Best movies & TV Shows like Hearts and Minds
A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Hearts and Minds Starring Christopher Eccleston, Ian McElhinney, David Harewood, Peter Halliday, and more. If you liked Hearts and Minds then you may also like: Up the Down Staircase, Waiting for "Superman", Welcome Home, Bobby, Only the Strong, Jennifer and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.
A young teacher begins work at a tough Liverpool comprehensive, where he has to deal with racism, homophobia and his students' poor backgrounds.
Hearts and Minds
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Waiting for "Superman"
Gripping, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful, Waiting for Superman is an impassioned indictment of the American school system from An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim.
Welcome Home, Bobby
When a Chicago teen is arrested for drug possession, the ensuing investigation reveals that he has had sexual contact with an older man. Discovering his sexual encounter, other students start shunning him and call for his expulsion from school. His father as his conservative blue-collar dad also rejects him, while his mother does try to offer support.
Only the Strong
Former Green Beret Louis Stevens returns to his hometown of Miami after completing military service in Brazil, only to learn that his old high school has become a haven for gangs and drug dealers. After Stevens uses his capoeira skills to kick several drug dealers off of the school property, Kerrigan, one of Stevens' old teachers, sees the impact that Stevens has on the students. Kerrigan gives him the task of teaching Capoeira to a handful of the worst at-risk students at the school.
Knights of the South Bronx
A business man decides that he wants to teach school in the inner city and chooses a tough school in the South Bronx. He teaches the children how to play the game of chess, and along the way they learn a lot about life.
A Teacher's Crime
Carrie is an attractive high school history teacher who one day decides to help a troubled student, taking an special interest for him, unaware of the ruthless and perverse scheme masterminded for her.
The History Boys
The story of an unruly class of bright, funny history students at a Yorkshire grammar school in pursuit of an undergraduate place at Oxford or Cambridge. Bounced between their maverick English master, a young and shrewd teacher hired to up their test scores, a grossly out-numbered history teacher, and a headmaster obsessed with results, the boys attempt to pass.
To Sir, with Love
A British Guianese engineer starts a job as a high school teacher in London’s East End, where his uninterested and delinquent pupils are in desperate need of attention and care.
The Substitute
When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take down the punk. Soon he discovers a conspiracy of criminals at work, and must reassemble his team from his last jungle raid to stop them.
FIT
Takes a look at gay and straight love among the new millennials. Everything from secret crushes to homophobic attitudes are revealed by the rambunctious students taking Drama and Dance from Loris. None of the teens are what they seem at first glance, with gay hearts lurking behind tough exteriors and straight kids expressing themselves in many ways.
Teaching Mrs. Tingle
A bright high-school senior has her impending status as valedictorian jeopardized when her bitter history teacher, Mrs. Tingle, gives her a poor grade on a project. When an attempt to get ahead in Mrs. Tingle's class goes awry, mayhem ensues and friendships, loyalties and trust are tested by the teacher's intricate mind-games.
Stand and Deliver
Jaime Escalante is a mathematics teacher in a school in a hispanic neighbourhood. Convinced that his students have potential, he adopts unconventional teaching methods to try and turn gang members and no-hopers into some of the country's top algebra and calculus students.
The Male Gaze: Strikers & Defenders
Work up a sweat from the soccer field to the locker room in these drama-fueled four films from Germany, France and the UK that explore how rivalry between teams can spill over into teacher-pupil relationships, high school crushes and brotherly compassion. The short films are: Islands [Inseln] (2018); Play It Like a Man [Un été viril] (2018); Colours (2015); Through the Fields [Passer les champs] (2015).
The Principal
Burglary. Drugs. Assault. Rape. The students at Brandel High are more than new Principal Rick Latimer bargained for. Gangs fight to control the school using knives - even guns - when they have to. When Latimer and the head of security try to clean up the school and stop the narcotics trade, they run up against a teenage mafia. A violent confrontation on the campus leads to a deadly showdown with the drug dealer's gang, and one last chance for Latimer to save his career... and his life.
To Sir, with Love II
After thirty years teaching in London, Mark Thackeray retires and returns to Chicago. There, however, the challenge of teaching kids in an inner city school proves to be too much to resist.
Smile
Introduced to a volunteer opportunity with the Doctor's Gift Program, Katie (Mika Boorem) signs up for a trip to China, where she meets Lin (Yi Ding), a girl with whom she shares a birthday. Lin has a facial deformity that discourages her from ever showing her face, but her friendship with Katie helps her start to see life in a new way.
