Best inspiration for a Badass Bookworm Teacher

Hi everyone.

I have watched Gokusen and Great Teacher Onizuka and then I thought, "Is it possible to create a teacher who can change his students without necessarily having a gangster background?"

Note that I have nothing against gangster teachers (in fact, pretty much the only teacher who can effectively deal with delinquent students is one who's a delinquent himself), well, in fiction, anyway, but I thought of something like Kinpachi-sensei (though I don't know much about it), or something like this:

The main character is a twenty-one year old male whose lifelong dream is to teach in high school. He's quite the genius himself, but in college he suffered from the "big fish, small pond" syndrome as he was quickly overwhelmed by the reality of college life in a top-tier university. During this time, he learned three things:

• People should not be gauged based on their grades, but by their willingness to become better persons, since no one is perfect. Even the best student in the world has his own flaws, but the best student rose above his flaws so they don't matter anymore.
• While a teacher can play favorites, he must not judge a student too quickly. He must first see what troubles the student, but still seeing him for what he truly is. Everything happens for a reason.
• The whole school system is still necessary, but it needs to be focused more on the necessary things to survive the outside world and less on academic excellence. Brains are useless if you don't use them, after all.

After his bad experience in his previous top-tier school, he settled for a lower-tier school and excelled there. He now comes back to school, and this time, as a teacher. Being a mentor is difficult, especially if it's a class literally made of demons who have chased many a teacher away from the school. Is his cheery personality, positive outlook in life, and a high sense of morals and justice enough to tame the dragon that is class 2-F?

So, any reading inspiration suggestions for this type of teacher?

Note that the teacher must NOT have a gangster background (GTO is an ex-biker, while Yankumi is the heir of a Yakuza boss), but rather a strong realization that changed the way he's supposed to teach.

edited 22nd Apr '12 9:07:06 PM by judasmartel

Previous military service? Retired police officer? Retiree of some other service job, such as social worker, doctor, psychologist, etc. in a high-risk environment? You could even have the teacher, through some means, end up as a Burger Fool, where he has this realization during the monotony of his day.

Really, you could pick any job based around helping or seeing people or other places where you could witness the shittiness of life firsthand and how it doesn't always revolve around academic performance.

Just an idea: he probably shouldn't completely disregard grades. There is a clear difference between the kid who tries their damnedest to succeed at school and the kid who gets straight As due to just being good at school and nothing else.

edited 22nd Apr '12 9:18:14 PM by CrystalGlacia

I'm thinking of Burger Fool. That way, he can realize how shitty real life is without necessarily having to work his body out until he has to (in this case, when handling a student whose language he only knows is violence).

I agree that he must not totally ignore academics. But if the school focuses too much on academics by favoring ace students to no end and punishing students who are simply not interested in it or even cut for it, there's nothing else for the non-ace students to learn!

That said, he could be a Math or Science teacher, and in this way he can teach students how to properly use Math concepts in Real Life situations.

He's quite the genius himself. He's the Math and Science ace back in High School, and yet everyone likes him. However, he feels that there is something wrong with the educational system. Sure, he did get straight As and all, but he felt like something's lacking. He really never learned anything during his high school years. Well, except how to deal with bullies and girls, of course.

I don't know what to say of Onizuka's approach on Kikuchi in the Live-Action series, but I'm sure there are better ways to handle a smart but jaded student.

edited 22nd Apr '12 9:40:57 PM by judasmartel

Check out Denpa Kyoushi, might help.

edited 23rd Apr '12 5:41:14 AM by fillerdude

You could try going Historical or Religious.

Jesus. Ghandi. Bhudda. Mohammed. Confusious.

These people did not live soft lives, and had many students for their teachings.

Hmm... Okay, reading Denpa Kyoushi right now... Hmm... Sounds all right, genius student, but reality hit so hard on him that he refuses to do anything, until the job came along. Not the sudden realization I'm talking about, but I say I'll give it a try first.

@Historical Teachers Hmm... I was thinking more of Socrates. Jesus is already covered by a manga I've read before (the disciples come in pairs of Manly Older Men and Bishōnen younger guys, such as Zebedee's sons), Gandhi is a little too pacifist for my taste (what if delinquents come after you?), Confucius is too strict. So I guess I'll read more Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

Thanks everyone.

edited 23rd Apr '12 9:10:37 PM by judasmartel

Aww, man. Denpa Kyoshi's main lead is freaking awesome. He's like Onizuka and Keima combined! And the absurdly young-looking School Chairman is pretty much a Magnificent Chessmaster, too! So much that she reminds me of Laura Stuart.

Though, my only major gripe with the manga is that almost all target students are girls (with the exception of Seijuurou Nanami). I wanted my story to involve changing delinquents and super-smart but jaded students Badass Bookworm style. But I guess Kagami-sensei did it alright. I just need a different approach to that.

