For me, one of the most exciting parts of any school day was when the teacher rolled out the old TV-on-a-Trolley and said, ‘We’re going to watch a film.’ Bad teachers would let us sit through a whole movie – Stand and Deliver was a favourite, I think I must have seen that and Dead Poet’s Society every year from Year 9 to Year 12 – which could often extend over a whole week’s worth of lessons. Blissful time where I could quietly do whatever else I wanted to, oblivious to whatever we were meant to be getting from watching the film.
And for as long as I can remember, that’s been pretty much the only way that students have experienced film. When I started teaching, the technology had changed – we had DVDs and data projectors now, but the essential process wasn’t that much different. Some teachers would give you pages of questions to answer as you watched the film , but still plenty liked the idea of doing nothing at all – even doing their marking – while students watched.
What a waste! Don’t get me wrong, there are times when watching a film is good, but today, there are so many more opportunities for creative, interesting approaches that are available to teachers now – and one of the best is, instead of watching films, students can be making them. In much the same way that students used to have diaries to write things in. Creativity requires students to be engaged, to be knowledgeable and to be willing to experiment – all of which are things that we want to develop amongst our students, at least as much as anything else.
And finally, there is the chance to share make films quickly and easily. I’m not talking about the next Titanic here, because students’ viewing habits have changed – they are more likely to watch a 15 minute – or shorter! – clip on YouTube than they are to sit through a three hour extravaganza. They are not really too fussed about framing a shot or the sound quality – although they can and will comment on all of those things – instead, they are more likely to be interested in the unusual, the surprising, the ‘cool’. They can shoot films with iPads, mobile phones and laptops, and edit it and publish it quickly and seamlessly. They can add text and special effects – and they teach themselves to do it.
Soon, I think the question will be not ‘Why are you using film in your class?’ but ‘Why aren’t you?’