Shows with Powerful Teachers
By no means complete, this list is movies and TV programs with fictitious and real teachers, mostly pre-college, that impacted their students, and in turn, us.
(I did not include any shows with teachers that were also sport coaches whose main influence was through their sports.)
(I did not include any shows with teachers that were also sport coaches whose main influence was through their sports.)
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24 titles
- CreatorJoanna ColeBruce DegenKristin Laskas MartinStarsLily TomlinDaniel DeSantoLisa JaiAn eccentric teacher takes her class on wondrous educational field trips with the help of a magic school bus.
- CreatorMichael EliasRich EustisStarsWilliam G. SchillingJeannetta ArnetteDan FrischmanA laidback teacher provides needed guidance about life for a special class of exceptional students.
- CreatorGabe KaplanAlan SacksPeter MeyersonStarsGabe KaplanRon PalilloJohn TravoltaA compassionate teacher returns to his inner city high school of his youth to teach a new generation of trouble making kids.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRobin WilliamsRobert Sean LeonardEthan HawkeMaverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
- DirectorMike NewellStarsJulia RobertsKirsten DunstJulia StilesA free-thinking art professor teaches conservative 1950s Wellesley girls to question their traditional social roles.
- DirectorStephen HerekStarsRichard DreyfussGlenne HeadlyJay ThomasA frustrated composer finds fulfillment as a high school music teacher.
- DirectorRamón MenéndezStarsEdward James OlmosEstelle HarrisMark PhelanThe story of Jaime Escalante, a high school teacher who successfully inspired his dropout-prone students to learn calculus.
- DirectorJohn G. AvildsenStarsMorgan FreemanBeverly ToddRobert GuillaumeThe dedicated but tyrannical Joe Clark is appointed the principal of a decaying inner-city school he is determined to improve by any and all means.
- DirectorMichael HoffmanStarsKevin KlineEmile HirschJoel GretschAn idealistic prep school teacher attempts to redeem an incorrigible student.
- DirectorJohn N. SmithStarsMichelle PfeifferGeorge DzundzaCourtney B. VanceLouAnne, a retired US marine, becomes a teacher in a Californian high school. But her mostly Latino and black students from an impoverished and racially segregated locality do not easily embrace her.
- DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsDaniel RadcliffeEmma WatsonRupert GrintHarry Potter, Ron and Hermione return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their third year of study, where they delve into the mystery surrounding an escaped prisoner who poses a dangerous threat to the young wizard.
- DirectorSam WoodSidney FranklinStarsRobert DonatGreer GarsonTerry KilburnAn aged teacher and former headmaster of a boarding school recalls his career and his personal life over the decades.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsJack BlackMike WhiteJoan CusackAfter being kicked out of his rock band, Dewey Finn becomes a substitute teacher of an uptight elementary private school, only to try and turn his class into a rock band.
- DirectorJoe JohnstonStarsJake GyllenhaalChris CooperLaura DernThe true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsRobin WilliamsMatt DamonBen AffleckWill Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
- DirectorDenzel WashingtonStarsDenzel WashingtonForest WhitakerKimberly EliseA drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.
- DirectorRichard LaGraveneseStarsHilary SwankImelda StauntonPatrick DempseyA young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves and pursue education beyond high school.
- DirectorRanda HainesStarsMatthew PerryJudith BuchanGriffin CorkA small-town teacher relocates to one of the country's toughest classrooms.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsMeryl StreepCloris LeachmanHenry DinhoferAfter Roberta Guaspari separates from her husband, she receives encouragement from her mother to take up a job of a music teacher at the Central Park East School in East Harlem.
- DirectorAllen HughesStarsTed DansonMalcolm David KelleyBrian MarkinsonA business man decides that he wants to teach school in the inner city and chooses a tough school in the South Bronx. He teaches the children how to play the game of chess, and along the way they learn a lot about life.
- DirectorMimi LederStarsKevin SpaceyHaley Joel OsmentHelen HuntA young boy attempts to make the world a better place after his teacher gives him that chance.
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsGlenn FordAnne FrancisLouis CalhernA new English teacher at a violent, unruly inner-city school is determined to do his job, despite resistance from both students and faculty.
- DirectorPeter WernerStarsJames WolkTreat WilliamsDominic Scott KayBrad Cohen who, despite being challenged by Tourette's Syndrome at a very young age, defies all odds to become a gifted teacher.
- DirectorJames ClavellStarsSidney PoitierJudy GeesonChristian RobertsIdealistic engineer-trainee and his experiences in teaching a group of rambunctious white high school students from the slums of London's East End.