What exactly makes a good teacher? Their ability to cram knowledge into kids skulls? Or is it judged by how nice they can be? To some, it is determined by how professional of a relationship teachers keep with their students, and how much the teacher is willing to share about themselves to their class, as seen by Ms Watson (from Mona Lisa Smile) and my old French teacher, Mme Haveman.
The major thing Ms Watson and Mme Haveman have in common is that they are both very strict teachers. Neither of them takes any nonsense from their students, which is surprising considering they were both new teachers to their schools. Being a new teacher at a high school can be a pretty terrifying thing, so Ms Watson did let her girls get to her on her first day of Art History when they purposefully tried to make her drop her own class. But, she soon gained her footing by scrapping the syllabus, surprising her girls with what then was considered ‘grotesque art’, and aimed to teach her girls about more than just paintings and their artists. Mme Haveman never seemed to let her students get to her, no matter how mean they were to her. She always kept a straight face and told everyone to do what they were told, even when her students where outright being mean to her face. Haveman never let that bother her (or at least show her students that it bothered her) because she knew she was a good teacher. Petty words would not keep her down.
Another thing both teachers had in common was that they were both very dedicated to their work and beliefs. Ms Watson was dedicated to the progression of women and trying to change the way they think about their futures. Ms Watson was so dedicated that when the Headmistress of her school wanted to approve every single lesson Watson was going to teach in the upcoming year, she left. Being restricted like that, restricted in trying to show girls that marriage is not their only option, was not what she wanted. Watson also was so devoted to her students that when she found out Joan would be giving up law school; she fought for Joan to attend. Even though Watson lost that fight, it still shows that she wanted so badly to see her girls strive for the same things she did – the advancement of women being equal to men. Mme Haveman was very dedicated in teaching her students the French language and culture. Mme Haveman was so committed to the French culture that her students would watch the French news, movies, and cartoons (with no subtitles, can you imagine?) and discuss them with her and the other students. Haveman was also very devoted to her students learning the course material. She would offer extra tutoring to those who felt they needed it; offer test make-ups to those who had a horrible grade; try and get kids truly excited about the country of France, the language, and the delicious food that comes from there. Haveman wanted everyone to be excited about learning, and she was very good at doing that.
One small difference that both teachers had was that while Mme Haveman was very kind to her students, Ms Watson was extremely passionate about her line of work and her beliefs. Mme Haveman did her best to connect with her students, offering tutoring and test make-ups while most of the other teachers at her school did not do that. She also would not stand for bullying taking place in her classroom (or in the rest of the school), and she really did care about the well-being of her students. Ms Watson, though she was kind, she was more passionate about teaching women that they can be more than just a housewife, that they can be married and work and have a family - they can have it all, if they put their mind to it. Watson was passionate about art and the meaning behind a painting, and she wanted her girls to be just as passionate. She was keen on keeping herself from becoming the model housewife that her school had set up for their students, which was why she decided not to marry her Hollywood boyfriend. Mme Haveman was passionate about her line of work, but she just didn't show it so outright like Ms Watson did. It was only when you talked to her alone that you saw how much she loved what she was doing.
Perhaps the biggest difference between Ms Watson and Mme Haveman is that Mme Haveman never let her personal life get in the way of her teaching, and she also never spoke much of her personal life to her students. In the movie, Mona Lisa Smile, it is shown that Ms Watson let her personal life get the best of her when she burst into the Italian classroom in a rage. She also let her emotions get out of hand when she found out about Joan declining law school. Even though she was very passionate about wanting what she thought was best for Joan, Watson let her emotions cloud her judgment in what would be the right course of action for talking to Joan about her decision. Mme Haveman never let her emotions carry her away like that. The only time she got even slightly personal on her part was when she was one-on-one with a trusted student, and even then her talk of ‘sometime adults sell their houses because they just can’t afford them’, wasn’t directed at herself.
Though Ms Watson and Mme Haveman are both very different in how they express their personal life around their students, they are very similar in how kind and dedicated they are to teaching and to their beliefs. There is no doubt that they are both very good teachers. A good teacher should always have that quality - the desire to want to teach to their students.
