Movie Reviews for Education

with Don Berg
Founder of Attitutor Services

Welcome to my new education movie reviews page.

I will be examining movies with the purpose of uncovering how educational ideas are popularly understood through the ways that Hollywood presents schools, classrooms, teachers, students and learning.

Skip to the list of reviews.

Education Movie Reviews is a video series that explores how education is portrayed in film.

You will notice the handsome beret I will be wearing.

I earned it as a volunteer with the Port Townsend Film Festival.

So I am both an experienced alternative educator, and a fan of the movies; this project is my way of bringing these two passions together.

This project started soon after I earned this beret in 2008.

When Education Week's Teacher Magazine posted their top ten teacher movies I looked at the list and thought, “Surely there's got to be better movies about teaching.”

And since then I've seen over 100 movies about schools, classrooms, teachers, students and learning.

In the process of pursuing this quest I've discovered that movies express lots of important ideas about education.

And I also discovered that Hollywood regularly portrays some of the keys to unlocking the most intractable problems in education, yet Hollywood, just like everyone else, is completely unaware that what they present are potential solutions.

So, it's time for me to take this project public so I can expose the valuable secrets of education hiding in plain sight in the movies.

Each review will be a combination of a short review from the typical movie fan/critic point of view (signaled by my wearing my red beret from the Port Townsend Film Festival in 2008) and then an educators point of view that looks at how educational ideas are featured (signaled by my wearing a red feather in my cap.)

If you are interested in traditional movie reviews click here for Roger Ebert's site.

Attitutor Media Video & Book Store

• Waiting For Superman
  An alternative educator's attack on Waiting For Superman for it's presentation of teaching and learning.

• To Be And To Have (Etre et Avoir)
  To Be And To Have (Etre et Avoir) reveals how standardized curriculum can distract teachers and students from what's important in education.

• Freedom Writers
  Freedom Writers is based on a true story has an important message about how to make a difference in students lives by making promises that matter and then keeping them.

• The Instant Expert Trope
  The instant expert trope from science fiction movies is guiding public policy for schools. Battle for Terra, The Fifth Element, and The Matrix illustrate policy maker's thinking about learning.