The Morgridge College of Education (MCE) held a special screening and panel on Jan. 14 in Davis Auditorium. It featured the documentary “TEACH” directed by Davis Guggenheim (director of “Waiting for Superman”). Following the screening, two educators and two administrators from the Denver Public School system, including MCE alumnus Matt Johnson, who is featured in the film, participated in a panel discussion. The event highlighted the efforts and successes of MCE to engage in an active community discussion on education.

The documentary focused on teachers, raising the question, “How do teachers really learn to teach?” It followed four teachers through a single school year, noting their struggles, successes and, for two teachers, experiments. It showed the commitment that being a “good” teacher requires as well as the challenges of being a teacher in the 21st century.

The subsequent discussion focused on education from the perspective of four of the stars of the documentary. As a reflection of a main theme of the documentary, and as stated by the participants, students are the primary motivation for teachers; it was discussed as the reason teachers are so committed with so little return.

“They bring out the best part of you,” said Johnson. This was a main theme of the documentary, which MCE Dean and Associate Professor Dr. Karen Riley also mentioned when prefacing the documentary.

“It is moving,” said Riley. “I don’t want to say you will like it.” The audible sniffling at the end of the documentary supported the statement.

The panel also delved into larger issues of education, at one point addressing the fact that 50 percent of new teachers leave the field completely within 5 years, as stated by panel moderator Dr. Paul Michalec.

“It is a system designed to make you feel like a failure,” said Sean Kavanaugh, the principal of Hill Campus for Arts and Sciences and now executive director of 360 Degree Math. It is clear from the documentary and the comments in discussion that teaching is a difficult field that has many issues with retention.

From this, Carrie Morgridge, of the Morgridge Family Foundation, asked the panel how university programs and education initiatives such as MCE and the Morgridge Family Foundation could become active in easing the tensions of new teachers.

“I want to say…thank you,” said Morgridge, “What can [we]…do to help improve the system for you?”

The agreement upon responses was that teachers need a voice in education policy. For universities, nothing is better than experience to prepare teachers for their future career.

“We need more forums between professors, teachers, and working practitioners,” said Suzanne Morey, principal at McGlone Elementary School, where Johnson was featured in the film.

The event ended with a small note from Kavanaugh, who has spent a great amount of time incorporating new plans such as his 360 Degree Math program into schools.

“Don’t go to the districts,” said Kavanaugh, garnering a few chuckles across the audience.

For more information, go to takepart.com.