398 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— L. 



It claims the serious consideration of educators, not merely as a visual aid 

 but as a cultural influence for good or ill which we cannot neglect. 



A teacher who uses a film in his class-room is linking up his lesson with 

 the outside life of his pupils and is drawing into service the experience of 

 their leisure. An adult population which reads few books has turned to 

 the cinema as its staple solace and enjoyment. A generation of film-going 

 children is learning to pick up quickly points and illusions on the screen. 

 It is part of this current that we want to turn into the channels of the class- 

 room, as one aspect of childhood's relation with the film. 



But it is in public cinemas that the film has its strongest hold on national 

 life, and therefore its great cultural and social influence both on children 

 and adults ; and its constructive use is a form of national planning from 

 which the finest intelligences of the country should no longer hold aloof. 



Mr. R. Gow. — The teaching film. 



If the cinema is to be developed for class-room teaching, it would seem 

 desirable to establish the technique of the ' teaching film ' as soon as possible. 

 The production of films is costly, and misdirected experiment is likely to 

 prove wasteful. It is possible to approach a subject in education in a 

 variety of ways, and, similarly, it would be possible to produce an educa- 

 tional film in a variety of styles. Just as one text-book cannot hope to please 

 every teacher, so one teaching film may not be generally acceptable. But 

 the supply is necessarily limited by the expense, and the needs of the teacher 

 must be closely studied. 



So far, experiment has been chiefly concerned with attempts to prove that 

 there is a place for the film in the class-roorn. Future experiment must 

 concern itself with the kind of film for the class-room. The extent of 

 co-operation required of the teacher must be decided. The proper use of 

 sound must be thoroughly explored. In short, we shall have to ask ourselves 

 once again : ' What is the aim of teaching ? ' 



Mr. F. A. HoARE. — Educational cinematography . 



Never before has the prospect of real progress in the educational use of 

 cinematography been so hopeful as it is to-day. Coincident with the 

 experimental work carried out by the Historical Association and that con- 

 ducted jointly by the National Union of Teachers and certain Local Education 

 Authorities with sound films in schools, the large-scale investigation of the 

 Commission on Educational and Cultural Films has proceeded. The 

 publication of the Commission's Report in June this year has been followed 

 by Governmental action and by Parliamentary provision for the establish- 

 ment of a Cinematograph Fund under the Privy Council Office ' for the 

 purpose of encouraging the use and development of the cinematograph as 

 a means of entertainment and instruction.' The exercise of a wise discre- 

 tion in the development of this project should provide a powerful stimulus 

 to the film industry. 



Educationists have come to regard the cinematograph as an additional 

 visual aid in education, directly in the line of succession with such well- 

 established instruments as the blackboard, picture, chart, diagram and the 

 lantern slide, or the more novel episcope and epidiascope. The educational 

 function of the sound film is, however, more than merely illustrative. It is 

 the modern method of imparting knowledge and conveying facts, and by 

 reason of its dynamic nature it renders the old method of picture and 

 printed word somewhat obsolete. It is also pre-eminently the medium for 

 correlating class-room work with the life of the world outside school. The 



