Film Education, Literacy and Learning

This Minibook provides a much needed, but thus far absent, guide to developing and sustaining film education within the Primary English curriculum and classroom. For many children, film (and televisiondrama) is a key early experience of narrative. As a consequence, children’s understandings of narrative, based on the moving image, must be valued in the classroom. However, we believe that simply valuing children’s existing media cultures is not adequate and that whilst it might increase motivation, this approach only scratches the surface of the potential of film education to support children’s literacy.We demonstrate the impact of rich and integrated approaches to film education which enhance children’s ability to understand and create narratives. Drawing on many examples from practice and research, we present a highly practical guide to film education which suggests new approaches to learning progression and is written specifically for those working with primary aged children.