Film encourages learning and conversation about a wide range of issues, and gives students more insight and understanding than lecture or textbooks alone.

With the mission of educating for global understanding, Journeys in Film has carefully selected quality international films that tell the stories of young people living in locations that students might otherwise never know.  We have then developed curriculum guides to accompany each film to help students understand their peers in other cultures and develop global competencies, without leaving the classroom.

Not only do the Journeys in Film curriculum guides address global understanding and cultural issues, they also integrate lessons related to social studies, math, science, visual arts, music, and other subjects.

“Every time I go to a movie, it’s magic, no matter what the movie’s about.”

- Steven Spielberg

The key to using movies for education is the quality of discussion and activity that follows film viewing.  Each Journeys in Film lesson begins with several Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions, which are followed by notes to the teacher on background information and a list of assessment tools incorporated into the lesson.  Finally the lesson provides complete and detailed instructions for the ‘how-what-when’ of classroom activities.

These lesson plans are the cornerstone of Journeys’ work, reinforcing academic standards while teaching young viewers how to watch a film and challenging them to examine how their own experiences influence their perceptions of others.

Teachers around the world have seen how our program enables students to move beyond narrative to explore complex issues in a sophisticated manner, crossing boundaries to grasp new perspectives. This higher-order thinking is then transferable to a better understanding of the media-rich world around them.

Visit our Global Ed store and view all of our Curriculum Guides