(Diary of Learning) - Literature and Cinema in the SL classroom

Starting this new course, and taking a direct look into its title, the first thing that comes up in my mind is how I’ve seen cinema and literature, as a student, throughout my whole academic experience.

Firstly, regarding cinema I clearly remember how much I enjoyed those times in which the teacher came to the classroom with a certain film to watch, I remember talking with my friends on the playground about if we were enjoying or not the film, sharing our main thoughts and reflexions regarding the characters, the plot… But then, even though I really did enjoy watching cinema in my classes, from a teacher’s perspective I can see that there was a lack of taking advantage from all the opportunities that cinema brings to us. My classes were reduced to exclusively watching the films, and once they had ended, completely forgetting about them.

 

I think that cinema brings us, as teachers, an endless number of possibilities to introduce in our daily classes. It is undeniable that the amount of films that are available nowadays is quite infinite, if we have to think about a certain topic or area, there are plenty of films that approach that theme.

 

It is important to take into consideration that with the concept of cinema is intimately linked the idea of including different technological resources in the classrooms, in fact, todays society is increasingly immersed in a technological environment, society in which participates the main axis of any educational process: the students. In other words, cinema is a tool that awakens special interest in our students, and therefore, their motivation and interest to participate in any activity that involves the use of this resource, will be increased.

 

The same happens with literature, although it is true that the attraction of students to this resource may be somehow less popular, since we are much more accustomed to working with books and texts in the classroom than to working with films. Even so, it is especially relevant to point out that many of the pedagogical actions that accompany the use of literature in the classroom today do not involve a complete or in-depth use of the possibilities it offers (the same thing that happens, as I have said, with the cinema). It is our task as teachers to awaken the students' interest in immersing themselves in the world of film and literature.

 

This is what I clearly hope to learn in this subject, to learn on how to make the most advantage of these two resources in the classroom, far beyond the transmission of theoretical knowledge, a fact that I hope will allow me to develop much more dynamic and attractive classes for students.

 

In this way, to conclude, I would like to highlight one of the many reflections that were raised in class when I was discussing with my colleagues about the interest of introducing film and literature in the classroom. These resources open the doors to experience first-hand the stories and experiences of many characters (fictional or real), that is, to accompany the characters in many adventures, moral debates and many other issues, being this what attracts us mainly as consumers. I firmly believe that teaching our students to develop such an important personal skill as empathy is crucial if we want to turn them into socially complete citizens.

 

In short, we must encourage students to adopt the role of the protagonists in the stories we share with them, accompanying them throughout this process and making them aware of everything they have learned, so that it can be useful in their daily lives.