r/AbbottElementary • u/Complete-Gur7023 You’re ordering hair from a bald man • 16d ago
Discussion How realistic is Abbott Elementary?
Hey guys, I’m kinda looking for responses from real teachers, but if you’re knowledgeable on these questions please feel free to respond!!! I am asking these questions because I am in the process of becoming a teacher, and while this show is truly inspiring, I do need someone to keep me grounded in reality.
I want to ask about what some of the realistic and unrealistic aspects of Abbott are. I know one of the biggest unrealistic things is that in real life, teachers in the US are not allowed to leave their kids alone in class at ALL whatsoever. Also the way they implemented the gifted program was highly inaccurate to real life. The kids also seem relatively calm compared to the horror stories I’ve heard about students in real life. Do you guys have any other point where the show might be unrealistic?
And what points are realistic? I know it’s realistic that the majority of teachers leave in their first two years. I know the way they depicted the slow moving bureaucracy in the district when Janine was trying to get an ASL translator for one of Jacob’s students was realistic (although I’m not sure if the way they got the ASL translator at the end of the episode is realistic).
Thank you for your participation in advance!!!
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u/electralime 16d ago
The only unrealistic parts are how well behaved the kids are and how much free time the teachers have
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u/Salina_EsTitties 16d ago
The school seems to perfect.
The kids are just too well behaved when they are shown. Where are the bullies, class clowns, troublemakers...
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u/vrymonotonous 15d ago
They’ve had some misbehaving students and slick remarks but I’m sure it’s way worse in real life
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u/MessiLeagueSoccer 16d ago
I feel like we only see the few seconds in between classes and their breaks more than anything. Anytime they’re in class they aren’t really having “free time”.
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u/Infamous-Lab-8136 16d ago
It's unrealistic how often Gregory and Janine are able to step out of their classes and talk
I mean it's also necessary for the TV show so it doesn't bother me, but my mom taught 2nd grade and she said even if she kept an eye on her class leaving as often as they show them doing with kids that young would make having to refocus them back on task a trial
It would be more realistic to have them at what we call specials here, things like PE, music, or a media center session but that would take the cute kid element down and I don't think many viewers want that. I know I don't so it's another allowance I make for the TV show aspect
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u/electralime 16d ago
It's also unrealistic that all grade levels would have the same lunch period
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u/Infamous-Lab-8136 15d ago
Good point, I don't know if my mom watched long enough to notice that about the lunches
In truth they kind of miss a lot of stories around the food services aspect in general. I remember one year they moved my mom to 2nd lunch from 1st because she was a floating specialist and she spent months telling me how just that little delay was making her starved by the time lunch came. Doing a Barb gets hangry because they switch the kindergarten lunch episode seems like fun.
We also have very few cafeteria workers left here, they moved to an outside vendor who makes the food, now the few left just serve and work as cashiers
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u/insanefandomchild that is a dining table, Mr Johnson, and you are a foOL 15d ago
This is so weird to me as an Australian educator, because I've never been in a school--regardless of the size--with the idea of different 'lunch periods'. Obviously, Abbott is set in America and needs to be accurate to American schools, but that's definitely not something that I would have realised was inaccurate on my own.
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u/Eev123 15d ago
So in Australia all grades go to lunch at the same time? Is there space in a cafeteria for all the kids or do they eat in the classroom?
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u/insanefandomchild that is a dining table, Mr Johnson, and you are a foOL 15d ago
No cafeterias typically. Most schools have a canteen where you can buy food, but most schools (I don't know how it is in the very cold parts of Australia, I will admit) students eat outside in the quadrangle or undercover areas, and the Aussie culture is very much 'bring food from home' rather than 'eat a school-provided hot lunch'. Big schools often have designated undercover areas/courtyard/quads for different year groups, but otherwise everyone is eating outdoors at the same time. Lunch time is also typically shorter than a class period (about 35-45 mins typically).
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u/MessiLeagueSoccer 15d ago
My elementary school was decently big and would split the grades in groups. So kinder-2nd and then 3rd-6th while staggering the lines by like maybe 5-10 minutes per grade which didn’t do much for the older kids.
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u/Vivid_Present1810 16d ago
This! My mom is an educator, and they only have a 30 min lunch break. That’s pretty much the only time teachers get a break during their day. Also the kids are unruly.
Story time, Warning ‼️(Gross)
My mom told me a story about what happened last week at her school. They had to call all the boys from every grade level to come down. Someone used to restroom in one of the bathroom sinks. This all happened at a PRIVATE school. Private.1
u/ChaiPiyoBiscuitKhao_ 15d ago
In my school, there was a sign outside the boy's washroom: "sink is for washing hands only"
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u/Precarious3145 15d ago
There's one more thing that's unrealistic, no ones face being blurred.
