Retrieved from Vulture
Abbott Elementary is a mockumentary sitcom series created by Quinta Brunson for ABC. It takes place in the fictional Willard R. Abbott Elementary School. The synopsis of the program is: a group of dedicated, passionate teachers—and an oblivious principal—are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible public servants may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do — even if they don’t love the school district’s less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children. The first season aired in 2021 and, thanks to its popularity, it has been renewed to a fourth season.
Retrieved from npr
The protagonist of this series is Janine Teagues, played by Quinta Brunson. She is an optimistic and enthusiastic second grade teacher who wants to make a difference within the school. Throughout the series, we see that she is committed to the kids and their education process. At the same time, we see more experienced teachers like Barbara Howard (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter), who are accustomed to the lack of resources and funds. They are used to being disappointed by the school district and they try to make her give up everytime Janine comes with a new idea or proposal. This, in turn, pushes Janine to work harder to get the best resources for the students. In the second episode of the first season, “Light Bulb,” Janine took matters into her own hands, and faced her fear of ladders, when she tried to fix a damaged light bulb. Sadly, instead of fixing the problem, she worsened the situation and the lights went out for the whole school, irritating the other teachers. Janine was talking to another coworker and said, “I don’t want to wait for someone to get to it. You know, our children have needs that deserve to be met, and I’m going to fix this. Nothing is going to get in my way.” This not only showed her commitment to the students, but also her determination to make things better for them. Beyond that, the episode ends on a reflective note, especially for teachers. Sometimes, they forget that it is important to take care of themselves in order to be able to take care of their students.
Retrieved from Buzzfeed
As a future educator, I was drawn to the series since I haven’t seen one from the perspective of teachers. The more of it I watched, the more I noticed the similarities between the series and the realities and challenges faced within the education system, specifically the Puerto Rican school system. I have lived these experiences first-hand as a student, and have witnessed them through my mother, who is an educator as well.
Not too long ago, high school students participated in a TikTok trend that went viral, where they denounced the poor conditions of their schools. The lack of resources and the problems with the building structures are one of the main issues the system faces. If you’re wondering why these problems affect the students’ development, the psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed a Hierarchy of Need which is used in the education field to motivate learners. This pyramid has five layers: physiological needs, security and safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self actualization needs. All of them are important, one impacts the other. For that reason, if schools don’t provide the necessary needs, the students’ motivation to learn will be affected and their performance will decrease.
Different issues are presented in each episode of the series, and we see how teachers try their best to provide their students with different resources and how they try to make things work despite the adversities, even if their salary is not enough to pay for everything they need. Who wants to become a teacher with a poor salary? Who wants to become a teacher that has to divide their paychecks to buy supplies and other basic necessities for the classroom that should’ve been provided by the district in the first place?
Retrieved from Pinterest
Beyond being viewed as a comedy, Abbott Elementary shows the sad realities of the education system. The lives of teachers and how they try their best to teach students in difficult conditions. I believe that more people should watch this series to learn about the education field and how hard it is to be a teacher when you don’t have support from the system that is supposed to help you. Teachers are trying to make a change, but the conditions are not favorable for them to do so. As a future educator, I aspire to be like Janine. I know that sometimes it can be challenging but, in the end, our main goal as educators is our students. We have to provide them a good education, and that is accompanied by using good quality materials, latest technology, and using funds to equip our students with everything they need to be successful in the future.