Noam Schimmel: The pedagogical and emotive power of films in teaching

Senior Fellow Noam Schimmel recently wrote an article titled “Using films to encourage reflection and critical thinking in your teaching” in Times Higher Education. In the post, Noam shares advice on the pedagogical and emotive power of films in teaching, particularly within human rights.

Elaborating on his experience, Noam argues:

“Taking my teaching on human rights as an example, film powerfully depicts the life experiences of survivors of extreme human rights violations as well as the extraordinary human capacity for resilience and renewal. My students are often inspired by the actions of human rights defenders, who model great conscience, courage, tenacity and perseverance. Films can have a memorable impact where other teaching mechanisms might struggle.”

Across the post, Noam explains how using films helps foster engagement and build student’s empathy. In addition, he also discusses the appropriate ways to use this teaching approach:

• Complementing with other media sources,
• Assigning discussion and analysis,
• Mixing genres to builds social, historical and political context,
• Films in classroom and at home.

You can read the full article on this Times Higher Education page.