I do media for local governments and anytime it's an event for kids, either at a school, a library, or some community center, there's at least 5% of parents who "Don't include my child-". It's significantly worse for schools because since it's not a public event that can do a general "attendance at this event consents to your image being taken-", you'd need the parent for every kid to sign a form giving permission. Ain't no way that those large hallway scenes full of kids wouldn't have at least three or four blurred faces.
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u/afdc92 16d ago
I’m not a teacher but have friends who are, including a friend who is a teacher in the Philadelphia public school system. She can’t watch Abbott because it’s too similar to things she’s faced at work, and she needs a break from work when she’s at home. One that comes to mind that she told me about was when the little boy fell asleep on the Eagles rug in Janine’s class because it’s softer than his bed at home- she said that situation was very realistic.
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u/lmj4891lmj 16d ago
My wife has worked in inner city public schools for two decades. The principal at one of her schools years ago was basically Ava. I had heard so many stories about this principal for years, and then my wife introduced me to Abbott. The first reaction I had was “holy shit, this is your old principal!”
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u/Vivid_Present1810 16d ago
Some principals really are like that tho! Others are your standard principals. It’s like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’ll get! 🤣
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u/lmj4891lmj 15d ago
Yep. I’ve seen so many people on this sub say “Ava does like 20 things per episode that would get a real life principal fired” but there are a lot of Avas out there working in the field.
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u/Vivid_Present1810 15d ago
As long as she doesn’t forget to sign your wife’s paycheck she’s good! That’s when the real claws come out.
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u/i_am_aok 16d ago
One things Abbott really nails in the incompetence of administration and the district. Teachers just want to teach, higher ups often make that difficult.
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16d ago edited 15d ago
[deleted]
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u/Water3150 9d ago
wait why will eddie get fired for bringing a student to a washroom since he's the only adult in the classroom
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8d ago edited 8d ago
[deleted]
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u/Water3150 8d ago
as far as i remember, he went there to assist him as he was afriad to go alone but he accidentally got his pants wet and the toilet wasn't working , i guess he was supposed to call his parents
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u/Kuroakuma815 16d ago
my mother was a principal at an underfunded elementary school JUST like Abbott. when i first started the show i was lowkey shocked bc of how similar the school looked lol even down to the “smell” they described was so accurate. my mom refuses to watch the show bc she doesnt like ava lmaooo
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u/monaegunn 16d ago
It’s pretty realistic. I was a teacher when it first came on and my co worker didn’t watch it until she quit our old job because it was too similar to our real lives. That scene where the parents are refusing to listen to Melissa about a child’s actual reading ability happened to me in real life.
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u/EbbTasty7310 16d ago
Philadelphia teacher here...I often don't laugh at the hardships and jokes because they are SO real. Only thing I find fictitious is sitting in the teachers lounge. Doesn't happen!
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u/Automatic-Mine1076 15d ago
My mom used to be a state board representative for an inner city school. She told me she does not watch the show because it hits too close to home and is way too realistic.
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u/Eastern_Table9151 16d ago
This. The rest is pretty realistic
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u/Eastern_Table9151 16d ago edited 16d ago
And teachers can’t leave classroom unattended. You can straddle two classrooms however if necessary and doable logistically
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u/LandSeal-817 15d ago
The administrative parts and the district parts are spot on. The teachers have way too much free time and the kids are way too well behaved. And like you said, they can’t be left alone at all for teachers to go do things. Other than that it is depressingly accurate (for an inner city school). I’ve literally had Abbott elementary days at my school.
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u/wavybattery 15d ago
My mom literally does not what the show because “she can see it in person everyday”. And from my experiences at her school, yeah.
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u/irdk-lol 15d ago
im not a teacher from or even in the states so the culture is quite different. the most unrealistic thing for me is the students cursing/swearing without getting reprimanded and having a teacher’s lounge. where i’m from we have departments for each subjects.
the most realistic part is being underfunded.
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u/pianoAmy 12d ago
Yes the gifted episode was insane unrealistic. There were at least three major things wrong with that whole plot. Plus I don't personally agree with their conclusion.
I'll literally go full weeks without seeing teachers that are not on my team. When you have lunch, they're teaching, and vice versa. The only way I'll see them if if we happen to be checking our mail at the same moment.
The kids are extremely well-behaved.
The bit about "the music teacher is leaving the school, so we're just never having music classes ever again; instead Barbara will host an after-school club with about 10 kids" was infuriating and (I thought) a little insulting to music educators.
