International Review of Educational Cinematography (Jan-Dec 1931)

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— 373 — " All subjects are more easily taught with the help of films, for example, natural history (circulation of the blood, infectious diseases, plant life, etc.). Children are entertained at the same time that they acquire a closer knowledge of phenomena. In history, too, a child's enthusiasm is aroused as he learns the nature of patriotism, respect for the laws and for statesmanship ". " School films are exceedingly useful; the cinema's wide outlook is unobtainable by any other art (painting, drawing, drama). Geography often describes unknown places, but the film offers an animated picture of the place — be it Constantinople, the Niagara Falls, the Lake of Garda, or a virgin forest in the Andes, the Russian steppes, a caravan in the Sahara, a Polar expedition or what not. A picture visualises the description of the geography book and makes a pleasure of what is sometimes rather dull reading. What otherwise demands an effort of memory in this way becomes an excellent and easily assimilated food for the mind. " History undergoes the same transformation. Celebrations of Ancient Greece are thus revived for us; the feasts of the Temple of Minerva, Olympic games; or perhaps a Roman triumph, the martyrdom of early Christians in the Colosseum; or again mediaeval incidents in the characteristic setting of the period. All these evocations are a delight to the mind, which lives the events over again as in a dream. "The cinema helps in the study of natural science by showing us the flora and fauna of particular countries. It offers us a wealth of varied knowledge, taking us into the bowels of the earth to watch miners at work, or into a busy paper-factory or revealing to us the mysteries of fishing, etc. The cinema, too, enriches the memory and helps us to understand better what we read in books ". " The film is a valuable form of entertainment, superior to any other form of graphic illustration, because the luminous image strikes a child's imagination and leaves a strong and lasting impression ". " The school cinema, besides being an amusement for children, is well-suited to the needs of modern pedagogy, for it combines pure study with intellectual and recreational activity. The cinematographic representation of subjects and scenes may supply material for agreeable exercises. All schools, from elementary schools to universities, can profit by the cinema. The boldest explorations, the most remarkable phenomena, however brilliantly expounded by the teacher, will never be made so vivid as they are on the screen. The film, which is life in motion, can replace expensive books ". " Like the gramophone the cinema can valuably cooperate with an intelligent teacher (Ministerial Circular, Official Bulletin No 31 of August 4th, 1925) ". " In view of the value of the cinema in teaching, science and culture, every school should be equipped with a projector and a number of films to aid the teacher ". " The cinema is the simplest, most practical and cheapest way of explaining things to children in a way that will amuse without wearying them ". " The cinema can greatly help in teaching, but, if we exaggerate its value and use, the film will end by becoming monotonous and will rob the school of that active element which is its greatest asset and thanks to which ideas seem to issue spontaneously from intellectual communion between master and pupil ". As we have already said, the value of school films in teaching is almost universally admitted. Teachers declare that wall diagrams and fixed projections are being supplanted by the more easily assimilated film and that the