Female Teacher on Television

Rebecca Grunzke is Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Guam. Andrew L. Grunzke is Associate Professor of Education at the University of Guam.

There is no cultural medium more accessible to the masses than television, and no profession more familiar to the masses than the teacher. It is not surprising that over the decades teachers have been the subject of television entertainment in comedic, dramatic, and animated series. This volume tackles the important question of how female teachers have been depicted in television shows. The chapters examine the question historically and cross-culturally. They offer compelling arguments about what these depictions reveal about our cultural understanding of schools, gender, and the teaching profession.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I: From the Television Revolution to the Sexual RevolutionChapter 1: Our Miss Brooks: The Lead Teacher in Her Domestic SpherePatrick A. RyanChapter 2: What Does it Mean to be a (Working) Woman?: Television's Female Teachers in 1950s and 1960s Situation ComediesCathy LeograndeChapter 3: From Foundling Home to Maritime Mansion: The Re-Emergence of the Nineteenth-Century Governess in the Twentieth-Century Soap Opera Dark ShadowsRebecca GrunzkePart II: Animation Dominations Chapter 4: "Glorified Babysitter": Edna Krabappel as the Prototype for the Modern TeacherAdam GrunzkeChapter 5: Peggy Hill, Patriarchal ShillElizabeth CurrinChapter 6: "Western Civilization As We Know It Will Come to an End": Female Teacher Tropes and Opposing Teaching Ideologies in Disney's RecessLeah DayPart III: Iconoclasm with a Purpose: The Death of the Savior Teacher? Chapter 7: "You're Not Really My Children": Teachers and the Attack on Public EducationRobert DahlgrenChapter 8: Not Your Average Manic Pixie Teachers: An Analysis of Jocelyn from Schitt's Creek and Jess from New GirlAbigail Stebbins, Melissa Stanley, Jacob Gates, and Stephanie SchroederChapter 9: "It's a Calling. You Answered": The Strong Black Woman as Savior Teacher in Abbott ElementaryAndrew Grunzke and Ludovic SourdotPart IV: The Case of Rita and the Trans-National Teacher on TelevisionChapter 10: Rita: The "Naughty" TeacherMelanie Janzen and Christie PetersenChapter 11: Rita: The "Good Teacher" Gets RealMary DaltonPart IV: AfterwordChapter 12: What Hath Our Miss Brooks Wrought? The Future of Feminized Portrayals of Teachers: Female Embodiments of Artificial IntelligenceEdward Janak and Pierrette DaggAbout the Contributors