Focus on Film: THEY LEARN IT THRU the MOVIES
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Focus on Film: THEY LEARN IT THRU THE MOVIES B Y DAV I D M . C ON S I D I N E & F R A N K B AKER “ F I L M H A S I T S OWN LANGUAGE, IT S OW N individuals, institutions, and issues. They Died with Their Boots On, made during World War II, depicts G R A M M A R .” a somewhat romanticized General George Arm- (Martin Scorcese, Director and Chair of The Film Foundation) strong Custer. By the time we get to The Last Samurai (2003), Custer is described as “a murderer who “ I N E V ER REALIZED HOW INEFFECTI V E LY fell in love with his own legend.” Rather than la- I U S ED FILM IN MY CLA ss ROOM UNTIL I menting the impact of the film industry and other popular culture, Wineburg said, “we might try in- CREATED THE MOV I E G U I D E . N OW I S E E W H AT stead to understand how they might be used… to A POWERFUL TEACHING TOOL FILM CAN BE.” advance students’ historical understanding.” Such (Braley, North Carolina middle grades teacher) a process would be compatible with many strands described by The National Council for the Social “…JU S T LIKE THE BOOK WITHOUT ANY OF Studies, including those that address institutions, identity, culture, and change. T H E I N T E R E S T I N G PA RT S .” (Review of the movie, The Da Vinci Code) Unfortunately not everyone looks so favorably upon the idea of film in the classroom. Just ask Melanie. In an attempt to motivate and stimulate ids love movies! This fact is evident when you her students as they studied meteors and dinosaur “K tell them you’re about to show a clip of a mov- extinction theories, Melanie used a clip from the ie, and the noise level in the classroom drops im- popular movie, Armageddon. She was chastised by mediately.” That’s Belinha talking. She teaches 8th her department head and told that in the future grade in Branford, CT. She explored the subject she should use an episode from the TV documen- of historical perspective with her students using the tary series NOVA. However well researched and MGM classic Gone With the Wind and the acclaimed produced that series may be, in terms of student Ken Burns documentary Civil War. The “students engagement, (a necessary prerequisite for learn- were able to see the burning of Georgia from two ing), it loses out to Armageddon and other Holly- different venues and appreciate how movies can wood fare. impact our thinking of history,” she said. Suspicion about the contribution movies can make Belinha’s got that right. In Historical Thinking and Other to the curriculum is hardly new. It is in fact rooted Unnatural Acts, Sam Wineburg documented the way in the history of educational media and well docu- movies shaped the way students and their parents mented in Paul Saettler’s excellent History of Instruc- perceived eras like the 1960s and events like the tional Technology. Almost from its inception, Saettler Holocaust. As a mass medium that depends on tells us, film has been recognized as a potentially the public, it is inevitable that movies will some- powerful teaching tool and “a potent medium of how reflect social attitudes and concerns about education”, at the same time as it has confronted 24 THE JOURNAL OF MEDIA LITERACY widespread opposition and a pervasive “notion and global conflict are evident in numerous study that entertainment, commercialism, and educa- guides. Beyond learning facts and developing students tion do not mix.” cognitively, adolescent empathy and engagement can also be fostered through movies. The NMSA publi- Tellingly, he also documents research from the cation Promoting Harmony recognizes that the popularity 1920s that clearly identified the vital role the of S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders is based on the de- teacher played as an instructional intermediary, gree to which “it captures the emotional turbulence helping students understand key ideas and depic- of adolescence” and the fact that many young readers tions in movies. “However inherently effective the will have experienced and shared, “the feelings ex- photoplays may be” researchers wrote some 75 pressed such as confusion, anxiety, excitement, the years ago, “it will only attain its highest degree of general sense of searching…” effectiveness when accompanied by good teaching based on the appreciation of the real goal to be at- Many movies can fulfill the same function as young tained and of the capacity of the material to con- audiences watch the trials and tribulations of peo- tribute to its attainment.” ple their own age, like PK (The Power of One), David (I am David), or Peter and Susan (The Chronicles of Nar- nia). Movies like Big and 13 Going on 30 allow them to THE MOTION PICTURE STUDY GUIDE: consider what being an adult might be like. Rebel A MODEL FROM APPALACHIAN STATE Without a Cause, despite the fact that it is now 50 years old, remains one of the quintessential