Movie review: Painted Horses

Can a teacher change her students?

This movie is about a young teacher taking up a teaching job at a school in Tennessee, and trying to totally transform her indifferent students in the course.

She faces herself some serious problems in her personal life, as she is divorced and has a young child with severe health issues and in need of urgent medical attention and surgery.

Through her undaunted attitude and alternative approach to teaching, she finally manages to earn the trust of her students, turn their negativity toward learning, and life, in general, into a willingness to try new things in class, and help them build confidence in themselves with time.

Some of her students are easier than others to persuade to embark and participate in this novel learning process.

Those who are highly reluctant and negative, and do not even want to know anything about the History, require special treatment, which has the desired result in the end, making them look like those wild horses who show their real pedigree, after they are tamed.

Unfortunately, right when she starts seeing some glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel, the operation of her child is successful and the surgeon tells her that he can walk again, and her students are actively involved in learning history through a treasure hunting game, the Board of the school learn that she has given them a fake name.

Her students stand by her, but two members of the Board seem to dislike her, and totally reject and oppose her approach to teaching.

Then, as if from divine intervention, her least spoken student who loves horses discovers the treasure they were looking for, and brings it with him to show it to everyone.
In this way, the drama resolves itself, making everyone happy, and the teacher and her students rich, and causing the two members of the Board to stop the accusations.

This movie shows that, in order for a teacher to be effective in his or her teaching, he or she should possess a great deal of inner strength, stamina, and uncompromised focus on reaching the final goal, which is to transform students through the learning experience.

As a result, even the most indifferent students, who would otherwise be described as lost causes, can change to become highly performing learners.

The role of such a teacher is paramount in helping her students to develop their personality and reach their full potential in life.

On the other hand, when there is lack of teachers who can really “push” indifferent students with problematic backgrounds to their limits, these students are very likely to take a wrong turn in life.

The impact of a good teacher on the life of students can be stronger than that of their parents in some cases, since a good teacher can help students deal with difficult situations in their life, when parents may not be able or willing to do so, for various reasons.