Tag: The Bias of the Film Industry

After the lecture field notes

Critical analysis of The Bias of the Film Industry lecture

Content: 

  • Good start with the breakdown of the lecture at the very beginning. I feel it set up straight away the topic and how we are going to study it.
  • Good introduction: brainstorm and the non-existence of the usual teacher/ students’ relationship in this lecture as biases are in everybody’s life and everybody knows about them. Encouraged dialogue from the beginning. “Netiquette” and “What do bias means?” are good, necessary and clear. 
  • Whack or Woke? Voting on film clips to assess if they are Whack or Woke. Access to films with Padlet page. Chose to do that as it is too bad quality when screening the films to the students through my screen from Collaborate. 
  • Asked an open question to a student prompted by a text from him in the chat box to start the conversation: good
  • 1st clip: I gave my point of view too quickly and should have asked for other students’ point of view. I was surprised that some students had voted Woke for Love The Neighbour and I should have investigate straight away. I realised my mistake and explained that there was no right or wrong and we were brainstorming but I couldn’t get anybody who voted Woke to speak. A student reinforced the Whack vote with an interesting point.
  • 2nd Clip: I realised that I was going to run out of time if I wanted to show all the clips that I had planned. I chose to cut the number of clips and jumped few to finish on time. Saying that my priority was students discussing the clips so it was good that they did and that it took more time than I thought. 
  • Rest of the clips went well but I would have selected different clips if I had known that I wouldn’t show all of them. Select 4 clips for the next lecture with 2 other clips as a backup.
  • Workforce: went well. Data shows clearly the gender gap. Maybe introduce other countries to show this is international not just UK?
  • Balance of power: slightly trickier to evidence but seems to have hit the mark
  • Good conclusion: positive note to end the lecture. It felt really important to end on a bright light as I wanted to give them a message of hope rather than of doom and gloom.
  • Overall lecture went well no backlash and everybody was on board – respectful and safe conversations.
  • Lots of interesting comments. I can’t wait to analyse them!
  • Students were engaged and happy to have this lecture. Many feedbacks highlighting the importance of approaching such topics.
  • Students opened up to their own experiences and interacted but the conversations could have been more engaged as there was a chore of 8 to 10 students only who mainly talked. Need to rethink group conversations.
  • The online factor is important to highlight. Indeed, it took quite a bit of time for everybody to see the clips and come back to the main window. I had done a Padlet page with a timeline to make it easier to follow but still it took a lot of time. Also, I think that this lecture begs for human connections through the conversations and this is harder to obtain online than in presence.

Pedagogies:

  • Inclusive teaching & learning pedagogy: Netiquette[1] was clear and set well the values of the lecture.
  • Object learning pedagogy[2]: students engaged well with this pedagogy and from the Padlet feedback it seems that the film clips helped the students to understand the concept of representation. The game of voting for Whack or Woke was also a good way to make them engage with the topic in a fun way.
  • Critical thinking pedagogy[3]: By asking them to vote Whack or Woke I wanted to highlight the need for critical thinking as I knew there will be opposing views. Voting declined when they realised that it wasn’t clear cut which seems to show that they were critically analysing the clips BUT there should have been a “I’m not sure” button to reflect those who weren’t sure. Peers to peers’ conversations were also a way of enhancing critical thinking. I’m sure I can find a way of improving these conversations so that everybody participates.

Learning outcome:

  • I think they now have a better understanding of their industry. From the Padlet feedback few were surprised by the wide gender gap in the workforce and many were happy to discuss such topics and felt that it was important to have a lecture that exposed honestly bias in their industry. Few expressed verbally during the lecture how important this lecture was for them.
  • From the voting for Whack or Woke and the Padlet feedback it seems that the learning outcome for critical thinking has been reach to some degree. 
  • The understanding of concepts & values is harder to assess at this stage and will need deeper research.

Self-critical analysis:

Although I started the lecture a bit nervous, I managed to relax after a couple of minutes and then thoroughly enjoyed teaching the lecture. I am pleased that I managed to cut down the number of clips and keep the lecture on track with no disruption to the lecture. Saying that, I do realise that this was an oversight that I need to address as I wasn’t realistic in the time it would take to see, think and discuss the film clips. 

What I think I could have done better is to investigate more all points of views before giving my own. Specifically at the beginning, I was too quick in agreeing with a specific point of view when I should have explored other students’ views.

I realised my mistake during the lecture and tried and mainly succeeded in exploring all avenues before giving my own views. Still need to work on this.

Overall, I am delighted to have taught this lecture. It was well received by the students and I could see during the lecture that they were eager to learn from it and to speak about these topics. There are some improvements that I can already see such as the “I’m not sure” button when voting or the need to improve conversations but I also know that there must be quite few other improvements that I do not see yet. I cannot wait to start the research on the lecture and the students’ feedback.

[1] Shade of Noir https://shadesofnoir.org.uk

[2] Dr K. Hardie. (2015) Wow: The power of Objects in Object-Based Learning and Teaching. HEA

[3] Freire P. (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Myra Ramos ed. New York: Continuum

Thoughts on my SIP and Workshop 1

I decided on the topic of my SIP before the summer when I wanted to create my new lecture The Bias of the Film Industry. When working on the lecture, I realised that a study would be necessary in order to assess if the learning outcomes were reached and if the lecture needed improvements.

During the summer, I pitched the concept of the lecture to friends, family and colleagues to gage the interest on such topic and had numerous conversations about biases. I also read bell hooks’ book Reel to Real: Race, Class and Sex at the Movies1. I had encountered bell hooks during the L&T unit through her books; All About Love and Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. At the time, I really engaged with her critical analysis of societal bias and her theory of engaged pedagogy. When researching for books about bias in the film industry, a simple Google search on “racism in the film industry” gave me a list of books to read. Reel To Real was part of the list. Knowing the great ability of the author to analyse biases and their impact on individual and her subversive spirit, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. 

Reading her book allowed me to get a more sophisticated critical analysis on the racial, gender and class representation in cinema and on the power and effect that movies have on individuals. Two concepts that were to become an important part of the lecture. My reading list didn’t stopped at bell hooks (See Lecture Bibliography in Workflow) and I also watched many films such as Disclosure2.

In September, I started to work on the structure and content of the lecture and all too soon it was time for our first SIP lecture.

I have to say that it was quite a shock to realise the complexity of academic research. From formulating a precise research question to structuring a focus action plan and analysing data in order to implement results; the task seemed voluminous and the time given to achieve it seemed short.

The SIP lecture was a great help to focus my attention and my readings. 

I really enjoyed the philosophical aspect of academic research and indeed my research is fully in line with my educational and moral values. 

Reading McNiff allowed me to understand the methodology of an action research. I realised that I needed to study how to interview, how to formulate interview questions and how to collect and analyse data. I also needed to find a strategy and design a structure for the overall research.

A lot of reading and work ahead but for now, the lecture is scheduled in a few days’ time and I need to concentrate on it.

I am equally exited at the prospect of lecturing this subject and nervous.  I am aware of the sensitive nature of the lecture and I am concerned with possible emotional backlash and students being triggered by the lecture’s topics. To be ready for this I have read many papers on the challenge of having courageous conversations in an educational context thanks to Shade of Noir’s website. 

I am also pleased to do the lecture as it will mean that I will be able to start my study. Apart from the fact that much of my brain is busy with the lecture, I do not feel that I can concentrate my efforts on my research until the lecture is done.

  1. b. hooks. (1996) Reel to Real: Race, Class and Sex at the Movies. Routledge
  2. Disclosure: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8637504/?ref_=fn_al_tt_20