What is it about?
Films are a powerful medium to expose students to intersectional issues in Indian society. By watching films from different regions of India, students can learn about the history, geography, customs, traditions, beliefs, and values of various communities. They can also develop an appreciation and curiosity for the languages spoken in different parts of the country. To illustrate this point, we analysed five films that showcase different aspects of Indian culture and languages and how they can be integrated into the existing curriculum. We also looked at the public reactions to these films on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook and how they reflect the opinions and sentiments of the viewers.
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Why is it important?
Our findings suggest that Indian films are useful teaching materials in the social studies classroom as it is familiar to Indian students and will help them learn about their society and culture in particular. We discuss how to address topics of intersectionality, such as women's issues and caste, within the given curriculum.
Perspectives
This article reflects our passion for Film Studies and Education. We have explored the intersection of these two fields and proposed some curriculum changes we wish we had encountered in our school days. We hope you find this article thought-provoking as we are aware that the phenomenon of the 'Indian Social Studies Classroom' is relatively new to non-Indians, and so is the context we have based it. However, we hope this article introduces the existing scholarship and allows for more recent research.
Sanjna Thoppil
CHRIST (Deemed to be University), India
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Films as emergent educational resources in Indian upper primary social studies classrooms: a multimodal inquiry, Social Studies Research and Practice, November 2023, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/ssrp-03-2023-0022.
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