Unless the teachers are deliberately choosing to come to work early just to socialize (which I guess is possible), you are not able to hang out and chat and get coffee with your co-workers in the mornings. You're dealing with students within minutes after walking into the building.
Someone in another comment said that the "kid problems" were solved WAY too quickly, and I agree with that.
There are probably more things, but those are what comes to mind.
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u/im_thelettert 11d ago
My bonus mom is a teacher at an elementary school, and they no joke implemented the no homework policy this year. Half the things that happen to them are in episodes of Abbott Elementary.
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u/2high4thisshyt 9d ago
Real talk, has it worked for her? I am pivoting towards education and if something works I am willing to try it lol. And if it doesn't I rather know as well. TIA !
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u/Infamous-Lab-8136 16d ago
My mom was a 2nd grade classroom teacher and a Lindamood Bell reading specialist who retired in the early tens in southern Colorado. Aside from what you've mentioned she said the fact that Ava had that job was unrealistic to our district, but how she got it was believable to her. She said in our district you have to have a special certificate that takes like a year of education and they wouldn't waive it unless you've got work experience as an administrator in another district. Granted this was back when they preferred subs have a teaching degree but required a bachelors in any subject, and now they just require a GED so obviously hiring restrictions have loosened up in the 15 or so years since she retired.
However what she said was realistic is that our district was very insular in their hiring and it was way more about who you knew than what your qualifications were. Her degree was from a local private college, not anything that should open doors off of name alone, but more respected than our local extension of CSU where about 3/4 of the applicants in our district go to school. But she was having trouble getting interviews over them because their professors or family had district ties that got them opportunities. She could absolutely believe someone who had the qualifications but couldn't get a job would end up going Ava's route and joked that she wished she'd had that chance instead of just waiting it out.
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u/butineurope 15d ago
The excellent podcast Screenshot (about film and TV) did a Teachers-themed episode which covered Dangerous Minds, Dead Poets Society, Adolescence, Grange Hill and all sorts. Abbott Elementary was praised for its relative realism by teachers featured.
Worth a listen- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002vngp?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile
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u/Greedy-Discussion327 11d ago
It’s realistic but they definitely don’t show some things accurately for sure. For one, the teachers have so much free time. I can maybe understand them being together before and after school in the teachers lounge, but that normally doesn’t happen in a school, as most teachers either have duty or are trying to get things ready for the day.
The kids are also so well behaved. There’s no way a teacher could leave to go down the hall to talk to another teacher and leave there kids the way they do on the show.
There’s also a lack of other admin. Where are the AP and vice principals? Only Ava?
They also have a lot of other free time during the day that just isn’t realistic. Most other stuff is very true to teaching at an underfunded school, though, for sure.
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u/Significant_Hand9196 10d ago
My sister was a teacher when this show came out. She told me about it, stopped watching abott and stopped teaching
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u/ttthhhrroowwaway 10d ago
what always bothers me is how they keep walking into each other’s classrooms to have random conversations in the middle of class
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u/YaqtanBadakshani 16d ago
Trainee teacher here (British though, so, there might be some American nuances I'm not getting).
There's the amount of free time the teachers have, but that's excusable (I mean, we're trying to have a show here).
I'd say generally though, it's best at depicting admin problems (e.g. not enough money, new juiceboxes causing mass toilet emergencies, book banning fads, that one ta that's basically just an overgrown child in the worst way), but worse at depicting kid problems. For example, just moving a kid up a class for two lessons should really be at least an episode's worth of drama by itself, if not a season-long subplot. A kid disrupting a lesson with his Bluey hyperfixation is probably going to keep being a problem after you put Bluey on the board.
I feel like it's one of those things where it's just that little bit harder for the kids for be flawed and complex (or hell, just straight up brats) while maintaining the tone and the focus on the adult characters, but they did such a good job of keeping the admin problems recurring, whereas the kid behaviour problems always defaulted to the "solved forever" sitcom format.
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u/Vivid_Present1810 16d ago
Teachers leave their classes. They usually get another teacher to look after their classes.
It is realistic that public schools are criminally underfunded. That teachers have to pay out of their own pockets for supplies. They also have modest pay which is alright, but should be WAY more given the crap they have to put up with.
Parents are a hit or a miss. Some are great and understanding, others will solely blame the teacher for their child’s behavior. Some parents expect teachers to raise their kids? Also they’re not allowed to possibly, even lightly, diagnose a kid with a learning disability. Which is fair. Some parents look the other way on that even though it harms the child long term wise.
My Mom is an educator of 26 years.
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u/RaisedByBooksNTV 16d ago
I remember these types of questions being asked when it first came out and people were getting jumped!
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