Objectives

Introduction:

It is well known that our youth is much more interested nowadays in film and tv than in books and literature. Yet we see that most schools still spend much more time on reading, writing and literature than on watching and making films or studying film history. In this way school misses chances to approach the youngsters in their own video language and to educate them towards a more critical approach of films and tv. By not filling in this gap in film education, the youth is in many countries almost completely delivered to the commercial circuit which doesn't stimulate a crital view but only wants them to consume tv, video and film. Since the commercial market is mainly dominated by the American film&tv industry, the European film industry and tv production is hardly known by most young people, even in Europe itself.

The SCotMO project wants to make our schools aware that we urgently need an active and critical film education in order to make sure that our pupils become more critical and selective users of film/video/tv and learn to know and appreciate the European film/video/tv production besides the American cinema. They also have to become more active users of the medium so that at school they don't only learn to write down their ideas but also to translate them into film images.

Summary

In this SCotMO-project we concentrate on film&tv-education at secondary schools.
Several aspects/questions are dealt with:

- Is there any kind of film education in the curriculum of the school?
- Do pupils learn about the national/international history of film?
- Does the school organise film sessions for the pupils/teachers/parents during/after school time?
- Do teachers use films and television programs in their lessons? How and how often?
- Do teachers/pupils download videos from Youtube for their lessons/homework/...?
- Do teachers/pupils only use ready-made programs or also self-made videos?
- Do teachers/pupils know how to prepare/film/edit movies?
- Do teachers/pupils sometimes give/get a task which involves the production of video material?
- Do teachers allow their students to make a video about a topic instead of writing an essay about it?
- Does the school liberary have a collection of films and/or tv-programs? How can the teachers/pupils make use of it?
- Does the school management make use of video material in their inner and outer communication?
- Does the school have its own tv-studio and tv-channel?
- Does the school collaborate with local/national tv for its public relations and communication?
- Does the school broadcast video publicity or educational programs on TV/digital channels?

We won't only make a round-up of the actual situation in different schools in the participating countries but will also try to give examples of good practice.
We make an anthology of movies/tv-programs about school & education, create a compilation of the best films in our countries and watch a selection of these films.
We also stimulate teachers/pupils to make short movies and video clips and organise a film competition/festival with these films at the last meeting.

Objectives:

In order to achieve our targets, we'll work on 6 clear objectives, each with their appropriate approach & final product:
obj.1: we want the teachers & pupils to get a better view on the position of film&tv in our educational system. In order to get this view they will have to answer a questionnaire which deals with the use of film&tv in the teaching practice at their school, compared to the position of books. By doing this they will reflect on the status quo and probably see that at most schools the film&tv-education is quite poor. So they will become aware of the urgent need for a better film&tv-education.
obj.2: we want our teachers & pupils to improve their knowledge about the film history and film production of European cinema in general and of their own country in particular. To obtain this each country will make a videotaped compilation of the film/tv production in their country throughout history. We will interview tv-makers and moviestars, visit film- and tv-studios and watch a selection of European movies at the final European Youth Film Festival.
obj.3: we want our teachers & pupils to improve their technical video skills by doing several exercises. So they will have to make short movies before each project meeting, and during the meetings all pupils and teachers will be involved in the production of the project film which is a filmed report of what has happened at all those meetings.
obj.4: we want the school libraries to improve their video collection. As a start we'll provide them with a selection of good European films for schools. We'll also compile an anthology of films and tv-programs that deal with school life in general or with some specific aspects of it (eg bullying, discrimination, competition, generation conflicts etc). Some of these films will be watched and discussed critically at the different project meetings.
obj.5: we want to inspire and stimulate the school management to improve school communication and PR by the use of video&tv. To obtain this we organise a competition for selfmade videoclips in which pupils & teachers promote their school. These ads will be put on youtube and at the last project meeting there will be a European Youth Film Festival with SCotMO-awards for the best clips.
obj.6: we want all participants to experience that film&tv can be perfect tools to learn new things in a fast and entertaining way. They have to watch critically so that they discover what makes some films/tv-programs better than other ones.

European Added Value

 With this project we help to promote the European film&tv. We want young people to see that the European film producers have much more to offer than the commercialised American film industry, which dominates the international film scene. By stimulating young people to explore and support the European film&tv-production we hope to create new opportunities for a more intensive European cooperation in film&tv.

Impact

 1. We expect the particpants in this project to become aware of the need for a better film and tv education at school. Both pupils and teachers have to learn how to watch and discuss films and tv-programs critically. A better knowledge of the medium can only improve the benefit and pleasure they enjoy when watching a good movie or tv programme.
2. We expect to improve the interest for and knowledge of the European film and tv production among pupils and teachers. They should learn that the European film makers have a different approach of the medium, which is less commerial and more artistic.
3. We expect to improve the technical knowledge of our teachers and pupils  by teaching and showing them how to prepare, film and edit a movie. By doing so we hope to make teaching more video-minded which can only improve the contact and communication between the teachers and the younger so-called video generations.
4. We expect the school liberaries of the participating schools to update their video and tv collection and to focus not only on books and magazines but also on film and tv. This can only raise the interest of young people for the school library and improve their knowledge of the film
5. We expect the school staff and school management to become aware of the impact the use of video can have on the PR and inner and outer communication of a school. Schools should not only have a school magazine and school website but also a school tv-channel and videoclips on the internet (youtube, facebook, twitter etc).
6. We expect all participants of this project to know how to use film&tv as tools for education. They should also experience what makes the difference between really good films&tv and the other ones and be able to explain this to other people