FILMS IN CLASS, FOR TEACHERS OF ALBANIA

On June 10 and 11, DokuFest together with the Teachers from Kosovo were in Tirana for the second workshop on the use of Audio-Visual Tools in Teaching, with a focus on the use of documentary film and its integration in the Curriculum Framework for Pre-University Education.

Feride Thaqi, a Psychology teacher from Gymnasium “Ulpiana” in Lipjan, and Fjolla Gashi, a Media Education teacher from Gymnasium “Sami Frashëri” in Prishtina were in the role of workshop tutors where they shared their experiences and work methodology with colleagues from Albania, on the ways of using the documentary film in the teaching process. They emphasized the importance of developing teachers’ capacities in the creation of didactic materials for the use of documentary films in the teaching process, related to the Curriculum Framework for Pre-University Education, and their advantages as teachers since they started using film in the classroom.

Seventeen teachers from different cities of Albania initially attended the session of Ms. Thaqi who simulated the workshop space in a classroom setting, meticulously explaining the steps involved in effectively utilizing film for educational purposes based on the facilitator guides, while Ms. Gashi led the training on creating a facilitator guide and elaborated on its advantages when integrating film into the learning process.

The participants were introduced to the Teacher’s Digital Library, which is a platform of documentary films and didactic materials for the use of film in the classroom created for teachers, in which by creating a user account, they will have access on 157 educational films and 115 facilitator guides created by their teaching colleagues. The library offers films and accompanying educational materials with which students develop knowledge, skills, attitudes, and dispositions that are necessary for a democratic society. This helps to develop their understanding of the world, people, their values, social processes in time, places, and different circumstances. Also, through this field, they develop their understanding of their environment and beyond.

The second part of the day included practical work and discussions where the documentary film “Hope” from the FUTURE IS HERE film school was screened to the teachers. After the screening, the teachers were tasked with creating facilitator guides for the teaching units based on the screened film. All participants successfully created facilitator guides which will be published in the DokuFest Teachers’ Digital Library.

The workshop was planned in such a way that all participants get practical information on the integration of documentary films and other means of media and information education in their lessons, the implementation of e-learning and the exploitation of the potential of new digital technologies.