The Value of Film Studies-List of Great Movies for Social Studies

"All you do in Social Studies is show movies."

This is a common perception about Social Studies teachers which I will not try to debunk. It's true, Social Studies naturally lends itself to some very valuable film studies. And yes they are valuable.

Imagine trying to teach something from history from only a book. How does that capture the student's imagination? How do they become engaged? A film, can quickly recreate a time period do draw kids into the topic. The benefits don't end with history, documentaries like Sicko or Supersize Me can make sense to contemporary issues in ways that kids will actually listen to. Most importantly films can bring emotion into the classroom. From what I know of Brain research, if there is an emotional attachment (laughter, fear, sadness, etc) to a concept, the student has a much better chance of retaining that information for long periods of time.

I have no problems showing films in class as long as the film has a purpose. In my opinion the teacher must have a desired learner outcome in mind when selecting a film. Nothing bothers me more than when a class is made to watch a movie with no curricular connection.

What are good films to show then? Here is a quick list of some of my favorites:

• Schindler's List- It's hard to believe this film is 14 years old!. It makes an emotional connection to the horrors of the holocaust. I can state that 6 million people were gassed which is shocking but once students watch the film, they will never forget what the holocaust was like. I always get parents to sign a permission slip for this one... Even my grade 12's.
• God Grew Tired of Us- Documentary of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Detailed account of how the Dinka of Southern Sudan were ethnically cleansed and the difficulties they had to overcome after seeking refuge in the US. This will make laugh, cry and everything in between.
• V for Vendetta- It seems to me that this film is a watered down version of 1984 but my kids absolutely love watching it. It does a fairly decent job of showing the characteristics of Authoritarianism.
• All's Quiet on the Western Front(John Boy Version:)- Is there a better film that this can show the horrors of WWI and trench warfare? I don't think so.
• Black Robe- Although a bit violent and it has one racy scene, This film demonstrates the First Contact between Europeans and Natives very well. I really like how it shows how both French and Huron were both ethnocentric.

I could go on and on but the message will stay the same. Use films in your class with a purpose and you will improve student learning. If you use films just to take a break, you are doing your students a disservice.

How can I teach Social Action?

When engaged in a study of globalization, I have always wondered how to get a group of apathetic adolescents to actually do something about the problems we study. Sure they care and they are appalled quite often about what they learn and such but rarely does anyone ask about what can be done. Well this year I'm trying something different. I'm trying to engage my students through a "social action" project.

So far I have had students research problems associated with globalization, such as:

• Poverty
• Disparity
• Environmental Damage
• Human Exploitation and Trafficking

The purpose of the research is to find a problem that they as students will work toward fixing through activism.

Once the reasearch was complete the students had to submit a plan of action which described their "problem"and explained its causes and effects. Furthermore, the students had to outline 3 "actions" that they would enact to make some positive change. There ideas ranged from having a bake sale for poverty to making an awareness ad and posting it on YouTube.

We are currently in the "action" phase of the project and the students have two months to put their plans into action. I am anxious to see how this turns out. Once they have done their 3 activities, they must provide me with proof via a portfolio of evidence. And finally they will be required to turn a reflective paper where they will describe how effective their actions were and what more needs to be done.

Will this create less apathetic kids? I'm not sure but I hope it will show them what needs to be done in order for them to be active citizens in our society.