screen One teacher training institute that has consistently representations of adolescent angst. Because it was recognized the potential movies offer as teaching made in the 1950s it has the added attraction of tools, is The College of Education at North Caro- having no cussing and minimal violence. Teach- lina’s Appalachian State University, which houses ers who do use this film report that once the kids a graduate and undergraduate middle school pro- get over the fact that it looks old, they get into the gram and a masters in media literacy. Drawing story about three confused and angry teens. upon the model established in the movie study guides developed by Australian Teachers of Media One of the most recent study guides developed by (ATOM), education majors are expected to work North Carolina teachers is called Bridging Continents. in teams to create interdisciplinary motion picture Designed for 7th and 8th grade and based on state study guides. While the guides are frequently based standards, it addresses racial prejudice in Africa on books in the English Language Arts (ELA) cur- and Australia by using Hotel Rwanda and Rabbit Proof riculum, such as The Outsiders, Ruby Bridges, Holes, or Fence. The interdisciplinary curriculum team was Tuck Everlasting, teachers have also created fascinating guides from movies as different as Seabiscuit, National Treasure, Fly Away Home ,October Sky,The Mighty, Newsies, DAVID CONSIDINE, PH.D. coordinates the graduate program in Remember the Titans, and My Dog Skip. media literacy at North Carolina’s Appalachian State University. An Australian educator who relocated to the US in the 1970’s, he is the author of numerous books and articles about media, youth In addition to including standards-based instruc- and curriculum. Dr. Considine chaired the 1995 NTC National tional strategies, these guides typically connect Conference on Media Literacy as well as the 2003 ALMA National movie content to the developmental dimensions Conference in Baltimore, and has served as a media literacy consultant to the White House drug control policy office. He of early adolescence described in National Middle is a former board member of NTC and recipient of the Jessie School Association’s (NMSA), This We Believe or to McCanse award. curriculum themes described by James Beane in, A Middle School Curriculum: From Rhetoric to Reality. FRANK BAKER is a media education consultant and national presenter on integrating media literacy into K-12 instruction. A past President of the Alliance for a Media Literate America (AMLA) and Themes and concerns related to identity, cultural di- former Vice President and Web Master of the National Telemedia versity, class systems, independence, human rights, Council, he maintains the Media Literacy Clearinghouse web site: www.frankwbaker.com. Frank resides in Columbia, SC. VOLUME 53, NUMBER 2 • FALL 2006 25 made up of one teacher each from Language Arts, TEACHING WITH MOVIES: Social Studies, Math, and Science. IT’S IN THE STANDARDS While the humanities teachers usually respond The use of motion pictures in the classroom has fairly quickly to their assigned tasks, the connec- been spurred by the endorsement of both major tions are not always obvious to teachers in other reading/language arts teaching organizations in the subject areas. In this case, the Math and Science United States. In their joint declaration, National teachers were more than up to the challenge. The Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and Inter- subject matter in Hotel Rwanda included genocide, national Reading Association (IRA) declared, “Be- decaying bodies and refugees forced to live in un- ing literate in contemporary society means being sanitary conditions that became breeding grounds active critical and creative users not only of print for infection and disease. The study guide ad- and spoken language but also of the visual language dressed state competencies, including scientific of film and television.” This emphasis upon film inquiry, water quality standards, and biological language is increasingly evident in state standards. hazards such as viruses and bacteria. The subject matter was brought home even further when the In Texas, an influential state with textbook pub- teachers connected these issues to conditions faced lishers, Viewing and Representing standards are by victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Indonesian contained in the ELA curriculum. They make tsunami and the earthquake in Pakistan. specific reference to “character traits,” dialogue, mood, genre, and film techniques. A parent, principal, or administrator exposed to one of these movie guides is left with little doubt In 2004, the College Board included more than 30 that teachers have created engaging, challenging contemporary films in SpringBoard, a new middle resources that include taxonomies, rubrics and school language arts curriculum.