Blackboard Jungle - History

History of Education: Selected Moments

The novel /The Blackboard Jungle/ caused a great deal of controversy surrounding the state of education in the United States during the 1950’s. It paints a less than bright picture of inner-city education as it focuses on a young teacher teaching at a trade school filled with young, violent juvenile delinquents. The book was soon made into a film by MGM studios, bringing the story to a larger audience, while sparking debate on the “crisis” of juvenile delinquency, and whether or not the film was representative of American education, or as Adam Golub (2004) writes, “a work of sociology or sensationalism – a work of fact or fiction” (p. 105). I will discuss these ideas by giving a summary of the novel, showing some major differences between the novel and the film, and looking at how both the novel and the film had a substantial impact on the dialogue surrounding the current state of American education.