My Teacher's Wife
Todd Boomer is a college student aspiring to get into University. His chances are looking poor when his maths teacher, fails him in every maths test. Help arrives in the guise of the gorgeous Vicki, a mathematical genius who decides to tutor Todd. As the relationship develops,Todd finds himself in an affair with Vicki unknowing of her marriage to his math teacher.
What Matters Most
Despite different backgrounds and disapproving parents, a working-class teen falls in love with the wealthy son of a prominent family in a small West Texas town.
Halls of Anger
An all-black inner city school has to become an integrated school. Few dozen white kids are transfered there, but the black students are aggressively opposed to this. The school then approaches a tough black teacher for help.
American Teacher
As the debate over the state of America's public school system rages on, one thing everyone agrees on is the need for great teachers. Yet, while research proves that teachers are the most important school factor in a child's future success, America's teachers are so woefully underpaid that almost a third must divide their time between a second job in order to make a living. Chronicling the stories of four teachers in different areas of the country, American Teacher reveals the frustrating realities of today's educators, the difficulty of attracting talented new teachers, and why so many of our best teachers feel forced to leave the profession altogether. But this wake-up call to our system's failings also looks at possibilities for reform. Can we re-value teaching in the United States and turn it into a prestigious, financially attractive and competitive profession? With almost half of American teachers leaving the field in the next five years, now is the time to find out.
Beyond the Blackboard
Inspired by a true story, “Beyond the Blackboard” is about a 24-year-old first-time teacher who makes a difference in the lives of the homeless children she teaches in a shelter’s makeshift classroom. Set in 1987 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this movie tells the story a brand-new teacher and Mom who is given a tougher than expected teaching job and winds up teaching homeless children in a school that is housed in a room and called, literally, The School with No Name. She has some personal prejudicial hurdles to cross before she is able to be a true teacher for these children and of course there are hurdles like the lack of books and supplies.
Student Seduction
Christie Dawson always wanted to be the "cool" teacher. But her world is shaken up after a pupil's crush spirals out of control and he sexually assaults her. Suddenly, her colleagues, neighbors and even her hubby are wondering whether she crossed the line and tempted her student. But school isn't out for Christine just yet she's gonna fight back, and big time!
The Truth About Jane
Jane, a high school teenager, tries to deal with the discovery that she is a lesbian after developing an intense friendship with another girl who makes her discover her true sexuality, which is only the start of Jane's troubles when Jane's unaccepting mother, Janice, struggles with her surprising revelation of brought forth by her only daughter.
Walkout
Walkout is the true story of a young Mexican American high school teacher, Sal Castro. He mentors a group of students in East Los Angeles, when the students decide to stage a peaceful walkout to protest the injustices of the public school system. Set against the background of the civil rights movement of 1968, it is a story of courage and the fight for justice and empowerment.
The Corn Is Green
A strong-willed teacher, determined to educate the poor and illiterate youth of an impoverished Welsh village, discovers one student whom she believes to have the seeds of genius in him.
Crash Course
Some students taking driver's ed during the summer. Among the students is Riko, a cocky guy; Chad, a guy from a privileged background, who's terrified to get behind the wheel; Vanessa, who's over protective mom who wouldn't allow her to take the course, who went behind her back; and Maria, a spoiled foreign student. Now the principal wants the students to pass so he tells the instructor, who's still not over his wife leaving and is not exactly up to the task, that it's important for the students to pass so he brought in a special instructor, who's very tough. And the principal also tells one of his teachers to let, one of the students Maslanski who's the school football star, pass the test he failed so that he can concentrate on driver's ed. But the teacher, seeing this as an opportunity to expose the principal as not doing his job and thus paving the way for him to be the new principal, makes Maslanski take a make up test
The Pregnancy Project
The Pregnancy project tells the real story of Gaby Rodriguez, a seventeen-year-old who attended a Washington state high-school and made her senior school project the treatment of pregnant teenagers by pretending to be pregnant.
Tough
Johnny is a mischievous kid. He tells the teacher he didn't get his homework done because his mother just died. Of course, the teacher finds out that Johnny's mother is very much among the living. Johnny's antics become much worse when he discovers his parents are having marital problems.
