Chalk, a mockumentary about teaching, goes against the more mainstream portrayal of teachers as educators as heroes. It employs the post-modern strategies of the mockumentary to challenge the notion that teachers in the cinematic world quit, are fired, or persevere in the profession because of one or a series of life-changing events. Chalk's use of the mockumentary to examine teaching complicates the ways other school films portray teaching. In order to discuss this engagement, we turn to post-modern curriculum theory to explain how high school films can make meaningful representations about students, schools, and in the case of this film, some of the reasons why 50% of teachers quit during the first three years.
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