MovieChat Forums > Half Nelson (2006) Discussion > I thought Dan sucked at his job, was I s...

I thought Dan sucked at his job, was I supposed to?

posted 13 years ago by DefLowd
15 replies | jump to latest

Beyond the obvious drug abuse issues, he's supposed to teaching history from an established curriculum, and instead he spends the entire class time obsessing over opposites/"dialectics" because that's what he wants to write a children's book on. He thinks he's being profound, but he's only spitting out moronic generalities regarding "how the world works" just like a freshman college student who's smoking weed for the first time.

So was I supposed to think he was some amazing teacher with drug abuse issues? Or was he supposed to be just a terrible self important mess through and through?

[–] devilmaybeticklish 13 years ago

I had much the same view until the father of one his former students came up to him and said about how his daughter went on to study history. He must have done something right! And the children's presentations throughout gave some indication of learning.

I think the trouble is in all the classroom teaching scenes he is essentially talking about the same thing, and its hard to extrapolate "good teacher" from those scenes alone, despite his successfully engaging the class. Interested students is a great start, but you have to capitalize on their attention!

As for the intentions of the film, I'm not sure we were supposed to believe he was a good teacher. I honestly don't think the film wanted to give us conclusions about what we were seeing.

[–] chadjulius 13 years ago

Speaking purely from the standpoint of the scenes in the classroom:

It's hard to tell if a teacher is good from looking at two minute clips here and there, but based on the scenes, I would say he has a lot of potential to be a good teacher; probably not a great one, considering that in his "off-time" he was smoking crack and such. The movie makes it clear that he doesn't teach from the proverbial and literal book, but sometimes the best teachers don't.

Now, DefLowd, you comment on him following curriculum, but how much do you really know about school curriculum? There is a national curriculum, state curriculum, district curriculum, and most of the time, individual school curriculum to follow. Often, a teacher is trying to balance all within a single lesson.

It's hard to say what his specific teaching position asked of him curriculum wise, but he did have high student engagement, and he seemed to be teaching about extremely important material (Civil Rights Movement, the meaning of history, etc.) , had a good report with his students, and generally cared about his job.

I would say he is probably a good-to-great teacher, relatively speaking. Which is sad for our educational system, but he does not suck at his job....probably.

[–] Billy_Costigan 13 years ago

I think it's meant to show that he is a good teacher. He had a different way of going about it, such as not teaching out of a book like he was supposed to. But that doesn't mean he's bad. He did things his own way. As seen in the bar scene, the parent comes up to him saying talking about his former student is now a history major at Georgetown- a prestigious University. Then the end is also telling. When the substitute teacher comes in, the student get a little upset, asking where he is, when is he coming back, etc. He obviously had the interest and respect from the students, and that goes a long way.

I just want to be perfect.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] BlackDog123 12 years ago

I didn't think he was a particularly good teacher either. It's good to have a sense of humor and engage your students, but you need to teach them something too. Their presentations showed learning, but his long, rambling coked out lectures were another thing entirely. From what we saw of him, he was largely self-absorbed and inappropriate (his actions as a coach, deliberately chewing gum if there's a no gum policy, however idiotic that rule may be). And then, of course, there was the "hot mess" factor of having a close friendship with a student (I don't mean to imply sexual, but there should still be boundaries), calling this student a "b*tch" and freaking with her on the dance floor, showing up at a fellow teacher's house and jumping on her, etc. Oh yes, and the escalating drug abuse. It's kind of hard to separate that since he was high when he taught.

He could have been a better teacher without the drugs, certainly. There's nothing wrong with deviating from the curriculum. It just needs to have some substance.

They're coming to get you, Barbara!

[–] SingleServingJack 12 years ago

I believe that was the point of the movie - to show how the addiction holds him in a "half nelson", so he struggles with everything as a result.

He has the potential to be a great partner, but his addiction and inability to let go of his past girlfriend sabotage everything.

He has the potential to be a great teacher, but he sometimes chooses to steer from the curriculum way too far.

He has the potential to be a great parent or mentor, but he first needs to get his life in check and start really thinking about helping others.

All of these could be achieved much more easily if he quit his addiction.

Laura:You left a dead prostitute buried alone in the desert?
Kyle:She's not alone.

[–] wilmagerlsma 11 years ago

As a history teacher (in The Netherlands though) I think he sucked at his job. Teaching history via dialectics (called historicism when you apply it to history) is a very outdated way of doing it, produces a warped view of the world and leaves little room for the nuance needed for research.

Also, on history teachers in movies and on tv: they usually teach the kind of subjects that motivate every class because these subjects are so incredibly interesting to kids. I don't know if I'm a particulary good teacher myself (my students seem to think so, but I'm not sure if they get the best grades I could possibly get out of them, am working on that) but there are certain subjects that motivate them because of the subject itself. World war II and the struggle for civil rights are among these subjects. For once I wish Hollywoord would show a good teacher teaching the navigation acts or something like that.

[–] phellinus 11 years ago

I respect you but I disagree with you. This is not a movie with enough time to demonstrate it's relevance in pedagogy. That is irrelevant. What is obvious - he connected with his students and they were clearly engaged. Dialectics is obviously a catch phrase that's meaningless. But what's more important - he cared for his classes. One ex: (31:20) - catches kid cheating, and displays obvious contempt. His students respect him and listen. He's working in , what looks to be, an inner city school, but, his kids are engaged. They aren't checked out as you might expect of students from the impoverished communities of the US to be. He's got heart. He has passion. He's a good teacher....from what we see. He has heart, he just has a bad habit. He may be weak, and his excuse for his addiction may be trivial, but he's human and we should relate to that. If you can't, you are not human.

[–] hodie 11 years ago

If he had drug abuse issues, it's a pretty sure bet that he sucked as a teacher.

Get me a bromide! And put some gin in it!

[–] phellinus 11 years ago

He may have drug issues, but he regularly engaged his class and volunteered for extra work as the girls basketball coach. He was not simply a junkee. He wanted to be there for his students - he just had prior issues that overwhelmed him. But I bet if this was the real world, his rants on dialectics would have likely struck a chord with a few of his free thinking students.

And for those who shunned this film because of the protagonist's descent into depravity, how could you not empathize with Goslin's character? His heart was always situated firmly in the right place; his psyche may have not. We all have our struggles. His demons were open to us, but in real life you wouldnt have known. And I bet he would have still connected with his class. And I would bless his teaching of my son.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] phellinus 11 years ago

Drugs, however insidious they are, don't define us. Some can transcend them and perform, despite their ill effects on our general well being. But, having a goal or a tangible reality outside it's grasp - is what keeps many going. Empathy. You have it?

[–] MarleyMilk 10 years ago

I also thought he was a terrible teacher. Also abusive and dangerous to his students as well.