Beverly Hills, 90210
Follow the lives of a group of teenagers living in the upscale, star-studded community of Beverly Hills, California and attending the fictitious West Beverly Hills High School and, subsequently, the fictitious California University after graduation.
Boston Public
Principal Steven Harper runs Winslow High School as best as he can while dealing with the demands of the faculty, the students and their parents.
California Dreams
California Dreams is an American teen-oriented sitcom that aired from 1992 to 1996 on Saturday mornings during NBC's Teen NBC programming block. It was created by writers Brett Dewey and Ronald B. Solomon and executive produced by Peter Engel, all known for their work on Saved by the Bell.
Chalk
A British television sitcom set in a comprehensive school named Galfast High. Two series written by Steven Moffat were broadcast on BBC1 in 1997. Like his earlier sitcom Joking Apart, it was produced by Andre Ptaszynski. The series focuses upon deputy headteacher Eric Slatt, permanently stressed over the chaos he creates both by himself and some of his eccentric staff. His wife Janet and new English teacher Suzy Travis attempt to help him solve the problems.
Dangerous Minds
Dangerous Minds is an American drama television series that aired on ABC network between September 1996 and March 1997. The series is based on the motion picture film, Dangerous Minds. Annie Potts stars in the lead role originated by Michelle Pfeiffer.
Degrassi Junior High
Degrassi Junior High is a Canadian CBC Television teen drama series that was produced from 1987-1989 as part of the Degrassi series. The show followed the lives of a group of students attending the titular fictional school. Many episodes tackled difficult topics such as drug use, child abuse, teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, homophobia, racism, and divorce, and the series was acclaimed for its sensitive and realistic portrayal of the challenges of teenage life. The cast comprised mainly non-professional actors, which added to the show's sense of realism. The series featured many of the same actors who had starred on The Kids of Degrassi Street a few years earlier, including Stacie Mistysyn, Neil Hope, Anais Granofsky, Sarah Charlesworth and others. However, their character names and family situations had been changed, so Degrassi Junior High cannot, therefore, be considered a direct spinoff. The legal counsel for all the episodes was Stephen Stohn who later became the executive producer of Degrassi: The Next Generation. The series was filmed at the unused Vincent Massey Public School in Etobicoke, Ontario.
Grange Hill
Children's drama series following the lives of students and teachers at Grange Hill comprehensive school.
Popular
Brooke McQueen, a popular cheerleader at Jacqueline Kennedy High School, and Sam McPherson, the editor of the school paper, are polar opposites. When their single parents unexpectedly meet and get engaged, Brooke and Sam have to deal with their new situation on top of regular teenage girl problems.
Waterloo Road
Waterloo Road is a UK television drama series the first broadcast was in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 March 2006. Originally set in a troubled comprehensive school in Rochdale, England, the location of the show was moved to the former Greenock Academy in Greenock, Scotland in 2012. The series focuses on the lives of the school's teachers and students, and confronts social issues such as extramarital affairs, abortion, divorce, child abuse, and suicide. Waterloo Road is produced by Shed Productions, the company responsible for Bad Girls and Footballers' Wives.
Radio Enfer
In a comprehensive high school, four teens head up the student radio station. Working together, they face some electrifying situations, not to mention downright explosive!
Perception
Dr. Daniel Pierce, a neuroscientist and professor, is recruited to help the federal government crack difficult cases. His intimate knowledge of human behavior and masterful understanding of the mind give him an extraordinary ability to read people, but his eccentric view of the world and less-than-stellar social skills can often interfere with his work.
Lidia's Kitchen
Lidia’s Kitchen is the quintessential culinary masterclass with beloved chef, Emmy-winning TV host, and author Lidia Bastianich as your private chef-instructor. In this comprehensive new season, Lidia’s passion for teaching is evident. She not only describes proper techniques to prepare foods of all kinds in classic and new Italian recipes, she guides viewers through the vast sea of subtle flavors, imparting tips about how to buy and store ingredients. After 25 years of writing cookbooks and 18 years on public television, this season is Lidia’s most complete work on Italian cuisine yet. Nourish your soul with the goodness of genuine Italian hospitality and family recipes from Lidia’s Kitchen to yours.
Up the Down Staircase
Sylvia, a novice schoolteacher, is hired to teach English in a high school, but she’s met with an apathetic faculty, a delinquent student body and an administration that drowns its staff in paperwork. The following days go from bad to worse as Sylvia struggles to reach her most troubled students.