Discussion Topic
Exploring the teacher's role in society, Braithwaite's journey to freedom and self-discovery, and issues of equal rights in "To Sir, With Love."
Summary:
In "To Sir, With Love," Braithwaite's journey highlights the teacher's crucial role in society as he gains freedom and self-discovery while confronting issues of equal rights. His experience as an educator in a challenging environment underscores the transformative power of teaching and the importance of addressing racial and social inequalities in education.
In To Sir, With Love, how is the teacher's role in society explored?
To Sir, With Love shows how society needs teachers.
To Sir, With Love shows the socially developmental importance of teachers in a couple of ways. One instance is in how Braithwaite teaches the lowest of the low students. He teaches students who are going to reach the age of adulthood soon and will be expected to be productive members of society. He teaches the students who are discarded. At the time Braithwaite reaches them, they have only a year left of study before adult responsibilities are thrust upon them.
Consider for a moment what might have happened had Braithwaite not been there. The class had already run out "Old Hack" as he had given up on them. While Braithwaite struggles mightily, his efforts result in them actually becoming something. He enables them to think about themselves in "promising situations" and to make something out of their lives. A teacher...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
was responsible for this. Had Braithwaite not been there, the trajectory of their lives would have looked profoundly different. He was able to help them envision something previously unseen. As a result, he is able to create individuals who will give back to society. Braithwaite's efforts show the social importance of teachers.
The role of surrogate parent is another way in which the role of a teacher is explored in the text. Braithwaite comes to be accepted in the community because the parents recognize his care for their children. As their children come home and invariably talk about what he is doing for them, Braithwaite achieves a position of respect amongst the parents. This position is reflective of how a good teacher is valued in society. Society recognizes teachers as surrogate parents and individuals who craft the hearts and minds of the younger generation. Braithwaite's social acceptance is a confirmation of this belief.
In To Sir, With Love, how does teaching lead to Braithwaite's freedom and self-discovery, and what issues of equal rights does it raise?
When Rick Braithwaite takes the job as a teacher at Greenslade School, he never dreams that he will learn as much about himself from the experience as he will impart knowledge to the students. Justifiably angry and resentful at his treatment as a second-class citizen in the employment market because of his race, Braithwaite is cautioned before he even gets the job to "be careful lest (he) be a worse snob than the rest of (the world)", by the gentleman who suggests he apply with the Education Authorities (Chapter 5). Prejudice often stems from lack of knowledge, and those who act intolerantly are not always malicious. In his role as a teacher, Braithwaite will find out just how limited his own understanding of things both racial and otherwise really is.
Once he gets in the classroom, Braithwaite immediately gets "the odd feeling" that his students "(know) more about life than (he does)". Although he has promised to treat his students like the adults they will soon become, he soon finds that he has little idea about just how much responsibility they already take on in their lives at home. Braithwaite is humbled when Gillian Blanchard points out to him that one of his students, Pamela, is truly "a mother to her family", and "a woman in every sense of the word". Without meaning to, Braithwaite had been "treating (his students) like kids" despite his professions to the contrary (Chapter 12).
From his students, Braithwaite learns that prejudice transcends the issue of race. He himself has been victimized because of the color of his skin, but he does not realize that, in being unable to understand his students' reluctance to defy racial taboos and take flowers to their friend Seales' home because he is black, he is demonstrating the same type of narrow-mindedness he so hates when it is directed at himself. Braithwaite is passionate, but he tends to be impatient. By acknowledging that the Headmaster's advice to him to "show (the students) some of the same tolerance and patient good will (he) hope(s) to get from them" is rightfully given, Braithwaite is set free from his frustration and enabled to face the racist attitudes which crop up against him in his own life with a greater sense of patience and equanimity (Chapter 20).