What Dead Poets Society Taught Me About Being a Teacher

We may remember him as Mork, Mrs. Doubtfire, Peter Pan, or the Genie, but for me, Robin Williams will always be Mr. Keating.

I first watched Dead Poets Society in high school. It’s still one of my favorite movies. Its embrace of youthful idealism and romanticism entranced me as a teenager. Years later, as an aspiring teacher, I had dreamy visions of my students calling me “Captain!” and standing on their desks in wondrous appreciation of my inspirational and daring teaching methods.

In my teacher licensure program, I learned lots of effective teaching strategies (and I secretly hoped they would encourage spontaneous desk-standing). What I’ve learned since, however, is that quality teaching lies in the intangibles.

That doesn’t mean that things like learning targets and high-quality assessments aren’t important. They are. But when you think of the teachers who influenced you the most, the ones who inspired you and challenged you, you’re probably not thinking things like, “Man, her rubrics were ON FLEEK!” Well-crafted rubrics, as impressive as they are, don’t prompt students to leap on top of their desks.

What I learned from Dead Poets Society was the importance of showing up as myself, with authenticity and integrity. Going to “teacher college” taught me about teaching; Robin Williams as Mr. Keating taught me about being a teacher.

1. It’s About Relationships

Students don’t care what you know if they don’t know you care. This has probably been one of the most challenging lessons for me to learn as a teacher. I remember in my education courses being warned about being “too friendly,” or using self-deprecating humor as a way to connect with students. “You can always ease up later,” instructors warned, “so start out strict.” No ripping up the textbooks on day one, I sighed.

I took their advice to heart, and approached my first several years of teaching very seriously. As soon as the bell rang, class started: no chit chat, all business! Did something funny just happen in class? Well, move on, because we’ve got no time for that, and there’s important stuff about ancient Greece we need to talk about! It’s not surprising that one of my early reviews on a teacher rating site called me “soulless and uptight.” {I’ll concede uptight, but soulless? That’s just mean.}

But no one wants a soulless teacher. Mr. Keating’s students loved him because he was interested in them. He laughed with them (or maybe near them, but not at them). He truly saw them.

And pretty much every kid we teach simply wants to be seen and be noticed. They want someone to see their struggles and their accomplishments. Mr. Keating was thrilled by his students’ successes. {I love his reaction when nervous student Todd (Ethan Hawke) finally dictates his gorgeous poem to the class.}

Dead Poets Society taught me that it’s okay to take some precious class time to talk to kids about their lives and their interests. I wish I had taken this to heart a lot earlier.

2. It’s About Passion

Think again about your favorite teacher. What stood out about them? My guess is for many of us, one of the things that stood out was their passion — a passion for their subject and a passion for teaching. We know Mr. Keating loved poetry, loved hearing the words “drip off our tongues like honey.”

As a history teacher, I was passionate about history — I loved the subject and stories that I taught. One of the comments I never tired of hearing from students was that they never liked history before, but I made it interesting. Parents told me their kids were talking about the French Revolution or the Wars of Religion at the dinner table. That’s awesome.

Educator Parker Palmer writes that the teachers selected by his students as their favorites vary widely in terms of the techniques they use. What they share is presence and passion: “’Dr. A is really there when she teaches,’ a student tells me, or ‘Mr. B has such enthusiasm for his subject,’ or ‘You can tell that this is really Prof. C’s life.’”

Those were all true of Mr. K, too.

3. It’s About Being YOU

I endured several tough years when I began teaching (as I think many teachers do). I suffered at times from what I called the “Robin Williams curse.” He made it look so easy! Okay, so I jump on a desk, and tell them to call me Captain, have them kick some balls outside to classical music, and I’ll nail this teaching thing!

Well, I couldn’t pull that off. It’s not me.

Maybe I needed to be Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds: Okay, I’ll show up in a leather jacket, put on some karate moves, hand out candy bars, and teach them poetry with rap lyrics! Then I’ll have this figured out!

It turned out I wasn’t Michelle Pfeiffer, either.

Ultimately, teaching is about being you. It’s finding your own voice, your own authentic barbaric yawp.

Don’t try to be a teacher in a movie. To quote Tennyson, as the Dead Poets do, we must be “strong in will,” we must “strive, … seek, … find, and not … yield.” Just be you. It may take some time to find your groove and your personal style. But ultimately, to quote Parker Palmer again, “we teach who we are.”

4. It’s About Teaching Life Skills, Too

Education is empowering. Education is not necessarily about making us wealthy or “better off,” but, as one my education professors quipped, it is about simply making us “better.” Mr. Keating taught his students English. But he also taught them to think for themselves, to support and challenge one another, to be stirred up by new ideas, and to not live “the lives of quiet desperation” lamented by Thoreau.

In all our talk today about testing and standards and achievement, we sometimes overlook these “softer” life skills that children need for success. These are the skills that help them understand their emotions, cultivate empathy, maintain healthy relationships, and feel worthy of love and capable of action. These skills and mindsets are the foundation for healthy living and thriving.

I strongly believe if we can teach young people these skills, especially to tune in to their inner experience, and to hold themselves and others with compassion, we can transform the world.

5. It’s About All Kids

Many films that celebrate great teaching focus on a heroic teacher in an underfunded urban school with students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Sometimes we assume that students in affluent districts, or in wealthy prep schools like the fictional Welton Academy, with involved parents and high test scores, don’t have real problems.

But kids everywhere face academic pressure, peer pressure, and their own share of trauma and pain. They all have the same brains, prone to faulty wiring and chemical imbalances.

This is the part of teaching that terrifies me. Even the kids who seem like they have it all together may feel, like Mr. Keating says of Todd in Dead Poets Society, that “everything inside [them] is worthless and embarrassing.” Robin Williams made us laugh and radiated joy, but he battled with the darkness.

Many of our students are silently struggling with their own demons. I truly hope that the more open discussions of depression and mental illness we’re having now create a safer atmosphere for young people to seek the help they need.

As we approach the start of a new school year, let’s remember that the most important thing we do as teachers is provide for connection and community. It is our cultivated awareness, engagement, and authenticity that allow us to do this in our work with young people.

Mr. Keating, and Mr. Williams, can live on in our classrooms.