Reflections:

1) Do John Keating’s instructional techniques mirror any of the effective teaching characteristics discussed in this chapter? What additional attributes of an effective teacher did you discover in the film that are not described in this chapter? Is Keating’s teaching an art, a skill, or both? Recall scenes from the film to support your answer.

There are numerous instructional techniques Mr. Keating uses in this film which mirrors the teaching characteristics mentioned in chapter three. A technique I noticed him using a lot was group alerting. Mr. Keating would quickly call on his students without them knowing whom he would call on next. He also keeps them alert through his activities. For example, he has his students get out of their desks and “huddle around,” he has them rip out textbook pages (something shocking to grab their attention and see his point), and he asks them to stand on his desk so they can concretely see a different point of view. All these activities keep these students actively involved in his classroom discussions.

Mr. Keating also provides motivation in his lessons by throwing out intriguing questions which the students may not have thought of before. For example, the first day of class he walks in, whistles, and has the students leave the classroom, probably a first for them. He then brings their attention to the photographs of former students and has them think about the phrase “carpe diem,” or “seize the day.” This activity motivates his students to think about poetry in a different way and also how this phrase as well as poems can relate to their own lives.

A wonderful teaching technique Mr. Keating exemplifies, also discussed in chapter three, is using a variety of processes in teaching. Mr. Keating demonstrates many of Gardner’s multiple intelligences in his lessons. For example, Mr. Keating uses the kinesthetic and musical intelligence during his activity where the boys are to read a line of poetry and kick the ball while music plays in the background. He also uses the kinesthetic intelligence as he proves his point on conformity. As the boys walk around and eventually move to the same beat, they concretely understand what it’s like to be the same. He then furthers this by having them walk to their own beat to feel and see the difference.

I also think Mr. Keating does a good job of using different types of reactions when responding to his students. He does not only use the accepting response, which is the most common for teachers. Mr. Keating uses praise when needed, acceptance, remediation (especially for Todd and his poetry presentation), and he demonstrates an effective way to use criticism. When a student answers incorrectly, he shouts “No!” and then follows that “no” with a laid-back, joking response. This keeps the students at ease and helps them understand it is okay to say a wrong answer. Many of their responses are not what Keating wants because he has a different outlook on poetry and pushes his students to see a different point of view with poetry and life.

There are many other instructional techniques Mr. Keating uses which were not specifically mentioned in chapter three. A main effective teaching strategy I noticed was his good relationship with his students. Mr. Keating was the father many of these boys needed and did not have back at home. He quickly learns who each student is, their strengths, their weaknesses, and uses this in his teaching. For example, Mr. Keating knows Todd is scared to present an oral poem of his own to the class. He then calls him up and forces him to gain confidence in himself as a poet. This changes Todd dramatically by gaining confidence and becoming a more outgoing member of the school community.

Mr. Keating gains respect and trust from his students which helps students learn more by thinking deeply about the points he brings up in class. If students do not respect or trust their teachers, they will be less likely to pay attention in class or follow-up on the assignments. Forming a strong relationship with your students and gaining respect and trust is very important to become an effective teacher. This is a main example on how Mr. Keating is an effective teacher. These boys will remember him for a very long time as perhaps the best teacher they have ever had, I feel, and this is mainly because of his good relationship with his students.

After thinking about whether or not Mr. Keating’s teaching is an art or a skill, I decided to look up these two definitions in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. I kept thinking that art and skill are very similar and I found this to be true after looking up these definitions. Webster states that art is “a skill acquired by experience or study” and “the use of skill and imagination in the production of things of beauty.” Skill is “the ability to use one’s knowledge effectively in doing something” and has “art” and “craft” listed as two synonyms. I was correct in thinking they were similar because art uses the term “skill” and skill uses the term “art” in their definitions. I think Mr. Keating is a skillful artist. He uses his imagination and creativity to create lessons which helps the students truly grasp his concepts. He has them stand on his desk to really see a different point of view, he has them feel with their body what conformity was like, and he has them move their body to kick a ball after reading a powerful line of poetry while listening to moving music. These activities all involve creativity and imagination which is a form of art, but also takes skill to carry them out successfully. Mr. Keating also uses his prior teaching knowledge to create these activities. He has experience from past teaching which gives him knowledge on effective teaching strategies to help his students retain information and think more deeply about the concepts he presents. Mr. Keating uses his skill, as well as his artistic ability, to present his course knowledge to his students.

