To Sir, with Love: a lesson for Jamie's Dream School

In the film, To Sir, with Love, made in 1967, Thackeray, played by Sidney Poitier, breaks up a difficult situation between the boys and another teacher. The teacher behaved badly and the boys reacted.  Thackeray is furious with his pupils.

“Nothing will excuse your behaviour!” He says. “You’re supposed to be learning self-discipline here. Potter [the boy in question] owes Mr Bell an apology.”

Another boy is outraged. The teacher was in the wrong, and had behaved badly first. He puffs out his chest shouting, “Just cause he’s a teacher??”

Thackeray turns to Potter. “Do you think you behaved like an adult?”

The boy slowly bows his head, shaking it slightly. But his friend isn’t having it. “How about Mr Bell apologising!”

So it goes on. It reminds me of Jamie’s Dream School, made in 2011, on again tonight at 9pm. In last week’s episode, David Starkey called a pupil ‘fat’. No doubt he was remembering his own school days, and was trying to be cool. He clearly has no idea what he is doing, and every teacher in the land watching that scene took a deep breath when he said it. We knew what was coming. The boy gets angry, insults Starkey, causes havoc in the lesson, and makes it clear that not only is he lost for the rest of that lesson, but he may be lost for good.

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