Using Movie Analysis to Promote Inclusive Learning

What

I assigned movies along with academic texts/readings to promote inclusive learning. In this way, movies (classic and contemporary) served as a pathway to course concepts and ideas (and vice versa!).

Why

• Like scholarly texts, movies can be analyzed from a variety of lenses. There is no “expertise” required to analyze movies, which brought students into my classroom from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds.
• Movies can create a pathway between abstract academic ideas to easily applying these academic ideas. Within Bloom’s Taxonomy, movies can help students go from analysis – synthesis – evaluation.
• Movies have visual elements which help provide historical context - and history is important in understanding social structures
• Movies are fun, which creates a classroom space where students are eager to grow, explore, critique and learn

How

1. Pair movies to related academic readings
2. Pre-class: Discussion Board (Synthesis & analyze movies and reading)
3. In-Class: Discussion & Activity (PowerPoint summaries, Large Group/Small Group Discussions, Activities)
4. (Post) Class: Assessments that align with movie analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (such as creating an infographic and writing an Op-Ed)