The 6 teachings of the Rita series (to apply to your life)
"Rita", a Danish series released in 2012 , it can be categorized as a dramatic comedy that shows the personal and professional experiences of its protagonist (Rita Madsen). This teacher who works in the Danish public school, already close to forty years old and without any hairs on the tongue, has an innate tendency to go against the established norms.
During its four seasons issued to date (and without official confirmation of its final renewal or finalization), the plot explains in a reflexive and critical way the problems and vicissitudes that may arise intrinsically in the performance of the teaching job , as well as another type of crossroads, conflicts and personal and interpersonal experiences that the protagonist lives in her most familiar and sentimental environment.
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A fiction focused on the educational task
Taking into consideration that being a series in which the outcome of some of the situations exposed throughout its 32 chapters can present a resolution at some simpler point than what could occur in real life, the truth is that the explanation made by the writers on how to manage topics such as parental overprotection towards children, the questioning of the teaching figure on the part of families, school bullying, acceptance of different sexual orientations, etc., allows an act of reflection on what kind of values sustain the current society.
In fact, Rita often uses an unorthodox methodology, generating enmity or confrontation with respect to the rest of the adults (such as their co-workers, parents of students, family and friends), but on the other hand, seems to be highly valued and loved by the group of minors who attend their classes .
What can the "Rita" series offer?
Given the variety of questions posed by the series, let us see what kind of learning, values, teachings and reflections can be generated by the follow-up of this peculiar and interesting television production, both within the individual's personal and emotional development, and in a more global sense. general on how to understand today's society.
1. Give more weight to moral aspects over legal aspects
Rita has a tendency to act independently and is often influenced very little by the opinions of others. An example of this is shown when he decides to take charge of the "co-tutoring" (unofficially speaking) of a teenager whose mother has a bipolar disorder and decides not to denounce this situation so that the boy is not separated from his mother figure.
2. Actively tackle the cause of the discomfort
The character of Rita does not miss a single opportunity to solve a school situation identified as problematic, getting involved and looking for alternatives on how to proceed if the option applied in the first place has no effect. The teacher seems to defend a positive conception of "change" by not complying with the established just because it is the usual or the most comfortable.
A sample of this is observed in the assumption that she herself makes about the sexual orientation of her youngest son Jeppe and how she confronts the situation with the parents of the couples that the boy is presenting at home.
3. Be consistent and accept the consequences of one's decisions
On many occasions the protagonist tries to transmit both to the students and their own children that they must learn to decide for themselves and that every act is followed by a certain effect. It also defends as essential to base the own elections taking into account these consequences, even if they suppose the renunciation of a benefit or imply a high personal cost.
In one of the problems exposed in the third season, Rita prefers to opt for school-level economic salvation ahead of keeping her job as a teacher and director. However, it is also true that in her role as mother she presents some emotional deficiencies that interfere negatively in the manifestation of a responsible, mature and more cautious attitude.
4. Express and share both cognitions and feelings
Is something important to favor an adequate emotional management . This learning is one that perhaps Rita value as more complex to achieve, since in the first seasons is observed in it a very significant emotional isolation from their own family, especially their children and their mother. Little by little, the teacher learns to establish more intimate interpersonal links, being able to show more of her feelings towards the other, although initially she makes these approximations in an erratic way.
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5.Avoid falling into prejudice, stigmatization and unfounded criticism
In one of the chapters, Rita advocates defending a student with attention deficit before an accusation of vandalism on the part of the educational community. This entails acting against the majority opinion and remaining firm in their personal convictions. Later he will defend until exhausting all the possibilities the maintenance of an inclusion space aimed at a part of students with learning difficulties and other adverse psychological characteristics.
Learn to forgive yourself, accept and learn from your own mistakes. This is undoubtedly one of the last learnings that Rita gets to internalize after getting reacquainted with some traumatic events of the past that have been making a dent in her character and in her way of functioning in the interpersonal field. This is shown very clearly in the fourth season, where continuous moments of flashbacks present a rebellious adolescent Rita with a great family problem in tow.
In conclusion
After this brief analysis of the contents included in the footage, it seems that the series offers an alternative perspective on how to face everyday situations that, both personally and professionally, can be presented in the different interaction environments of the same individual. Although it is true that the character tends to stumble several times with the same stone and that is usually in the crosshairs of the rest of the adults with whom it is related, the teacher manages to teach her students (and the viewer) a series of values that go far beyond the academic content that other teachers in the series are willing to transmit.
Thus, every life situation is full of nuances that should be contextualized and taken into account to, in short, escape the dichotomies and rigidity that are normally associated with the belief of certain conventions devoid of practical meaning with respect to the task within the actual society.
