Magic of the Frame - Teach with documentary film!

A Eurostat study (Being young in Europe today) shows that in 2019, 80% of the EU-population aged 16-24 had basic or above basic digital skills. Their way of life seems to have shifted online, with activities that take up an increasing share of their daily lives: sending/receiving e-mails (88%), watching internet streamed TV or video (85%), or participating in social networks (84%- in our partnership this is 90-91% for NL, HU and LT, 80% for BG). So instead of reading books, they prefer to watch movies - the genre of the film is simply a built-in part of their life. They get their info from movies for their conversation, their actions/reactions. According to recent surveys they are “omnivorous”, with preference to series, mostly comedies - that they watch at least twice a week, at home, on-line, mostly alone. Although digital solutions are very useful to bridge distances, in the end society is built upon direct personal interactions that seem to become scarcer nowadays. Teachers are seeking new methods to contact the newest generations and to improve their knowledge at the same time. Psychologists found that unusual solutions that make students get out of their well-known surroundings can help the change of perspective.

The project’s objectives are to help secondary school teachers to connect to and guide young people. We achieved this by developing a new method to highlight the importance of social issues and bring students closer to reality in a protected environment, using documentary films. We created a platform to foster the use of documentaries which give a sensitive and sensual portrayal of segments of reality with loveable, real-life protagonists and - in general - have an anthropological approach. The platform guides teachers to learn the method step by step through the description of successive steps. A video diary which tracks the learning process of the teachers involved, will complement the journey. All supporting material is available on the website. Pre-designed questionnaires are provided to help teacher’s work. With the MAGIC methodology we introduced a new mindset on how to use the potential of the documentaries in education. As part of the MAGIC project, we have also established an accredited training course, currently only available in Hungary.

The project was based on a sequenced training package, delivered in the same way by teachers in each partner country. The four selected documentaries were screened to the classes after preparing the social issue represented in the film. The screening was followed by processing sessions. The lesson finished with a field visit. The teachers met from time to time to exchange experiences. The teachers observed the students, asked for their feedback and summarized their experiences to produce the results.

We prepared: - a curriculum and 4 lesson plans - an online platform which is a database - a fieldwork manual - a professional video diary of the project and a short, 1 min version - a pedagogical manual - a short training course for teachers, accreditation in HU - a manual about student feedback - a toolkit/exercise book on good practices The Partnership holds eight multiplier events.