DEAD POET’S SOCIETY

Background• Time:

Late 1980s

• School: Welton Academy Prep School in America(A traditional yet prestigious high school)

• Motto of the school: “Tradition, Honour, Discipline and Excellence.”

Men in the film• Mr. Keating

Revolutionary; “Carpe Diem”• Neil Perry

Under parental pressure; Gifted actor• Mr. Perry

Conventional Father• Charlie Dalton

A young boy who really wants girls

Though very odd, there is VERY few female in the film

Summary…

Of the film• Mr. Keating = student in Welton before

Promote an idea of new learning method

Let students “sense” the arts

Experience

Challenge the Canon

He “fails” to overthrow the rules…but changes students’ mind

Games

Rules

• Discuss in 2 minutes

• Decide which related philosophical positions

• Present in 1 minute

Clip 1

ALL OF YOU ARE RIGHT!Idealism

What oneself thinks = the most important

View the matters again from different angles

These are ideals.

ALL OF YOU ARE RIGHT!Realism

Use eyes to view surrounding

interested in use different perspectives

Make up a plot in class

learning Shakespeare’s work ≠ boring

ALL OF YOU ARE RIGHT!Pragmatism

Step 1: being in a problematic situation

Step 2: define the problem

Step 3: investigate and research it

Step 4: think about solutions and effects brought

Step 5: test by acting the solutions out

ALL OF YOU ARE RIGHT!Post-modernism

• A new way of teaching – breaking the traditional passive learning mode

Examples:• Telling students’ serious answers are wrong; • Standing on the table

Clip 2

Idealism• Idea: Equality in gender

• Ideal: School policy changes

• Charlie’s action: fling against the school principle

• Reality: No change + Headmaster presses Keating

Failure is the mother of success

• Ideas and ideals = good in nature

• Method also counts

• “We should protest wisely, not doing things stupid.”

What is it?

• Challenging the existing political system(i.e. school policy)

• Promote new virtue

• Think & act in a way different from the past

Clip 3

Idealism•Two ideas (Conflicting)

•Neil = dedicated to acting

•Father = son’s study is the most important

What will happen when two ideas CRUSH?

Postmodernism

•Neil disagrees with his father.

•Pursuit of dream VS high expectation

Connection to Hong Kong’s Classroom

Clips and real world• Standing on table

= NOT likely

• Confronting school policy= maybe at university level, but less in secondary and none in primary

• Father-son argument= everyday business

Hong Kong vs. America?• Literature < Business

As if arts is “impractical”

• Lots of teachers = BureaucratsAfraid of change, thus increasing workload

• A number of students love iPhone more than knowledgeMotivation drops

Conclusion• Inspiring

•We can interpret each situation with different philosophies.

• As prospective teachers, so long as we develop , deliver and insist on our teaching mottos, we will triumph and earn students’ respects, regardless of any possible failure.

Just like what Keating did!!

Carpe Diem