Dead Poets Society Essay Example

Dead Poets Society Essay Example Dead Poets Society Paper Dead Poets Society Paper Final Paper Throughout the movie The Dead Poets Society the instructor named Mr. Keating utilized many course concepts as he instructed the students at Welton Prep-School in an unordinary manner, motivating them to strive to express themselves and avoid succumbing to conformity. Mr. Keatings teaching techniques propelled his students to become intrinsically motivated and participate in activities for the sake of knowledge. His repeated use of the quote Carpe Diem, or seize the day became a pivotal saying that laid the groundwork for the students actions throughout the entire movie. Mr. Keating continuously captivated his students by promoting high levels of interaction through the use of controversial questions and abnormal actions. In his first class, Mr. Keating asked a student to read an excerpt about rating poetry. Once the student finished, he instructed to students to rip out the entire introduction of the book, which captivated each students full attention. Mr. Keating utilized the concept of modeling throughout each class. Mr. Keating embodied the characteristics that are associated with an effective model. He attended the same prep school as his tudents, was known as a very intelligent individual, was the captain of the soccer team, and was considered most likely to do anything in his annual yearbook. These characteristics influenced the likelihood that the behavioral cognitive or affective changes would occur as the students observed his actions. Mr. Keating illustrated the effect of modeling known as changing inhibitions when he told motivated a student to let go of the notion that whatever he said or did would be ridiculed by his classmates and say whatever he felt. This student let go of this self-imposed estriction and composed a poem in front of the entire class. The praise that this student received, allowed other students to learn vicariously and become motivated to come up with their own ideas. Mr. Keating vicariously reinforced the entire class when he praised the student for letting go of his inhibitions and expressing himself to the entire class. Mr. Keating also continuously emotionally aroused each student by displaying his passion for the subject of poetry. The constant enjoyment that was shown as the topic of poetry was discussed created a high level of enthusiasm that as possessed by the entire class. In a particular instance, he showed his enthusiasm towards thinking out of the box by standing on his desk and telling each student to stand on the desk while they remind themselves to always look at things in a different way. After establishing his perceived competence, similarity, and status, Mr. Keating strived to maintain a comfortable learning environment when he negatively punished a student for laughing at another students poem. This undesirable, critical behavior stopped once Mr. Keating required the laughing tudent to read his poem immediately after he laughed. Mr. Keating also utilized high-quality examples when he connected the seemingly boring concept of poetry to love and women, which are concepts that continuously invade the minds of boys in high school. This good example could have been better if the teacher showed this connection between love and poetry in greater detail, rather than Just stating that students every day lives, Mr. Keating intrinsically motivated his students by constantly drawing their attention to Carpe Diem. This phrase told each student to eize the day, take advantage of every possibility, and strive for self-actualization, not for any certain reward, but for the mere satisfaction of living life to the fullest extent. The use of this phrase paid off when a student followed his passion for acting and tried out for the lead role in a play. He did not take part in this play for any extrinsic reward, but did it as an attempt to reach his fullest potential and be all that he was capable of being. This utilization of the phrase Carpe Diem showed the ability that Mr. Keating had to stimulate the growth needs of his students and propel them owards self-actualization. Throughout this movie, Mr. Keating used teaching techniques that revolved around modeling and intrinsic motivation. The only aspect of his technique that I found to be flawed was his lack of assessment. Although the majority of his students seemed to be very enthusiastic towards their newfound appreciation for poetry, some students may not have been motivated and would have been able to coast through his course since they were rarely tested on the material. He did periodically ask a select few students to read their poems allowed, but not all of the students eceived feedback on their work. Overall, Mr. Keating proved to create a learning environment that stimulated the individual opinions of the majority of the students and allowed them to use this new appreciation for individuality and transfer their knowledge to many out of classroom activities. This teacher successfully utilized many of the course concepts that were studied in Educational Psychology and propelled students to reach beyond the intellectual constraints that were placed upon them by the institution that they attended.