Top 10 Most Inspiring Teachers Movies

8 – Lean On Me

This dramatized biographical feature film tells the story of a teacher who once left his teaching position at a prestigious public high school and returns to find it beleaguered with the influences of gang violence and drug usage. He becomes the principal of this institution with the determination to turn the school around and raise the state basic skills testing levels while creating a flourishing environment for all students to engage in prosperous activity. His first order of business: lock the school doors during school hours. In the below clip from the 1989 film, you will see his character, portrayed by Morgan Freeman, in action in which his extreme tactics lead to humiliating a group of students as he dismisses them from the school grounds. He then gives the Freeman-style preach to the rest of the student body.