I once asked my doctor what kind of films he enjoyed watching... and to my surprise, he replied with a laugh: Hospital movies where things go wrong...
Which may be why - after many years in the classroom - I like films about teachers.
One of my favorites is a French documentary called Etre et Avoir (To Be and To Have). The film that shows snippets of a teacher's life in a modern rural schoolhouse in France.
The teacher, who has been at the school for 20 years, teaches all grades from kindergarten to middle school. (In the spring, all the children take a field trip to visit the school in town - where older students will attend the following year.) The teacher, who lives upstairs on the second floor of the school...is an amazingly caring, skillful man who manages the potential chaos with a calmness of an expert. He never seems to raise his voice.
We discover towards the end of the film that this teacher is on the verge of retirement - but the students - heading off for their summer vacation - are oblivious to the sadness of his final goodbyes ("Au Revoir")...
"Have a good holiday!" (Bonnes Vacances) signals - for him - the end of his teaching career, and brings tears to his eyes.
I originally saw the film in a repertoire theater that shows a lot of foreign films. A documentary, commissioned by the French Department of Education, it went on to win numerous awards. I was so impressed that I ordered a copy for myself through a CD store... I wondered if I would ever get it! It took over a year to arrive!
You tube has many snippets of this film - which I would highly recommend to anyone interested in teaching or in life in rural France.
The title of the film, Etre et Avoir (To Be and To Have) is interesting. These two irregular verbs need to be mastered by all beginners learning French... But a person also has TO BE an amazing teacher TO HAVE the ability to do what this man does.
Every time I see it, it moves me to tears!
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