Film and curriculum

1. Introduction

2. Knowledge and understanding about becoming informed citizens

3. Other Citizenship requirements

4. Developing skills of enquiry and communication

5. The active citizen

6. Citizenship in other subjects

Introduction

"We aim at no less than a change in the political culture of this country both nationally and locally… For people to think of themselves as active citizens … with the critical capacities to weigh evidence before speaking and acting... and to make them individually confident in finding new forms of involvement and action among themselves."

(Education for Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools: final report of the advisory group on Citizenship, 1998, paragraph 1.5)

Citizenship education is about helping young people understand and practice the rights and responsibilities they have as members of society. Film both reflects and affects that society. 21st century society means 21st century models of communication and so the next generation of citizens must be cineliterate if they are to fully develop their critical capacities when weighing evidence as 'readers' as well as their practical skills when it comes to 'writing' their own texts. Therefore, what better way to explore students' critical and practical involvement in society than through the study of Citizenship through film?

The National Curriculum for Citizenship in England establishes the significance of the media as one of the central areas within its strands of knowledge and understanding. Students are required to explore how opinion is formed and expressed through the media as well as become active in community-based activities and working collaboratively with others. Not only should students analyse and explore the importance of a free press and the media's role in producing different interpretations of the same event but, as one of the most powerful modes of communication, it is also the medium which inflects and interprets the very topical and events and issues that students are expected to study as part of every other strand of knowledge and information in the Citizenship curriculum.

Therefore, teaching Citizenship through film capitalises on the popularity and inclusiveness of the medium in a way that can involve and excite students in engaging with the citizenship issues that effect their daily lives. If students are disaffected by traditional voting systems and the political system in Britain today then the notion of active political literacy must engage students in any discussion right from the start. Film is a great way of doing this. However, perhaps more importantly, teaching Citizenship about and through the significance of the media demonstrates different interpretations and the importance of weighing evidence. By using film to teach Citizenship, we believe that the critical analysis of different 'voices' in society is brought to life and, in turn, validates and actively encourages students to become more actively interested in adding their 'voices' to the rest.

Back to top

Knowledge and understanding about becoming informed citizens

Significance of the media in society

The significance of the media is a key strand of knowledge and understanding within the programmes of study for Citizenship. Students are required to learn about the significance of the media in society at Key Stage 3 and the importance of a free press and the media's role in providing information and effecting opinion at Key Stage 4. Therefore, using film texts to teach Citizenship is a perfect way of exploring the significance of the media in terms of both its form and content - the medium and the message.

At Key Stage 3 students are expected to be able to show how the public gets information and how opinion is formed and expressed through the media. Analysing film texts as sources of information in their own right encourages students to watch films critically and develop an understanding of the ways in which different camera styles, editing practices and soundtracks can contribute to the film's message. A basic grounding in film language can help students discuss with precision the ways in which media texts construct different points of view and attempt to gain audience identification.

Giving students the vocabulary to analyse moving image texts in terms of camera style, editing, music and choice of scenery, props and costume can extend their awareness and understanding of the construction of 'reality' in the media and, in turn, inform their own creative work. Practical assignments, which ask students to construct their own moving image texts, can also provide invaluable insights into the significance of the media as they take part in the process of representing their own views first hand.

Furthermore, at Key Stage 4 students are expected to critically evaluate views that are not their own, obtain and use different kinds of information, including the media, to form and express an opinion. Therefore, studying film texts encourages students to consider films as consumers of the media. Making their own film texts can extend their understanding as producers of media representations in their own right and can reveal essential insights into the effects of different production practices, and the significance of the media as an industry. In this way, the constructed nature of all media texts can be illuminated, encouraging students to consider the ways in which the medium is integral to the message.

Importance of a free press and the media's role in society, including the internet, in providing information and affecting opinion

Using films to teach Citizenship is also a perfect way to address the importance of a free press and the media's role in providing information and affecting opinion. Film certification affects classroom practice in a very real way, often posing serious dilemmas for teachers about whether or not to show younger students films with a 15 certificate or above.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is an independent, non-governmental body funded through the fees it charges to filmmakers and distributors who submit films, videos, DVDs and digital games for classification. The guidelines can be downloaded from their website at www.bbfc.org.uk. However, this is not a legal document and we are asked to interpret it in the spirit of what is intended as well as in the letter.

PG Unaccompanied children of any age may watch. A PG film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older, however parent are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger or more sensitive children. Suitable for all.

12A No one younger than 12 may see the film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. General viewing but some scenes may be unsuitable for younger children.

