We have designed a blog to encourage film literacy clubs in schools. Our project was funded by The Schools of Excellence Creative Clusters Initiative Ireland, under Tralee ed. centre, the DES and Irish government to transform STEAM Education and Creativity in schools. Our two year initiative was nationally administered by Tralee Ed. Centre – https://www.edcentretralee.ie/, Directed by Dr. Katie Sweeney, National Director for the Integration of the Arts in Education and facilitated by Dr. Daithí Ó Murchú www.domurchu.com on behalf of Dublin West Education Centre. https://cpd.dwec.ie/
The transition year, TY students involved werefrom the following secondary schoolsin Dublin, Ireland;
Project Title and description or areas of creative practice to be explored: Film- Film Literacies – Autonomy – Creative Communities of Practice. Through sharing of expertise among the various participating schools, through mentoring among the schools in areas of digital and film media experience and expertise, continuous professional development opportunities have been designed, exchanged and explored. Focus/challenge or area of development for the Creative Cluster project work: The Focus and Challenge of this Initiative was to Improve Literacy and Promote Wellbeing through Film. Short-films were viewed on a weekly basis and the TY students responded through various media to their experiences. Year two continued the Digital Film Literacies’ journey with the compilation of a Digital Short-Film resources area to access in a Time of Covid-19 protocols. The repository we have compiled also includes, among others, age-appropriate Primary school short-films and will be made available through the Education centre to all schools involved in Digital film media studies. The IFI – Irish Film Institute fully supports the Department of Education and skills (Ireland) “Better Numeracy and Literacy for Children and Young People: A Draft National Plan to Improve Literacy and Numeracy in Schools”, and proposes “the specific addition of media literacy to the definition, as an essential skill for21st century living”. The Draft document is available here: https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Information/Literacy-and-Numeracy/Literacy-and-Numeracy-Submissions/lit_sub_abgd_alicia_mcgivern_irish_film_institute.pdf
Finally, the IFI launched their report on Film Focus – IFI Education’s two-year action research project on film and moving image education – entitled. “FILM FOCUS: NEW DIRECTIONS IN FILM AND MEDIA LITERACY”. The full report is available here; http://www.ifi.ie/wp-content/uploads/IFI_FilmFocus_WV.pdf