Simonka de Jong made a vulnerable and honest portrait of Dutch people who want to work as lateral entrants in primary education: Sideways into the classroom. A viewing tip for anyone considering the profession.
Text Joëlle Poortvliet – Education Magazine Editorial – October 3, 2023 – 3 Minutes to read
Master Michel (image: 2Doc)
Hospitality coon Michel decides to follow his heart and retrains to become a teacher at an Amsterdam primary school. This is also done by a health care planner, an ING employee and a ProRail employee. Are they the answer to the ever-growing teacher shortage? That question hangs over the film, while maker Simonka de Jong focuses her camera closely on people who want to try out the teaching profession.
Her approach makes the viewer witness their first, awkward actions in front of the class. Or worse: the lack thereof. Because if you don’t take action in, for example, a group of restless toddlers, you will end up with chaos. The potential lateral entrants struggle with busy groups of children and look for ways to get children to learn.
More and more often I thought: you will be allowed to teach every day
But as the documentary – broadcast on NPO2 on October 5 at 10:15 p.m. – progresses, you also see teachers ‘being born’. One of the protagonists is the aforementioned Michel, now a group 8 teacher at the Alan Turing School in Amsterdam. He didn’t hesitate when he was asked about two years ago for the documentary. He was filmed about ten times over the course of a year. “It is such an important and beautiful profession. I wanted to help show that wherever possible.”
It took some getting used to. Michel about the premiere of the film on September 24 at the Dutch Film Festival: “You suddenly realize that that’s you, on the big screen, very strange.”
(interview continues below the trailer)
You were a festival organizer and are still a pub owner in Amsterdam. What do you mean by being a teacher?
“As a festival organizer, a discrepancy arose between my age and the average festival visitor. Drug nuisance, hearing damage, I started to look at it differently. During that period, my youngest son started primary school and I had time to do volunteer work at school. Join in on outings, lice fluff. More and more often I thought: you will be allowed to teach every day. Helping children move forward. That is the most beautiful thing there is.”
How do you view the documentary?
“In the first half of the film I constantly have a red face. It’s so intense. You see me struggle and luckily get better. I’m already a better teacher than the one you see at the end of the film. That is also what I want to say: it can be learned. The film shows that being a teacher is a real craft. A complex profession that demands a lot from you. But with the right guidance and feedback it can be learned. I think that comes across very nicely.”
Did you find the selection for the profession strict?
“No, not for me as a part-time student at teacher training college. (Michel did not take the Amsterdam “crash course” towards Lateral Entry into the Profession (ZiB). ZiB candidates are also portrayed in the film, ed.) I had to pass the math test and even quit again of my own accord. I come from an entrepreneurial environment, where it’s all about quick results, working hard, focused on competition. At primary school, it was a lot about emotions and continuous reflection. When I was clapping a rhythm on my knees for the umpteenth time, I walked away. I thought: I was wrong, this isn’t it.”
But still returned?
“Yes, because it is simply the most beautiful profession there is. It gives so much pleasure. And it remains intensive. I now work three days: on Wednesday I go into a kind of tunnel and I roll out again on Friday.”
The 2Doc ‘Sideways into the classroom’ is October 5 from 10:15 PM can be seen on NPO2. And then watch it again via NPO-Start.
Further reading in file:
2023-10-05 00:21:24
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