Here at INICIO, we are really openminded about how our students learn and films are certainly a medium that can be turned to. There is no doubt that watching foreign films helps our students to develop their second (or even third) language skills and our language mentors sometimes even ask students to watch a film or a series on Netflix as preparation for their next session! They are also used in English classrooms across the country, to help students to visualise the texts that they are studying… always with a warning to not rely on them too heavily, due to their usual lack of accuracy. However, when it comes to history, it is more unclear how to approach their usage and so we have done a bit of digging…
Full disclosure - we are not being original here; this has been a topic of educational discussion for a long time!
In 1989, Richard Bernstein questioned whether film makers should be able to forge a poetic truth, to be prophets and not scribes. The conclusion to his fantastic article in the New York Times is that, 'when artists, intentionally or not, distort the known facts to get an effect, either political or commercial, they are on the wrong side of the line between poetic truth and historical falsification'. This implies that films should not be used to aid history lessons, for the same reasons that dictators shouldn't be allowed to write history, however, this isn't to say that neither happens.
There are other educational goals that a teacher can have when using a film to teach history, for example, the films can be used as primary resources that reflect the time in which they were made. It also helps students to visualise what they are learning and increase the amount of empathy and interest that the student has in a subject.
On the other hand, it is important that the teacher also clarifies what is fact and what is dramatised in the film. An Australian study found that films can warp a child's understanding of history because they remember the film more than they remember the facts.
It is important to also consider a student’s prior knowledge and cultural viewpoints before using films as a teaching aid. For instance, it has been found that Native American children believe 'Dances with Wolves' to be a more trustworthy source than their white American peers.
I believe that if a teacher has clear learning objectives, an awareness of their students’ cultural viewpoints and the time and resources for a meaningful discussion after the viewing, then films can be a fantastic learning resource for history students. We are proud to say that INICIO tutors are definitely able to meet all of the above criteria, which sometimes cannot be done in schools.
If a historical film has reignited your passion in this subject, or you would like to know more about our history tuition, then please don't hesitate to contact us!