12 Only suitable for anyone aged 12 years or older. Mature themes are acceptable but must be treated in a way suitable for young teenagers. Limits on levels of violence, strong language, nudity etc.

15 No one younger than 15. The film may have a fairly adult theme. It may have some scenes of sex or violence or some strong language.

18 No one younger than 18. The film will have an adult theme. It may have some strong scenes of sex or violence or bad language.

The film recommendations in this resource are intended as a guide for teachers rather than any rigid prescription. It is suggested that teachers use their discretion in showing 12- to 14-year-old students any films that have a 15 certificate. You could use your choice of film as a subject for discussion about film censorship and classification: should there be any restrictions on what people watch, depending on their age or for any other reason? Making your decisions explicit and providing students with an opportunity to discuss that decision may be a valuable exercise in itself and lead directly to the issue of human and legal rights and responsibilities underpinning society. You might also consider exploring the marketing and publicity surrounding the film's release and/or encourage students to research the factors behind the BBFC's certification grading. Exploring the BBFC's guidelines and guidance criteria is one way of approaching the subject of responsible action and exploring the complexities of legal, human and children's rights.

Censorship and certification issues raise complex questions around the age of consent and the importance of a free press. Films that deal with controversial or sensitive issues can generate discussion around the media's power to affect public opinion, both negatively and positively. This power of film to change people's opinions is an important aspect of any discussion about the significance of the media often neglected in debates about the negative effects of screen violence. Many of the films recommended in this resource can be used as examples of films that have influenced public opinion on key social and political issues, such as Boyz N the Hood which raised awareness of the high death rate of young, Black American males, or Twelve Angry Men which drew attention to the inequalities within the American legal system and the inherent problems of the death penalty. It could even be argued that some of these films also played a part in changing legal processes and/or government policy.

This student worksheet (PDF, 74kb) on certification can be used to discuss these issues.

Back to top

Other citizenship requirements

In addition to teaching about the significance of the media and the importance of a free press, using film texts is also a lively and engaging way of addressing all the other Citizenship requirements. The basic content of the film in terms of settings and plot details can provide students with knowledge and insights into a vast range of subjects, from the basic aspects of the criminal justice system to the origins of the different national, religious and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom.

Clearly the way that this information is represented should be treated to the same scrutiny as books, newspapers or websites. This is why we suggest using the significance of the media as a contextualising strand that runs through the others, as well as a topic in its own right.

Our selection of films includes fiction and non-fiction, fantasy and realism, animation and live action, and is intended to provide opportunities for exploring a range of different strategies for 'reading' film texts. Therefore there are animations and fantasy films in which the film's allegorical meaning or subtext may form the basis of discussion, in addition to live action feature films and documentaries which address the knowledge and information requirements of the Citizenship curriculum more explicitly.

Each film can be used for a variety of different purposes, to address a specific issue or approach several of the Citizenship learning strands at once. For example, Boyz N the Hood can be used to focus upon the importance of resolving conflict fairly but at the same time address other Citizenship requirements such as the work of community based groups and the importance of voting. Equally, Planet of the Apes and Antz can be used to teach about the legal and human rights and responsibilities underpinning society as well as raise issues concerning the world as a global community, and the political, economic, environmental and social implications of this.

While the films may not provide information about, for example, the British electoral system, parliament and other forms of government, they may offer a stimulating starting point for exploring principles of democracy, the importance of voting rights, the organisational structures to ensure democracy and other themes addressed in the schemes of work for Citizenship.

The following tables indicate how each film can be used to support the topics identified under 'Knowledge and understanding to become informed citizens' at Key Stages 3 and 4:

Key Stage 3 Ages: 11-14

Knowledge and understanding to become informed citizens	The Truman Show	Bend it Like Beckham	Planet of the Apes	Antz	12 Angry Men	Edward Scissorhands	A is for Autism	When we Were Kings
The legal and human rights and responsibilities underpinning society, basic aspects of the criminal justice system and how both relate to young people		*	*	*	*	*	*
The diversity of national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the UK and the need for mutual respect and understanding		*	*	*	*	*	*	*
The key characterstics of parliamentary and other forms of government				*
The electoral system and importance of voting			*	*	*
The work of community-based, national and international voluntary groups				*				*
The importance of resolving conflict fairly		*	*	*	*	*		*
The significance of media in society	*						*	*
The world as a global community, and the political, economic, environmental and social implications of this			*	*				*

