Geraldine Walker, Sarah Mumford and Dr Becky Perry (my secondary supervisor for the first half year of the PhD) summarised the findings of the report.One of the main topics that emerged very quickly were the impact of passionate individuals on film activities. No matter whether in schools or arts organisations, the researchers found that it was often these individual people who started, maintained and drove project.
However, the key to success with integrating film into the curriculum and beyond is by including the whole of the organisation. Once the leader (for example the head teacher) believes in the benefits of film education, whether because of its intrinsic value or the improvement of other skills, the structures to put film in place are then filtered down into the classroom and whole school activities. There are many reasons why people engage with film.
Becky closed the first part of the morning with the hope that the BFI and other film organisations would tap into whole networks rather than individual institutions. Although the report highlights excellent practice of individual groups, it should rather be seen as an overview of all film activity that is going on in the region and CapeUK hopes that it will lay the foundation stone for further collaboration.
Professor Andrew Burn from the Institute of Education gave the key note speech of the day and spoke about film's place in the national curriculum and last year's Henley Review, in which film was mentioned very little and media studies was omitted fully. Where organisations invest in film education, it often fosters on national heritage cinema and audience building. Andrew argues that it will be difficult to create a coherent film production framework for schools as it is almost impossible to 'mark' skills like editing and producing.
After Andrew's speech, Nikki Christie from the BFI spoke about the Film Academy scheme and Film Nation, the newly founded film education organisation consisting of FilmClub and First Light. The BFI supports the view that schools, teachers and students should be at the heart of film education policy. Nikki stressed that it is very important for organisations like the BFI to tap into national research and very few studies are available as of yet. The evidence has to go beyond the general notion that film engages children but should really include quantitative data and long-tern cohort studies.
Paul Hewlett took over from Nikki and expanded on the Film Nation ideas. In their option, film should be used as a tool for learning and as in intrinsic subject. Film Nation is very keen to foster collaboration and Paul encouraged other individuals to work together, too. He argued that only as a coherent front can film educators really make a difference with regards to policy change. Film Nation will support these ideas by building an online platform which connects film makers, parents, teachers and students.
After lunch, we heard from great film initiatives like Magic Frames, Anim8ed and Love Bytes; three film projects which have engaged primary and secondary school students through film making activities. Animation was mentioned as an especially suitable tool. Martin Grund and David Prosho also introduced the Leeds Young Film network and the Golden Owl Awards which I was lucky to attend at the beginning of the year. All presenters highlighted the importance of collaboration and the need to connect film making activities with government-based targets in the classroom.
The day was wrapped up with a quick feedback session in which the participants supported more regular meetings of a film education network in Yorkshire and the wish to access more local and national research in film education. Hopefully I will be able to contribute to a collection of data very soon; it definitely looks like the perfect time for my PhD! You can read more about the launch here and the report itself is here.
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