Evaluation - Scottish Screen

8. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
8.1 Conclusions
In terms of Scottish Screen’s aims for the Professional Development Programme, there are
two overlapping but distinct strands. The first of these is MIE itself and concerns the
relationship between MIE and traditional concepts of literacy, an extended concept of literacy
to include visual media literacy and pedagogy. The second strand refers to the Professional
Development itself and considers its effectiveness as a model for introducing MIE into
schools and nurseries, the implications for schools and local authorities and sustainability. In
order to pursue how MIE and the PDP were pursued in each of the initiatives, the purpose
and aims of the evaluation, as detailed in chapter 1, can now be addressed.
Specifically, Scottish Screen identified the purposes of the evaluation as identifying the
particular contributions that moving image education can make to learning, especially its
contribution to the four ‘capacities’ outlined in A Curriculum for Excellence. Scottish Screen
also identified the particular aims of the evaluation as being about the impact of the MIE
initiatives on teachers and pupils and the effectiveness of the PDP as a model for the
introduction of MIE into schools and nurseries.
In terms of A Curriculum for Excellence, there is clear agreement among teachers and
headteachers that MIE provides a context in which each of the four capacities develops
naturally. The active participation required of pupils, the necessity to work together in order
to achieve shared goals, the negotiation, analysis, need for justification and sheer enjoyment
inherent in MIE build within pupils the confidence and responsibility to achieve success and
feelings of effectiveness.
The impact of MIE on teachers and learners within the initiatives in this study was
considerable. Teachers and pupils alike reported significant improvements in children’s
talking and listening skills. Writing was also identified as an aspect of pupils’ performance
that was also enhanced through involvement with MIE. There was less certainty regarding
the impact of MIE on reading.
Teachers and pupils have also become aware of the value and necessity of an extended
concept of literacy. They have developed a realisation that in the twenty first century,
traditional concepts of literacy as applying only to verbal communication are no longer
adequate and the visual and digital media have become equally important in our everyday
lives.
In addition to increased awareness of film, digital and other moving images, teachers have
come to realise the pedagogical opportunities that MIE presents. These can be explained as
developing through theories of learning based on communities of learners, activity theory
and collective competence. In terms of current discourses in schools, they might be
understood as relating to active learning, critical skills and formative assessment. As with A
Curriculum for Excellence, MIE is a context in which each of these occurs naturally. Indeed,
in some schools and for some teachers in each of the initiatives, the pedagogical
opportunities have become the most valued aspects of MIE. Evidence from the teacher
interviews and observations indicates that teachers appear to have taken what they learned
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