The Ministry of Education Film Experiment

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxiii

   PDF

2. Introduction: 21st Century Literacy

   • Alex Southern

   Pages 1-9

3. Education in Post-War Britain

   • Alex Southern

   Pages 11-33

4. Film and Education

   • Alex Southern

   Pages 35-61

5. The Ministry of Education Film Experiment

   • Alex Southern

   Pages 63-94

6. Nonfiction Film: Theoretical Frameworks

   • Alex Southern

   Pages 95-114

7. Film Analysis

   • Alex Southern

   Pages 115-158

8. Evaluation and Distribution

   • Alex Southern

   Pages 159-180

9. From Visual Education to 21st Century Literacy

   • Alex Southern

   Pages 181-206

10. Back Matter

    Pages 207-232

    PDF

This book uncovers a unique post-war film production programme and explores how this first British government intervention into ‘visual education’ is relevant to film education today. In 1943 the Ministry of Education took the decision to sponsor production of an experimental programme of nonfiction films specifically for the classroom. Almost 70 years later, the British Film Institute launched a new strategic development plan, at the centre of which was the aim to prove the value of ‘21st century literacy’ to Government and embed film in the school curriculum. This aim had been the focus of film education initiatives in previous decades, without resolution. Through archival research into original documents and the films, The Ministry of Education Film Experiment builds a story of conflict and collaboration between the Ministry and the filmmakers, offering an insight into why the struggle for government recognition of film education still remains.

• Ministry of Education
• film education
• The National Archives
• British Film Institute
• archive film
• 21st century literacy
• post-war British education
• tripartite system
• visual education

“Alex Southern builds on both film history and educational history to present an analysis of the development of visual literacy strategies from the 1930s onwards. This is an interesting, well-researched piece, based on her doctoral research … . the book is easy to read, with great illustrations and personal stories.” (Inés Dussel, History of Education, Vol. 47 (5), 2018)

“Alex Southern reminds us there are lessons to be learnt from the relatively short history of film. Film and media still struggle for a permanent role in education, but this case study suggests we may have been focusing too much on the politicians and not enough on the practitioners.” (Dr Paul Gerhardt, Director of Education, British Film Institute)

“In this monograph Alex Southern provides an in-depth historical account of the way in which film education has been constructed and reconstructed. The analysis of the experiment conducted by the Ministry of Education makes a vital and unique contribution to the field. Detailing the process of production, distribution and evaluation of these films enhances our shared understanding of the use of the moving image to educate, raising issues about representations of reality, objectivity and truth which are relevant across a wide range of disciplines.” (Becky Parry, School of Education, University of Nottingham, UK)

• Cardiff, United Kingdom

  Alex Southern

Alex Southern is a film archivist, education historian and researcher. Previously, she worked as Head of Learning at the Yorkshire Film Archive, in Commercial Access at the Imperial War Museum Film Archive, and as a lecturer in Further and Higher Education. She is currently Research Associate at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

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