Anyways, what were the staple problem student types used in GTO and Gokusen? I can only list:

• The super-smart but jaded student (Kikuchi and Sawada)
• The Rich Bastard with a very strict family (Sawada in the Live-Action TV series)
• The low-confidence student (Tomoko)
• The tough-guy delinquent
• The Jerk Jock or the Alpha Bitch.

I guess that's all of it.

edited 24th Apr '12 4:05:10 AM by judasmartel

More or less, yes. It might be worth it to explore other issues though. How about a student unsure of his/her gender orientation? How about a geek trying to devote his time to writing comic books, but is frowned upon because he's perceived as a slacker?

Well...Plato was two times ancient mixed martial arts (Pankration) champion and Descartes served in two wars as soldier and came out unscathed.

Badass Bookworm much?

Hmm... Interesting. I've read that Kinpachi-sensei covered the gender orientation part, but it would be very interesting to tackle this issue myself. So maybe I'll add a Camp Gay Woobie to do so. There's a myth about Filipino Camp Gays being born to an all-male family, and they kinda chose to play the Team Mom role and got beaten to death for it as a result. So maybe it would be interesting to write a scenario where the Badass Teacher inspires the Camp Gay student to accept his own gender identity (despite the teacher being a real guy himself), as well as making the manlier members of the family at least accept his role in the family, like somewhere along these lines:

If you hate somebody who can cook, clean your room, or in fact, bring color into your goddamn lives just because he's not a real man, then (Camp Gay student) doesn't deserve you as his family!

Pretty awesome.

As for the smart student / aspiring comic book writer, I'm not sure if I'll make him suffer from All of the Other Reindeer or make him similar to Kikuchi.

edited 24th Apr '12 7:31:48 AM by judasmartel

Plato was a two-time Pankration champion? AWESOME.

Err, sorry for the off-topic.

Well, if it turns out to be not-exactly-true then it will still have a place in my heart.

edited 24th Apr '12 6:54:10 AM by fillerdude

That's what I HEARD. I cannot verify it so don't take my words for it.

If you want an Agent Peacock of a head-teacher, try Frankenstein of Noblesse (under Main Characters). He's maybe a bit iffy, due to some of his other pigeon-holes (like Mad Scientist), though. The YMMV does put his gender orientation under question, but: meh. I don't read him that way, myself.

He might dandify himself up a bit, but you really wouldn't want to call him a pansy to his face. Seriously. Bad idea.

edited 24th Apr '12 1:06:54 PM by Euodiachloris

Nah, that's not what I have in mind. Camp Gay teachers could Squick out some readers.

What I really have in mind is a very cheerful twenty-something male whose lifelong dream is to become the greatest teacher to ever live. His motivation for teaching, however, was changed after realizing that Real Life sucks and the current educational system cannot help the students fully cope up with it.

He's quite the genius himself, being the top student in his high school and also the most popular at that, but he suffered from a case of "big fish, small pond" syndrome when he just can't cope up with the demands of university life. So he quit his former top-tier school, turned himself into a Bunny-Ears Lawyer and finished with flying colors in a lower-tier school.

He wishes to repay the kindness of his alma mater by teaching high school students there. Unfortunately for him, he was sent into the worst possible class where no teacher, even the most brilliant ones, has lasted for at least a year. One killed herself in despair, one joined a cult.

Our hero figures that the best way to teach his advisory class is not forcing them to learn things if they don't want to, but rather reaching out to them and solving their personal problems in the best way he can, even if it means school rules have to be broken to do so. After all, there must be a reason why they hate teachers and school.

Pretty much like the good old teacher story, right? But I would like to stress that the hero is by default a Squishy Wizard, but can bring out the little physical strength he has if he needs to, say, if he needs to deal with a student who can only understand the language of violence.

Uh... there's a difference between The Dandy and Camp Gay, you know. Peacocks straddle the two tropes and add action to both. Just because a man does his badass action in sharp suits and snazzy shoes doesn't mean he's gay. <blinks> Camp Straight springs to mind, too.

My point was: the teacher would then, maybe be seen as 'girly', if you didn't know better. But his lifestyle would not reflect that. Russell Brand as a teacher, in short. Well, he'd be a bit too hyper to have as a teacher, but... anyway...

All the better to pound the "you don't have to be macho to be a male" message home to the darling parents.

edited 25th Apr '12 12:48:17 AM by Euodiachloris

Hmm... I see...

I was thinking of a teacher that most people would think of as a wimp at first sight, but can open a can of ass-whuppin' right before anyone's eyes if he has to.

Well, some people do see a guy who takes great care over his looks as being a wimp. Especially if he's leanly muscled. And, will therefore miss the mistresses and the ability to swat them over the head with the Encyclopaedia Britannica. All the volumes currently in the library.

Well, my main lead here isn't exactly that particular about how he looks. He's more of a Nerd and The Ace if anything.

edited 25th Apr '12 1:34:56 AM by judasmartel