Key Stage 4 Ages 14-16

Knowledge and understanding to become informed citizens	Boyz N The Hood	In the Name of the Father	Thelma and Louise	La Haine	My Beautiful Laundrette	Ratcatcher	Hush-a-Bye Baby	Hoop Dreams
The legal and human rights and responsibilities underpinning society, basic aspects of the criminal justice system and how both relate to young people	*	*	*	*		*	*	*
The diversity of national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the UK and the need for mutual respect and understanding	*	*		*	*	*	*	*
The work of parliament, the government and the courts in making and shaping the law		*	*				*	*
The importance of playing an active part in democratic and electoral processes	*
The importance of a free press, and the media's role in society, including the internet, in providing information and affecting opinion	*	*	*		*
The rights and responsibilities of consumers, employers and employees	*			*	*	*
The United Kingdom's relations in Europe, including the European Union, and relations with the Commonwealth and the U.N.				*			*

Below is a summary of how these themes are reflected in the selected films. This is intended as a quick reference guide rather than any comprehensive listing. You will find more detailed information about each films theme and possible learning outcomes in Recommended films.

Key Stage 3 and 4 - General requirements

The legal, and human rights and responsibilities underpinning society, basic aspects of the criminal justice system, and how both relate to young people:

• Twelve Angry Men - democratic processes, criminal justice system, jury service
• In the Name of the Father - legal rights and miscarriages of justice
• Thelma and Louise - gun ownership, domestic violence, sex offences, criminal justice system and the distinction between self-defence and murder
• My Left Foot - human rights, disability rights
• Antz - organisation of society, individual agency versus state control
• The Planet of the Apes - totalitarian states versus 'free world'
• Edward Scissorhands - personal identity, difference, disability, prejudice and personal identity

The origins and implications of diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the UK and the need for mutual respect and understanding:

• When We Were Kings - Muhammed Ali as black role model - African roots and history of civil rights movement
• My Beautiful Launderette - celebrating cultural hybridity and being gay in UK
• Bend it Like Beckham - cultural diversity and breaking gender stereotypes
• Twelve Angry Men - combating institutional racism in legal system
• Hush-a-Bye Baby - history of Northern Ireland, the role of the police and national identity in relation to languages
• Ratcatcher - regional identity, urban and rural communities
• Boyz N the Hood - Black civil rights in the US and the 'black on black' crime
• La Haine - immigration issues and racial violence between different ethnic groups in contemporary France
• Edward Scissorhands - difference, prejudice and physical appearance

The world as a global community, and the political, economic, environmental and social implications of this:

• Antz - societies, individuals and the organisation of democracy
• The Planet of the Apes - totalitarian states versus 'free world', environmental issues
• When We Were Kings - slavery and implications of US relationship with Africa
• Hush-a-Bye Baby - history of Northern Ireland and the implication of UK relationship with Ireland
• La Haine - history of Algeria and the social implications of France's relationship with Algeria

Key Stage 3 - Specific requirements

Significance of the media:

• The Truman Show - individual rights of privacy, performance and reality
• A is for Autism - filmmaking as an alternative form of having your 'voice'
• When We Were Kings - Muhammed Ali's use of media to convey political message

Key Stage 4 - Specific requirements

Importance of a free press and the media's role in society, including the internet, in providing information and affecting opinion:

• In the Name of the Father - miscarriages of justice brought to public awareness
• Boyz N the Hood - black-on-black death rate brought to public awareness, certification issues in relation to violence and swearing on screen
• Thelma and Louise - complexities of self-defence/murder

Back to top

Developing skills of enquiry and communication

In addition to supporting the knowledge and understanding requirements within the Citizenship programmes of study, film texts can also be used to provide opportunities and stimuli for students to apply their knowledge, develop the key speaking and listening skills and develop and extend students' skills of enquiry and communication.

At both Key Stages 3 and 4 students are required to justify personal opinions about issues, problems or events as well as contribute to group and class discussions and debates. Films can provide a perfect springboard for discussion, dealing with controversial issues in a way that directly focusing on students' own lives and real personal experiences may not. Screening a film or film extract to a whole class can give students access to the same information and a shared basis for supporting their arguments and their opinions with evidence.

Moreover, treating the significance of the media as a central strand that runs throughout all the others encourages students to analyse any 'evidence' with increasing critical awareness in all areas of the Citizenship curriculum. Indeed, exploring the differences between fiction and non-fiction media texts can lead to a greater understanding of the often subtle differences between fact and opinion, bias and propaganda.

Back to top

The active citizen

There are three strands of citizenship education, as outlined in the Crick Report:

- social and moral responsibility

- community involvement

- political literacy

These three strands together form the 'active citizen'.

The analysis of film texts can support the development of political literacy, while the development of filmmaking skills can enhance students' community involvement. Social and moral responsibility is a potentially an outcome of students' engagement in both thinking about and expressing their own views on the issues raised in films.

