In Peter Weir’s 1989
film, Dead Poets Society, spectators
witness the effects this 1950s prep school has on a group of influential adolescents.
Robin Williams stars at Mr. Keating in the film. He represents a new teacher to
the prep school, although he comes with the knowledge and experience of what it
was like to be a student within the school when he was younger. Therefore, his
ability to relate to the students sets him apart from the teaching methods that
his colleagues practice. Thus, my argument will demonstrate how Mr. Keating’s approach to teaching fits with the
Ontario curriculum for English because his methods encourage students to think
for themselves, as well as participate in classroom discussion and activities.
The
1950s prep school that is represented in the film enforces what they refer to
as the four pillars. These pillars include “tradition, honor, discipline,
excellence” (3:04). These pillars are drastically different from what the
Ontario curriculum teaches in the Senior English courses. The Ontario curriculum
for Senior English incorporates four key elements which include oral communication,
reading and literature studies, writing and media studies. While the prep
school in the film enforces the idea that these adolescent male students have
to uphold certain attributes to obtain a successful future, the Ontario
curriculum enforces the idea of learning how to think, read and write
critically, which will result in a successful future where adolescents learn
how to think for themselves. The Ontario curriculum also teaches adolescents
how to communicate effectively, whereas in the film, adolescents are taught to
think and act based on what administration commands. While Mr. Keating’s
colleagues’ teaching methods align with the four pillars, Mr. Keating takes a
drastically different approach to his teaching methods, which encourages
students to think for themselves as opposed to living a life that has been
chosen for them. He encourages students to follow their interests and be true
to themselves. His teaching methods end up backfiring on him after Neil’s
suicide because Mr. Nolan and Neil’s family blame Mr. Keating’s unorthodox
teaching methods for Neil’s death. On the contrary, it is Mr. Keating’s
teaching methods that gave students hope for their future, to think for
themselves and pursue the career path that they chose for themselves.
Moreover,
an important aspect to English is teaching students to comprehend what they are
reading. Mr. Keating challenges the students when reading poetry, enforcing
that they read for meaning (Ministry of Education, 46). While Mr. Keating’s
methods prove to be effective, as students are learning how to think for themselves
and produce their own poetry, Mr. Nolan threatens to set back the students’
learning by trying to force them to read poetry through Dr. J Evans Pritchard’s,
Ph.D. introduction to poetry. In a previous class, Mr. Keating demonstrated why
this was not a useful way to read, which aligns with the overall expectation
from ENG3U where students learn to read for meaning. When the students’ learn
how to read for meaning, they soon demonstrate their success with other
curriculum strands such as oral communication “speaking for communication” (42),
as well as the writing strand “developing and organizing content” (50).
Furthermore,
when the adolescent boys demonstrate their ability to think for themselves,
they are viewed as defiant or rebellious because they are not following the
school’s or their parent’s orders. The school’s reaction, as well as the
adolescent boys’ parents’ reactions demonstrate how drastically different the
learning outcomes and expectations are from the Ontario curriculum. One of the
most important teachings that Mr. Keating’s enforced was “carpe diem” or “seize
the day”. Carpe diem aligns with all strands of the English curriculum in terms
of metacognition, where students learn how to reflect on skills and strategies
that they have been learning in class. Not only reflecting on what they learn
in class, Mr. Keating’s carpe diem encourages students to reflect on their own
personal growth.
Finally,
Mr. Keating inspires students to critically think about texts. At one moment in
the film he stands on his desk and recites to the class,
“I stand
upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a
different way. You see, the world looks very different from up here. You don't
believe me? Come see for yourselves. Come on. Come on! Just when you think you
know something, you have to look at it in another way. Even though it might
seem silly, or wrong, you must try! Now, when you read, don’t just consider
what the author thinks, consider what you think. Boys, you must strive to find
your own voice because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to
find it at all” (43:10-43:53).
Although to the school, Mr. Keating’s
teaching methods are seen as unorthodox because they stray from the four
pillars – tradition, honor, discipline and excellence – his methods are both
effective and worthy as they enforce a growth mindset for students, where
students are engaged in their learning as opposed to merely trying to retain
and regurgitate their learning. Therefore, teaching students how to think, read
and write critically, the way that Mr. Keating demonstrates with his poetry
class, aligns nicely with the Ontario curriculum for Senior English, as Mr.
Keating claims that the point of education is for students to learn how to
think for themselves (1:19:46).
