SOUND FILMS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 74, 29 March 1932, Page 5

SOUND FILMS

VALUE 4N TEACHING STIMULUS FOJTTHE DULL' (From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, 17th December. In a' number of European countries, as well as in the United States, ex- j periments are being made as to ■whether the sound film has value in teaching. In this country the experiment ■was tried but by a joint committee on which the Middlesex .Education Committee, the Middlesex 'branch of the National Union of Teachers, and other educational authorities in the country, as well as film organisations, •were represented. This body, in a report, now available, confirms the opini.on_ recently expressed by the International Education Cinematographic Institute that the sound film has distinct educational possibilities. The value of the sound film in arousing and stimulating the interest of dull and back-. ."P?.rd groups in schools is strongly emphasised, and further work in this direction might well, it is considered, be undertaken by local authorities in schools. The effect of the film on backward pupils, states the report, was extraordinary. Stimulated by this new method of learning, many children who would ordinarily be classed as almost hopelessly dull made excited attempts to describe what they, had learned from the films. Some, unable to write down their thoughts in sentences, recorded thorn by queer .drawings more vivid than words. It is claimed that in the sound film an instrument ha§ been found to arouse the desire for knowledge which is dormant—not non-exist-ent; —in children of this type. Normal children also learned from the sound films to-concentrate and observe. POINTS TO BE NOTED. The committee indicate some .of the essential points, to be' borne 'in mind from the' pedagogical point of view •when schdol." teaching films as opposed to interest films; are'produced,. :Jt-.is: stated that (a) ■ the film must.be coherently .planned;, the various steps iu^ its 'develo.pm'ent must be logical and in'•order ;(b) it'shdtild be short; and should aim, at: conveying one main Jesso,n: to the pupils', minds; (c) all essentials to a; proper, understanding of the main theme must'be included,'and irrelevan-' cies,,however interesting, ruthlessly excluded; (d) the commentary must be carefully prepared- and must be in simple; language.- It should anticipate the picture where necessary,- and call attention to salient features by such phrases as "You will notice bow . .:*' i(e) "talking down" to children and cheaply: humorous touches must' be scrupulously avoided; (f) the repetition of essential action in the film ■is strongly recommended ("let us look at that^- again," "notice especially^ this: time. . . ."); (g); filmsi should be corielat'ed with recognised courses ■ of study, and those relating to the snbr .- ject should have a definite sequence of pedagogical, relationship to each, other; (h) only such subjects should be selected for presentation in film form as are more effectively dealt with through this medium .than through any other that may be available to schools; and (i) ttfe. preparation of teaching notes and other material for teachers for use in connection with films is 'desirable to secure complete effectiveness. . OVER 22,000 TESTS. • The main task" of the .committee was to discover the. plfice which sound films ...might ultimately. Jcbupj^in^chfipls, jas^ suming. that .^suitable •m'&fe'Hai'* '-'iyfiß forthcoming. Sbjhe of the Y film's shown, were not entirely suitable. N for school use. They all had, however, educational value and were sufficiently satisfactory to allow the committee to come to geneTal conclusions; • Sixteen films were used and were, divided . into .. four groups. "Six were geographical, four, dealt with .biology or mature study, and . six were of. general interest1 designed to promote/..closer contact with . outstanding, current events and personalities. Fifteen schools at Actoji, Ch'is•wick, Baling," Edmonton, Hendon, Hbrnsey, Sonthall,. Tottenham^ and Wembley, with 36.02 pupils'of ages from-seven to sixteen, took part in tne/experiment, and the number of tests: taken was 22,118.: The,'children,.' after seeing Jhe films, wrote essays on. what they had seen/ and the teachers discussed the value of the films. Girls • and boys in general derived equal: benefits -from film instruction. Girls tended to do best in geographical and natural science films, though individual groups did- well in the "submarine" and general interest films.