The light and dark archetypes of teachers: What can Matilda tell us about teacher identity?

The 1996 cinematic adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s novel Matilda (Dahl, 1988) brings to life a wicked fictional struggle between children and adults. The central character is a young girl called Matilda and the film divides its time focusing on the adult-child relationships that Matilda engages in; those with her teacher, the Headmistress of the school, and her parents. In both the film and novel, and more recently in the stage show, Matilda is portrayed as both a heroine for children and an unforgiving trouble-maker for adults (Pope & Round, 2015). In the film’s storyline, Matilda is cast by DeVito (1996) as a gifted child genius with superpowers who creates mischief for the adults around her. What lies beneath this innocent description however is the key focus on the power that adults seemingly wield over children. Her mischief is thinly disguised as revenge on those whom she perceives as disrespectful of both herself and her friends (Pope & Round, 2015). Given the theme of the struggle between children and adults throughout the film, what is of interest in this chapter in particular are the teacher-student relationships that the film depicts. The story of Matilda (DeVito, 1996) incorporates the portrayal of two teacher archetypes: one who is positive, kind, loving and supportive, and one who is mean, nasty and terrorising. The relationships that are represented, although wickedly exaggerated, reinforce stereotypes and perceptions of teachers. As noted by Dalton (2007), the point of view “about the relationships between teachers and students, knowledge beyond the scope of the personal or anecdotal, is created by constructs of popular culture played out in the mass media” (p. 2). In this respect the film highlights constructs of teacher identity that are often portrayed in popular culture. In this chapter, I examine teacher identity through the lens of popular culture; what it is, how it is developed, and how interactions with others help to shape a teacher’s identity. I make links to scenes within the film to help describe the conception of teacher identity and the impact it can have on the students within a teacher’s care