BBB participated at the Erasmus+ project STEP – Sustainable and Transformative Education for Participation in democratic life – STEP Forward) with a 2 hours non-formal learning workshop addressed to school teachers, high schools students and cultural operators and practitioners. STEP project is a 18-months Capacity Building project co-financed by the European Commission including organizations from Greece, Spain, Vietnam, Kenya, Ghana and Peru that aims at at promoting the application of active and participatory education through experiential activities and solution-oriented educational approach. By exploring alternative community models, social and ecological initiatives the project uses information and resources to design a new educational module with the scope to integrate these in the formal education system.
Being media literate is the key to responsible citizenship, yet being aware that short films can be a very effective tool to promote a more sustainable and transformative education in the existing educational system. A short film creates a whole microcosmos in a very short time. It captures the viewer in a specific space and time within a certain visual framework which becomes our new world for the whole duration of it. It has the power to travel the viewer to somewhere far away, to enchant him/her, to touch him/her deeply or even could leave someone indifferent. Either way, the film will stimulate one’s senses and mind. Being aware of the alphabet of the film, it gives us the possibility to ‘read’ it differently and transform the pleasure of watching into something new, such as an educational tool.
BBB designed a tailor made workshop for elementary and high school teachers in order to discuss how a short film can be used in such way as to become an educational tool which could allow students to critically reflect on pressing contemporary socio-cultural or socio-political issues not only on national or local level but also cross-nationally. Techniques of non – formal learning have been also developed and experienced in practice.
WORKSHOP METHODOLOGY
The first part of the workshop focused on how to deconstruct a film and use various elements of a film in the teaching process. The participants created their own viewer’s guide, all the while they decided on those creative activities that could be implemented within their classroom.
The second part of the workshop focused on the short film itself. The participants firstly received briefly some key theoretical knowledge on the significance of film as a creative means and after they watched the film “Home” by More Raca. A 23’ fiction, drama film dealing with the traditional customs of inheritance in Kosovo; the right to inheritance belongs to male descendants only, whereas Hava (the woman protagonist) has no right to inherit.
The third and last part of the workshop focused on practice and simulation. The participants in groups created tailored made activities for their own classrooms. They designed the viewer guide, they decided as teachers which key issues raised within the film would like to discuss with their students and what activities would do within the classroom in order to trigger their students’ minds and reflect critically on societal issues. Different issues, perspectives and activities have been elaborated by each working group.
The results have been:
| Perspective | Societal issue inspired by the film | Activity in the classroom |
| Hero’s resignation | The self in relation to the hero | Create a new end of the story |
| Family, equal rights, stereotypes | Sexism & woman marginalisation | Open discussion & personal experiences |
| Wording and non-wording communication | Sexuality | Painting & collage; captions and key words |
| Hero’s character & the role of the brother | Patriarchy & inequality | Role playing with reverse characters; create a new end of the story |
| Analysis of one particular scene from the film | The legal framework for the women’s rights | Research and analysis; quality results; interviews with relevant stakeholders; creation of a printed magazine |
| Hero’s character | Taboos | Create a new end of the story |
| Hero’s character | The position of a woman in the society | Continue the story; Research in the custom of dowry |
| Hero’s character | Gender stereotypes & family realtions | Role playing to analyse the feeling of the victim and the victimised |