class
Ration
Objective
Calm
Skills
Cooking class
Cooking skills
Knowledge
Travelling Museum
Life related knowledge
Highlights – comparison among
different teachers
Mr.
Thackeray
Mr. Theo
Weston
Miss
Blanchard
Mr. Bell ( PE
teacher)
Pay respect
to students
Yes
No
Yes
No
Effective
organizing
Yes
No
Yes
No
Enthusiastic
Yes
No
Yes
No
Students’
nature
Not mature
but can be
changed
Rubbish
Naughty
Rebellious
Scenario and underlying philosophy
discussion
Let’s watch some video clips
and discuss!!
Scenario 1
 Which Teacher do you agree with? Why?
Scenario 2
 Do you support this teaching approach? Why?
Scenario 3
 Should the teacher force the student to do the
exercise which is beyond his ability?
Scenario 4
 What do you think about the lesson?
Scenario 5
 How would you assess Mr. Thackeray after watching
the video?
In the beginning
Idealism
He want students to
follow his
instructions (to read
the book).
Have high
expectations and
set high
standards of
achievement for
their students.
Realism
He use the same
curriculum for all
students regardless of
their low-ability
backgrounds.
Realists believe that
subject matter
knowledge and liberal
education are for all
people regardless of
ethnicity, race, gender,
or socioeconomics class.
After adjustments
Postmodernism
Pragmatism
Changed the
traditional lecturing
into interactional
class.
Human intelligence
comes about through
a process of
interaction.
Breaking the
traditional lecturing
class and using a
brand-new teaching
method.
Questioning the
authority of canons,
Postmodernists
challenge their
validity and see them
in limited terms.
Issue based discussion one
 If education is not for achieving high
grades and going on to University, what
is it for then?
 Attitude? Skills? Knowledge? Any others?
 What do you think?
Different answers provided by
philosophy
 If education is not for achieving high grades
and going on to University, what is it for then?
Idealism :
develops the mind and self of the
learner
Realism :
prepares the practical man and
women of the world
Pragmatism :
helps students become more effective
members of democratic
society(Growth)
Post – modernism :
provides quality of opportunity, and
thus encourages social and economic
mobility
Produce citizens with critical thinking
abilities
Issue based discussion two
 Which is the most important role that
teachers should play in education?
 A person who helps students construct knowledge? A
trainer of students’ knowledge? Knowledge deliverer –
transmission to the learner? A mentor for the students
as they learn?
 Or any other role?
 What do you think?
Different answers provided by
philosophy
 Which is the most important role that teachers
should play in education?
Idealism :
a role model for students to emulate
a moral calling
a skillful questioner who encourages
students to think and ask more
questions facilitating learning
Realism :
present material systematically,
encourage the use of objective criteria,
and be effective and accountable
Pragmatism :
identify the needs of the learner and to
serve as a resource person
Post – modernism :
Inclusive constructor
Curriculum creator
Without traditional authority
Issue based discussion three
 What are the reasons for misbehavior
of students?
 We may take reference from “To Sir with Love”!
 What do you think?
Different answers provided by
philosophy
 What are reasons for misbehavior of students?
Idealism :
poor moral development
Realism :
Lacking observable role
model
Pragmatism :
rebellious nature of
human without
appropriate control
Post – modernism :
Challenging the cannons
and authorities
Issue based discussion four
 Should every student study under the
same curriculum?
 We may take reference from “To Sir with Love”!
 What do you think?
Different answers provided by
philosophy
 Should every students study under the same
curriculum?
Idealism :
yes
Realism :
Yes
Pragmatism :
No
Post – modernism :
No
Issue based discussion five
(The most open end one!)
 Which one do you think is more
important in education? Equity or
Equality?
 We may think about the situation in Hong Kong
nowadays!
 What do you think?
Messages from the movie(1)
Introduction of Holistic education!
 Aims of education is Holistic education!
 Holistic education/ Whole person education
 The suggestion from “To Sir with Love” on the
aims of education is similar to HKBU!!
Holistic education
 not about teaching academic knowledge only
 learn to be a whole person with body, mind, emotions
and spirit (e.g. Adult approach by Mr . Thackeray )
 include a wide range of students of different learning
abilities(e.g. cooking skills)
 a variety of learning approaches to meet their diverse
learning needs(Q&A and disucssion)
Holistic education
 Finding identity, meaning, and purpose in life (As Mr.
Thackeray explained the meaning of studying in school to his
students)
 Emphasize experiential learning (field trip in museum)
 Direct engagement with the environment (society)
 Using real-life experiences
 Teacher is not a person of authority, but a friend, a
mentor, a facilitator (Mr. Thackeray as a good example)
 Cooperative learning instead of competitive
 Do you support holistic education?
Messages from the movie(2)
Should Meritocracy and Tracking be
used?
 Do you agree with the movie?
Messages from the movie(3)
Teaching should be student
oriented!
 Teachers should choose the suitable and different
teaching approaches according to the abilities and
characteristics of their students
 “Adult approach” by Mr. Thackeray
 He used student - oriented approach instead of the
traditional teacher – oriented approach (Chalk and talk
approach)
 (It is similar to both Pragmatism and Post – Modernism!)
 Do you accept this view?
Messages from the movie(4)
Discovering student’s potential rather
than instill knowledge!
 Teachers are responsible for excavating/fostering
students’ Innate abilities rather than instilling skills
and knowledge only
 “The majority of our children could be generally
classified as difficult” Mr. Thackeray
 (It is similar to Post – Modernism!)
 Do you agree with the above messages?
Limitations of the movie
 Although “To Sir with Love” reveals the beliefs of idealism,
realism, pragmatism and post-modernism to a certain
extent, it only covers the western philosophy of education.
 Other important philosophies of education are absent.
 The traditional Chinese philosophy of education was not
be mentioned
 The Confucius's educational theories are the important
philosophical theory that we should not neglect in
teaching
Our feelings
 “ To Sir with Love” is classic and legendary! It has plenty of
educational issues which are worth our deep discussion and
reflection . Although it was produced in 1960s, we can still learn
much from the story. I wish to be as successful a teacher as Mr.
Thackeray someday! ” Keyman
 “A teacher should know the students’ situation, what students
really want to know or really want to learn as well as what really
useful to their future. Teaching student in accordance with their
aptitude practically is important. In this movie, the teacher Mark
Thackeray let the students learn more practical skills rather than the
traditional knowledge taught in school, which really remind me of
the original aim of education. In my point of view, the aim is to let
students equipped with ability to survive and live a better life.”
Daisy
Our feelings
 “ ‘To Sir with Love’ is quite interesting and instructive,
I suggest that people who want to be a good teacher
should watch this movie. I hope all of us can learn
from Mr. Thackeray.” Isaac
Conclusions
Reference
 http://www.articlesbase.com/educationarticles/realism-in-education-1319851.html
 http://www.parvez-video.com/idealism_theory.asp
 http://www.conti-creations.com/PHIL.htm
 http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/PP2.html
 http://research.kcg.gov.tw/Upload/EpaperFile/634637
955450822413.pdf
End
Thank You~
To you with love!