Abstract

Watching movies with themes of service, leadership and related subjects with corps members or volunteers can encourage learning, reflection and meaningful discussion. Setting some basic ground rules and preparing beforehand will help promote an educational experience. This effective practice was collected from an October 2002 discussion on ACList, the AmeriCorps e-mail discussion list. This effective practice also provides a link to an alphabetical listing of appropriate movies collected by AmeriCorps e-mail discussion list members.

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Issue

Providing an appropriate context for watching movies with corps members or volunteers is important so that the occasion promotes reflection and discussion and is not merely a night or afternoon of superficial entertainment.

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Action

Some tips on successful learning include the following: (Shared by Jennifer Valley, City of Lakes, AmeriCorps, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jennifer.Valley@mpls.k12.mn.us)

• Have a prepared list of discussion questions about the film or theme.
• Allow plenty of time after the film for small groups to discuss the questions (allow one to two hours depending on the topic, including time for the small groups to report back to the whole group).
• Let members know if a film/discussion is controversial and give them the choice not to respond to some of the questions if they do not feel comfortable doing so.
• Preface the movie with "why we're watching this" — let members know what to look for, how the theme relates to them and/or their service.
• It might also help to organize members into pre-arranged discussion groups. This will depend on your specific group, but for some topics it's helpful to have people with different views integrated into each group.
• If the movie deals with a particularly sensitive topic or your group is still in the early stages of group development, it may be necessary to establish a safe environment. Discuss norms or expectations for the discussion, confidentiality, everyone's right to their own opinion, the importance of having an open mind, and similar rules of movie watching and subsequent discussion etiquette.
• Some of the themes that might be appropriate to look for when presenting movies to members include AIDS, diversity, economic issues, education, gender, great teachers/leaders, homelessness, humor, outcasts, popular/previous successes, social issues, and violence.
• An alphabetical listing of movies shared by AmeriCorps listserv members can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/mac/MOVIESwithaMSG/.

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Context

Since many AmeriCorps members are between the ages of 18-24, movies are a part of their cultural consciousness and tend to have a great impact on them. Showing movies with positive social messages contributes positively to youth attitudes and behaviors.

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Outcome

Showing movies about service and service-related issues in a group setting allows corps members and volunteers:

• A safe environment for reflection, discussion and learning
• An opportunity to experience positive social messages and to discuss controversial ones
• A way to become more sophisticated and knowledgeable about the media and its messages

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Posted On

October 15, 2002

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For More Information

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Source Documents

Related Practices

• Bringing together service groups around a broadcast of Everyday Heroes

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Related sites

Movies with a Message

Center for Media Literacy

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