Reflective Practice for Professional Development: A Preliminary Consideration of What We Can Learn about Teaching from Movies about Teachers

This exploratory study will begin with a review of cinematic portrayals of teachers and their situations by establishing three categories: thought-provoking stories of teachers and students trying to overcome social barriers, entertainment first productions with an uplifting resolution of conflict, and documentaries that track the real-life struggles and successes of educational practitioners and their students through projectbased training and performance. Then I will use forms of reflective practice and discourse analysis to delve deeper into the details of teaching and context. This working paper will conclude with some thoughts on what ‘good’ teachers do