Cinema as a pedagogical tool: pathways for the education and assessment of prosocial attitudes in upper secondary school

Abstract

Cinema turns out to be an effective pedagogical tool due to its potential of attracting, engaging and conveying concepts in an immediate way. In education, it can be used – among other things - to address complex issues such as diversity, disability and inclusion/exclusion stimulating students’ critical reflection and empathy through their identification with characters. With this in mind, the present contribution illustrates the results of an exploratory study involving 287 high school teachers enrolled in the Special Needs Teachers Training Course at the University of Florence during the 2022/2023 academic year. In particular, it focuses on a mixed methods analysis of collaborative activities concerning the planning of educational pathways aimed at promoting students' prosocial attitudes through films. The analysis of their main themes, teaching approaches and evaluation strategies offers valuable insights on how to use the cinema from a media-educational perspective for fostering prosociality and inclusion in ISCED 3 contexts.