Get in the Back-to-School Spirit with Movies About Inspiring Educators

Get in the back-to-school spirit with inspiring movies that celebrate educators who change the lives of their students for the better. Read on for a few of our favorites you might consider watching.

"Dead Poets Society" (1989)

Robin Williams scored an Oscar nomination for his iconic performance as John Keating, an unconventional English teacher at an elite New England prep school in 1959. Keating defies the school's stuffy culture and strict headmaster by encouraging his students to rip pages out of their poetry books, stand on their desks ("O Captain, my Captain!"), embrace the arts, and choose their own life paths ("Carpe Diem").

"To Sir, With Love" (1967)

Sidney Poitier had one of the most successful years of any actor in 1967, starring in three classic films – "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," "In the Heat of the Night," and "To Sir With Love." In the third of those films, he plays Mark Thackeray, an immigrant from British Guiana with no teaching experience who ends up educating troubled students at a secondary school in a tough part of London. He forgoes textbook methods to win over his students, taking them to museums and allowing them to discuss any topic they like. His students learn valuable lessons about racism, personal choice, and responsibility, and he learns how to make a difference in the world through teaching.

"The Miracle Worker" (1962)

Patty Duke and Anne Bancroft shine in this powerful retelling of the true story of Helen Keller and her tutor Anne Sullivan. Deaf and blind since infancy, Keller struggles to communicate with her parents and the outside world. Sullivan opens up a new world for her by never giving up no matter how difficult it gets. Duke and Bancroft won Oscars for their respective portrayals of the frustrated child and persistent teacher.

"Stand and Deliver" (1988)

Edward James Olmos earned an Oscar nod for his portrayal of real-life high school math teacher Jaime Escalante. In the early 1980s, Escalante taught math to working-class Latino students at a Los Angeles high school. The film follows him as he overcomes gang threats, the possibility of the school losing accreditation due to low test scores, and unmotivated students who lack confidence in their abilities to learn. Through extremely hard work and discipline, his students pass the AP Calculus exam, only for their scores to be questioned by skeptical education officials. Escalante never stops fighting despite the odds stacked against him and his students.

"October Sky" (1999)

Jake Gyllenhaal and Laura Dern star in this adaptation of NASA engineer Homer Hickam Jr.'s memoir. In 1957 in a West Virginia coal-mining town with limited opportunities, Hickam followed his dream of building amateur rockets with the inspiration of his cancer-stricken science teacher, Freida J. Riley. In the few years that she taught, Miss Riley touched hundreds of lives, inspiring her students to think big rather than follow in their fathers' coal-mining footsteps.

"School of Rock" (2003)

Jack Black earned some of the best reviews of his career playing struggling rocker Dewey Finn who can't pay his rent and lands a teaching gig at a prestigious prep school by pretending to be a substitute teacher. Dewey recognizes the talents of his students and encourages them to enter a Battle of the Bands, forgoing the standard lesson plans to teach his students about rock music and boost their confidence so they can follow their artistic pursuits.

"Goodbye Mr. Chips" (1939)

There are two film adaptations of James Hilton's novella about beloved Latin teacher Mr. Chipping – a drama from 1939 starring Robert Donat and Greer Garson and a musical from 1969 starring Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark. Both films follow "Mr. Chips" during his 44-year tenure at a British boarding school, where he begins his career as a strict disciplinarian then adopts a warmer approach after finding love.

We hope you have been inspired by our short list of movies about individuals who dedicated themselves to teach and help their students to dream.