A group of primary school children are set to become ace film directors. As part of a initiative launched last week by the Department of Education and Science, 30 primary schools around the State will participate in a three-year film project with a view to making their own short films.
The aim of the project, known as FIS, is to explore film as a unique way of learning. Among the organisations participating in the project is the Irish Film Institute, where Tony Tracy is the senior education officer: "Film is the universal cultural medium. If you walk into any age group of children they can all talk about film, they'll know what's going on, what the latest releases are, everything. "It is also a very potent art form, combining images and storytelling, and it is the perfect medium to use as a springboard for discussion about everything from film itself to subjects on the curriculum such as history or geography."
Most teachers recognise the value of film in the classroom, and many would like to use it as a medium for teaching, but at the moment it tends to be used very passively - as a treat on a Friday afternoon, for example. Sister Patricia Roche, the principal at Stanhope Primary School in Dublin - one of the schools involved in the project - says: "Film and television are part and parcel of children's lives today, and this sort of action-packed medium is what we have to compete with in the classroom. "Sometimes pupils will have watched a couple of hours of television before they even come in the morning. But every subject on the curriculum can be brought into a discussion around a film, and you can use it in a very constructive way.
"It is very beneficial to watch and then review a film. The discussion generated can be very lively. Using film you can also bring their normal subjects to life," Roche says. "It is a very colourful and creative way to teach, much more engaging than reading a book, so what they learn makes quite a profound impact."
Depending on the age group, film can be used to provoke discussion on a range of issues. "Take a film like A Bugs Life, which we used here in our education programme last year," says Treacy. "With sixth class you might talk about film itself, maybe in the context of computer-generated graphics, and even look at the various allusions this film makes to other films. "But you could also talk about subjects like heroism, things close to the heart of children. Like any art form, you can use film to talk about very personal things in an abstract way."
Sponsored by the AIB Group under its millennium programme, the project has seen several groups come together to lend their expertise. The Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, design and Technology will provide technical support, Blackrock Education Centre, Co Dublin, will co-ordinate a professional development programme for the teachers involved, and Alicia McGivern, education officer with the Irish Film Institute, will assist with the development of curriculum materials and resources.
One of the planned outcomes of FIS is to develop models of good practice, which will be posted on ScoilNet, the website for schools.
This would be especially useful to schools not directly involved in the initiative, but interested in exploring film as a medium to learn through, and about, at primary level.
In addition, the Department of Education and Science sees what it calls the "Millennium Film Project" as complementing the work of Schools IT 2000, the initiative which looks at how information and communications technology (ICT) can enhance learning across the curriculum. It sees the AIB's support as facilitating the hardware and expertise teachers may require in teaching film.
Still in its infancy, the project is open to interpretation among participating schools. "I'd love to see the children write their own stories, act them out and make a short film of it," Roche says. "It would be a very expressive and creative process, and I could see them having great fun with it!"