Community involvement

Students could make their own documentaries, video diaries or short film campaigns about an issue or topic they feel strongly about that relates to the Citizenship programme of study. They could be encouraged to research the issue thoroughly, interview relevant members of the community, and consider the best ways to get their point across. They could make their films with the aim of raising the awareness of fellow students, teachers or the local community and then find ways to have these films exhibited at school assemblies, parents' evenings, community meetings and local cinemas.

This would serve not only to provide a measure of students' knowledge of a particular topic and their ability to express their views, but would also engage them in collaborations with their fellow students, negotiations with people and institutions in their area.

Political literacy

This involves learning about how to be effective in public life through knowledge, skills and values. Selected films can provide a way into developing knowledge and values in particular.

• Film texts can play a fundamental role in challenging students' opinions and prejudices. At Key Stage 3 students are expected to use their imagination to consider other people's experiences and be able to think about, express and explain views that are not their own. Film is ideally placed to facilitate students' experiential learning; studying and discussing films can develop students' ability to reflect on issues outside their everyday lives.

• Film narratives can provide opportunities for students to identify with different characters and experience other people's problems or concerns in a way that encourages a felt response to personal and political issues rather than just an intellectual understanding. By extending students' experiential repertoire in this way, narrow-minded or fixed ways of thinking and/or behaviour can be challenged. Watching and studying a film provides a class with a shared foundation on which to base more abstract analysis and discussion. For example, students can analyse the reasons behind their first reactions to the character of Edward Scissorhands to explore the subject of prejudice. A fictional context for this is less likely to provoke defensive responses from students than confronting prejudices head-on.

• As audience members, students' responses to film texts can be used to explore the complexity of film representation and character identification. Using a wide variety of different media and moving image texts can reveal important differences between fiction and non-fiction, comedy and drama, news and documentary representations. Studied in context, these texts can be used to encourage increasingly sophisticated discussion of the complexities of media stereotypes and their 'messages'. For example, comparing and contrasting different treatments of a subject like ethnic identity in When We Were Kings and Bend it Like Beckham can reveal the construction of character and narrative evident in both documentary and fictional forms.

• By approaching film and Citizenship from a filmmaking perspective, students can be encouraged to consider the nature of media representation as both a 'message' constructed by others as well as medium for developing their own skills of participation and responsible action. For example, Boyz N the Hood can be explored in terms of the director, John Singleton's political 'message', which is articulated most clearly through the character of Furious Styles, who campaigns within the community to encourage responsible action. The film succeeded in raising awareness of the high death rate among young black men in America in the 1980s and in exposing the apparent contradiction of such a high 'black on black' death rate. As a campaigning tool, film, especially with the advent of increasingly affordable digital technology, is at the centre of any 21st century version of political literacy.

• The concept of voting rights, or citizens having their 'voice' at a local and national level, can be linked to the rising demand for voting rights on television shows such as Big Brother and the increasing possibilities for independent filmmaking and exhibition with new digital technologies.

Back to top

Citizenship in other subjects

The following suggestions indicate how films can be a useful link between Citizenship and other subjects.

Art and design

In films sets and costumes play a central part in conveying meaning and atmosphere (see mise en scene in the section on Film language). In particular see Edward Scissorhands, Planet of the Apes and The Truman Show. Animated films also provide an obvious link between this subject and Citizenship. See A is for Autism and Antz.

English

Any film, because it tells a story, can be linked to English concepts such as narrative, genre, character, etc. Because all these films are likely to stimulate discussion and writing, they can provide the basis for a wide range of listening, speaking and writing activities.

History

• Divided Ireland: In the Name of the Father; Hush-a-bye Baby
• Black People in America: Hoop Dreams, Boyz N the Hood, When We Were Kings
• Scotland in the 1970s: Ratcatcher
• Crime and Punishment: Thelma and Louise; La Haine; In the Name of the Father;
• Human rights: Planet of the Apes; Twelve Angry Men; The Truman Show; La Haine; My Beautiful Laundrette
• Sport history: Bend it Like Beckham; Hoop Dreams

Geography

Films provide a great way of visulaising different locations and environments, as well as a way into studying themes relating to population and environmental change. They can, for example, be used for building on the National Curriculum Key Stage 3 scheme of work: 'Passport to the world'. The following films may be particularly useful:

• Thelma and Louise
• La Haine
• The Truman Show
• Ratcatcher
• When We Were Kings
• Planet of the Apes
• My Beautiful Laundrette

For more information on these titles, please see Recommended films

Back to top