The 7 Best TV Teachers That Clearly Deserve An A
It’s impossible to overstate the importance a teacher can have on our lives.
Nurturing our academic interest and individual talents, a truly remarkable teacher has the ability to see the best in us, encouraging each one of us to continuously challenge ourselves and live up to our full potential. They might occasionally come across as strict or overbearing, but their support can impact the trajectory of our entire future, shaping our lives in ways we never imagined possible.
With that being said, numerous TV shows over the years have featured memorable teachers in a central role, many of whom formed a unique, almost parental attachment to their students. While we probably wouldn’t enroll in all of these teachers’ classes, we’d be the first to single them out as unforgettable educators, whether for their bubbly personalities, commitment to their vocation, or their unorthodox approach to instructing students within their classrooms.
Jessica Day (New Girl)
The titular new girl of New Girl, almost everyone had a teacher like Jessica Day growing up. A quirky, off-beat elementary school teacher who preferred spicing up her lessons with fun-filled songs and whimsical assignments, Jess always found a way to make learning exciting – even if her students themselves rarely had as much fun as she did in the classroom. Infectiously positive and endlessly altruistic, Jess’s childlike personality meshed unbelievably well with her chosen profession, affording her a chance to relate to her students in a way too few teachers actually can.
Will Schuester (Glee)
In the initial seasons of Glee, Will Schuester came across as little more than a stereotypically well-intentioned teacher trying to improve his students’ lives for the better. (Think of him almost as a cross between Robin Williams’s paternal therapist in Good Will Hunting and Williams’s soulful poetry instructor in Dead Poets Society.) With each new season, however, Mr. Schue took on an increasingly complex role in the center of Glee’s narrative, allowing him to outgrow his role as a two-dimensional Spanish teacher and gradually become one of the show’s most endearing characters.
Edna Krabappel (The Simpsons)
At first glance, Edna Krabappel possesses very few redeemable qualities as a teacher. She’s lazy, disinterested, and seems to hold an utter disregard towards the idea of formally teaching her students. But that’s not to say this fourth grade educator lacks a softer side. While her apparent disdain for Springfield Elementary School is largely born out of fatigue and frustration with her rebellious students (especially Bart Simpson), Edna is shown to be a compassionate and dedicated teacher when the situation calls upon it. Sure, you might find her lounging behind the school chain-smoking cigarettes in full view of kids, but she’s also capable of having endearing conversations with Springfield Elementary’s younger students when viewers least expect it.
Janine Teagues (Abbott Elementary)
While every teacher featured in ABC’s breakout mockumentary series Abbott Elementary arguably deserves a spot on this list, Janine Teagues remains in a league of her own. A well-meaning second-grade teacher forever trying to make the best of a bad situation, Janine never lets her school’s low funding or occasionally rambunctious students stand in the way of teaching her kids. Hopping over adversity and bravely facing every challenge in her way, her unwavering attempts to outfit her students with a meaningful education establish her as consistently likable as she is upbeat and optimistic.
Valerie Frizzle (The Magic School Bus)
The very best teachers have a way of reaching their students from an emotional standpoint, fostering their curiosity and instilling a desire to continuously learn more. If that’s the hallmark for a great teacher, then The Magic School Bus’s Valerie Frizzle has that quality in spades. The eccentric science teacher at Walkerville Elementary School, Ms. Frizzle acts almost as the American counterpart to Mary Poppins, appearing as a colorful role model who transforms her students’ lives for the better. Whereas Ms. Poppins might concern herself with her wards’ emotional health, though, Ms. Frizzle focuses on her students’ intellectual interest, whisking them away on fantastic field trips across time and space. Whether shrunken down to microscopic size or exploring the dinosaur-populated Cretaceous Period, Ms. Frizzle made science fun, exciting, and approachable for her young students, forever fueling our collective interest in the marvelous world around us.
Walter White (Breaking Bad)
We won’t go so far to say we’d be the first to enroll in his chemistry class, but for better or worse, Walter White is almost certainly the most recognizable teacher in television history. Initially portrayed as a mild-mannered educator wracked by financial hardship, Walt’s descent into criminal megalomania formed the backbone of Breaking Bad’s narrative journey. Even if he rarely reached his disrespectful students, Walt’s enthusiasm for chemistry altered the entire course of Breaking Bad, setting him down the path to becoming Heisenberg and allowing him to pass on his knowledge to his most surprisingly loyal student: Jesse Pinkman.
George Feeny (Boy Meets World)
Given the fact he somehow remained a part of Cory and his friends’ lives from grade school to college, George Feeny somehow stood his students’ sides throughout their turbulent growth from childhood to adolescence through to young adulthood. A passionate teacher with an adept knowledge of everything from classic literature to quantum physics, Mr. Feeny’s intellectual curiosity simply knew no limits. Though at times rigid in his teaching style, Feeny’s constant emotional support made him a teacher all of us would have loved to have. Whether settling into heart-to-heart talks with Cory or encouraging Boy Meets World’s younger characters to dream big and try hard, Mr. Feeny somehow always found the perfect way to communicate with John Adams’ maturing student body.
