Screen Education A New Subject For Schools?

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30050, 7 February 1963, Page 13

Screen Education A New Subject For Schools?

In October, at LengkoUen, on Oslo fiord just outside the Norwegian capital, about 40 specialists from 18 different countries met for a week at the invitation of the International Centre of Films for Children and under the auspices of U.NJE.S.C.O. What they talked about at Oslo, and what they recommended, point to the fact that, in many parts of the world, parents, teachers and educational administrators —who of course are never immune from shocks —must now get ready to adjust themselves to a new development that is taking place in education. Already they have become accustomed to the introduction of the audio-visual media into schools as direct teaching aids, and have recognized that these instruments of instruction are not merely valuable but even essential in this modem world. But now these same parents and teachers, many of whom possibly never saw a film, let alone a television programme projected inside a classroom whey they themselves were pupils, must accept the fact that a practically unassailable case is building up for children in school to be taught a new subject called “screen education.” What is more (and this was in many ways the keynote of the Oslo meeting) pressure is growing for this to be regarded not just as a sideline but for it to be incorporated as a subject in the regular curriculum. Along with this goes the natural demand for teachers to be given some special training to equip them to teach the new subject. This proposal has already taken root in several countries. Now the move on the international front is to make it much more widespread.

Positive Alternative

And why not? Is this development really so radical? The child of the .second half of the 20th century is growing up into a civilisation more and more dominated by the projected image rather than by the printed word. He belongs to the Telstar era. To protect him against the barrage of visual impressions, many of them of highly suspect quality, to which he is being increasingly subjected, the only effective and positive alternative to an increase in official censorship or control, which takes free choice out of the hands of the individual, is the awakening, the development and the proper training of the critical spirit. In a nutshell—screen education.

This term, which was possibly first coined by the English Society for Education in Film and Education, was by common consent accepted at Oslo as encompassing the teaching of appreciation of film and television as entertainment media. It should be noted that the emphasis is on cinema productions and TV programmes as means of relaxation and diversion rather than of instruction, for the concern of the screen educator is primarily with the popular culture of young people, and with the standards of taste .which, under proper guidi ante, they will create for j themselves. j Content Of Course n | jts representation on th subject designed to introduce children to the audio-visual language of film and television, to give them a grasp of its style and techniques, to develop conscious appreciation through discussion and evaluation and so to arrive at the formation and maintenance of standards, and to enhance the understanding and appeal of productions which have a distinct artistic and cultural, if not directly educational or instructional, value. One might well ask in what way does this concept

radically differ from the teaching of the mother language and the study of literature, which are accepted as absolute essentials of schooling everywhere? With few exceptions, the people meeting at Oslo had themselves been pioneers of teaching film appreciation and were now active practitioners of some form of screen education in their own countries. And yet it was a striking aspect of the gathering that participants were frequently surprised to discover how much is now being done to develop screen education that they did not know about. For instance, it was a revelation to many of those present to learn from the Czech representative that screen education has already been introduced as a compulsory part of the school curriculum in her country. It could, indeed, be said that the meeting made clear that screen education as a whole is advancing from the pioneering stage into that of integration: there is need now for international coordination of effort among teachers and educational administrators, particularly concerning the production and exchange of such screen-teaching materials as famous entertainment films, film and television extracts, and specially-prepared study units.

Different methods of screen education are, of course,

favoured in different countries. To some degree they will vary from teacher to teacher. But to make a generalization, the AngloSaxon school of thought favours the technical or practical approach, as is shown by the extent to which they encourage the making of films by the pupils themselves in schools, whereas the Latin viewpoint is more academic. But whatever the methods adopted and despite recognition of the fact* that screen education can also play an important part in out-of-school activities (as in youth clubs, film clubs and cine clubs), the meeting at Oslo came out unequivocally in support of introducing screen education into the regular school curriculums; Recommendation

1 w-i/-vrwi-ww ar 1 »a«a_. was forcefully expressed in the following recommendation:

“Screen education should be a systematic study for every child and carried out within the school curricu'lum. We are well aware of the difficulties which must be overcome, including those which are of a financial nature and those which are due to national differences in educaitionall systems. But we regard it as of paramount importance itihart screen education (in both film and television) be

introduced at the earliest possible date in all schools, regardless of the existing MtnrifcWinna ** There was general acceptance at Oslo of the proposition that, because of the impact of television, screen education has to begin while children are still very young. Therefore <in words of a recommendation adopted) "some kind of screen education for pre-school children is a goal to be achieved immediately.” How can this be done? It may be accomplished (suggests the recommendation) “by the development of our adult education system through which parents may become aware of the fact that television is, and will be, a main factor in influencing the values and moral standards of our society.” Conclusion One interesting conclusion arrived at was that “the basic methods which should be used in connexion with education in television seem to be largely similar to those which are used for education in film, and in practice there will be considerable overlap between the two." After making various other recommendations, the meeting addressed a strong appeal to ministries of education, the education authorities and other appropriate agencies "not only to support what is already being done to encourage teachers to take up screen education work, but also to extend it in the direction of more comprehensive and sustained courses for the practicing teacher.” Courses of study are also advocated for embodiment in the curricula of teacher training colleges, and the training of organisers and animateurs should, it is felt, be promoted by all possible means.

Finally, while recognising that some of its propositions might seem ambitious in conception, the meeting pointed out that, in attempting to envisage what might happen with screen education during, say, the next 10 years, it had been necessary to bear in mind “the constantlyincreasing rate of development during the past decade and the global aspects which the Telstar era is opening up for us.”

For the newly-developing countries where film and television production and consumption are expanding rapidly, educational authorities would soon have to meet the same situation that gives rise to the screen education movement in the countries represented at Oslo.