I Used To Teach English

Award-winning teacher Marsha Pincus, who teaches high school English at Simon Gratz High School, in Philadelphia, PA, wanted to get past the "glazed eyes" and "closed door" looks of her students, so she became a "student-centered teacher," arranged the classroom desks into a circle, threw the literary canon of dead white males out the window, and taught her students how to be playwrights. Now---not surprisingly--the kids are much happier educational units. While it would be easy to upbraid Pincus for tossing in the towel on what is increasingly becoming an impossible endeavor (the teaching of literature to MTV-addicted students, the film suggests that in some inner city scenarios, there may be no choice. After a tiresome series of video verite clips meant to set a "cool" ambiance, teacher and students are seen talking about the wonders of the new approach, and viewers see excerpted scenes from student plays (such as an ugly family confrontational scene that probably--and sadly--draws more from real life than artistic imagination. Those with a liberal bent will see Pincus' program as daring and innovative; those who are more conservative will see more accommodation than education in her new "English" class. Either way, all would have to agree that the kids are learning something as opposed to nothing and gaining a stronger sense of self in the process. A good discussion starter for teachers and concerned parents. Recommended. (R. Pitman)