Untitled

Hokitika Guardian, 4 February 1932, Page 4

I In ;i number of European countries, as well as jn tlie Uni loci States, experiments are heinft made ns to wlietlmr the sound film has value in tcuehine. In liritain the experiment war. tried out by a joint committee on which tin* Middlesex Education Committee, t:hc Middlesex branch of the National Union of Teachers, and other .educational authorities in the country, as well as him organisations, were represented, 'lids body, in a report now avadablc, confirms the opinion recently expressed by the International Educational ('iiiematogrnpnic I" .titale that the sound film lias distinct educational possibilities. The value of (lie sound l>bn in a m merer and stimulation; the interest of dull and backward croups in schools is stroiielv omnlin.:,nod. and further work in this dii ‘etion iiiicbt well, it is considered, be undertaken by local million I ies ill '’ln,nls. | 1 1 (« chert ol I lie film oa ba l.uard cbildren, stales the report, was ext aordinary. Stimulated by this new meiliod of learniii";, many children wlm would ordinarily be class ed as almost Inn elessly dull made excited attempts tci describe what they

had learned from the films. Sonic, tumble to write down their thoughts in sentences, recorded them by queer drawings more vivid than words. Iti.s claimed that in the sound film an instrument ha« been found to arouse the desire for knowledge which is dormant—not non-existent —in children of this type. Normal children also learned from the sound films to concentrate and observe. The committee indicate some of the essential poinFs to be borne in -mind from the pedagogical point of view when school teaching films as opposed to interestfilms, are pioduced. It is stated that

(;t) the film must he coherently planned; the various steps in its development must be logical and in order; (h) it should be -short, and should aim at conveying one main lesson to the pupils’ minds; (c) all essentials to a proper understanding of the main theme must- be included, and irrelevancies, however interesting, ruthlessly excluded; (d) the- commentary must he carefully prepared and must he in, simple language. It should anticipate the picture where necessary, and call attention to salient features by such phrases as “You will notice now . . ; (e) “talking down” to children and cheaply humorous touches must be scrupulously avoided; (f) the repetition recommended (“Let us look at that again,” “Notice especially this time. . . .”) ; (g) film-s should be correlated with recognised courses -of study, and those relating to the subject should have a. definite sequence of pedegogirnl relationship to each other; (h) only such subjects should be selected for presentation in film form n.'s are more effectively dealt with through this medium than through any other that may be avail-

able to schools; and (i) the perparation of teaching notes and other material for teachers for use in connection with films Is desirable tosecure complete effectiveness.