2) Questioning is not just about teachers: Students are also partners in the questioning process. Creating an environment that welcomes student-initiated questions is important to engaged learning time. How did Mr. Keating teach his students to ask questions? How did these questions deepen student understanding?

I think the way Mr. Keating has his students ask questions is by providing them with a sampling of what he would like them to think about, but in a way to motivate them to think more deeply. For example, in the conformity exercise he has all his students become involved in the activity and all recognize his point. But, the important part of this lesson is how they reflect afterwards. This exercise will most likely stay in their thoughts for the remainder of the day, and I believe, the students will probably think more deeply about his concept from this exercise and how it affectes their own lives. It is apparent to the audience how effective his exercise on “seize the day” is because students leave that class and change their own lives throughout the film to focus more on their goals, dreams, and aspirations, which many would otherwise pass aside and never reach. These activities prompt his students to think about the points he is trying to get across to the students, which is to live life. He prompts passion for poetry in many of his students and I feel that most of the learning from this class comes from the students questions about after his lessons. I noticed in this film that most of the students do not ask questions during class time, but it is afterwards as they reflect upon his lessons where the student-initiated questions are formed. This is a successful strategy Mr. Keating uses in teaching which leads to higher learning for many of his students.

3) Consider how the character of the student body created a community. How might the story-line change in an all girls school or a historically black school?

Thinking about this film as an all girls or all black school is difficult. I think that the theme and concept behind this film is successfully created by placing it into an all boys school in the 1950's. But, I can see how the same themes can be created in different environments.

If this film took place at an all girls school, I think the focus would change to a teacher exposing females to the idea of breaking down conventions and pursuing their own true dreams. Females in this time period were not expected to go into extremely intellectual and demanding fields. This film would be about breaking this barrier and creating women who will exit high school, go on to college, and perhaps graduate school to make a difference in the world. This film would motivate the female audience to stop doing what is expected of them because they are female, and follow their aspirations and goals. This film might also contain an example of “seizing the day” as it was in the all boys school.

If this film took place at a historically black school, I think the film would have a teacher like Mr. Keating who would help them believe in themselves for who they are, not by how the rest of the world judges them because of the color of their skin. They would be motivated to go out and succeed and show the rest of the world that people of color are just as intelligent and motivated to succeed and make a difference in the world. This film would probably be more about change and how they are capable of making change. I can also see the same type of pressures from family members being presented in this story. Perhaps some family member might tell one character to give up on school, and not turn into a “white man” by attending an ivy league school. Or, some family members might tell a character to come back home and live out their family traditions instead of trying to succeed where they are destined to fail because of the color of their skin. This would be a really good movie as well, and I feel there are many films already out there which would be similar to this storyline which presents black people making a change to prove their true abilities.

Dead Poets Society, I feel, is a story demonstrating how a teacher can change a student’s idea on life and help them pursue their dreams and goals, to help them “seize the day.” This concept could be expressed in the same moving way through an all girls school or a historically black school.

Follow-up Activity

You’ve read about effective questioning and seen “on-screen” effective questioning in action. Now take a turn at practicing these techniques. Compose a classroom discussion of Dead Poets Society. Write out a sequence of questions, one each from the six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.

Knowledge:

What is the phrase Mr. Keating brings to the attention of his students during the first day of class?

Comprehension:

Why do you think Mr. Keating was asked to resign as a professor?

Application:

Thinking about the phrase “carpe diem,” how might you have changed something you’ve done this past week or month?

Analysis:

What do you think Neil was thinking about before committing suicide?

How do you think the boys felt when pressured to sign the form? What do you think was going through their minds? Do you agree with the school for placing their parents in this meeting? How do you think this impacted the student’s actions?

Synthesis:

After Mr. Keating leaves the school, how do you think the boys’ lives will change? Do you think they will go back to the same people they were before they met Mr. Keating? Why or why not?

Evaluation:

Do you feel Mr. Keating was an effective teacher? Why or why not? Provide examples to support your opinion.