REEL CANADA Blog : Tags : Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute

REEL CANADA ESL Event at Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute

by Richard Park (REEL CANADA OISE intern)

As a teacher candidate from OISE, I chose to complete my internship at REEL CANADA, partially because I’d always harboured a personal interest in cinema. In a professional vein, I’d hoped that I would be able to glean new means of infusing relevance and interest into science curriculum (my teachable subjects being general science and biology) through the medium of Canadian films. I feel that one of the greatest obstacles any teacher faces in a classroom is trying to get students to connect with the material being taught, as opposed to merely digesting and later regurgitating the content.

My first experience attending a REEL CANADA film festival was a decidedly positive one, as I was able to see firsthand how movies, riddled with educational extensions and teachable moments, can serve to ignite students’ interest. Early Tuesday morning, I set off with the REEL CANADA crew to Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute, located in Scarborough. The front foyer alluded to the diverse demographic that the school houses, as suspended from the ceiling were a wide array of national flags. In line with the equitable mandate of the REEL CANADA organization, the day’s feature showing was DOUBLE HAPPINESS, a film that carries themes and messages that cater to that morning’s ESL student audience. The feature film was followed by a conversation with Mina Shum, the director, with question, reactions, and comments from the students facilitated by Judith Cockman.

As an educator, I believe that films are an excellent medium for bridging the growing divide between the mandated curriculum and the personal interests of students. Many students feel disconnected from the classroom experience because they don’t find any applicability in what they are learning to their lives outside of school. However, films like DOUBLE HAPPINESS, saturated with values, symbols, and ideas that resonate with Chinese students living and studying in Canada, can serve as means for sparking thoughtful discourse amongst the students and teachers alike. The teacher liaison that coordinated this event with REEL CANADA said that she plans to incorporate the messages of the film into lessons with her ESL students. Reflective writing, classroom discussions, and vocabulary identification are all practical ways in which a fiction film, traditionally produced as entertainment, can be transformed into an educational vehicle for students learning English. Essentially, educators must continually strive for innovation and progressive teaching strategies in the classroom. Harnessing films for this purpose is just one way a teacher can make students feel like they are the star of the show.

Students at Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute

On Tuesday May 8^th, REEL CANADA arrived at Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute to find a super cool DJ playing hot tunes in the cafeteria as a group of kids busily tested a Skype connection.

Soon enough, nearly 250 ESL students descended upon the cafeteria and sat attentively as REEL CANADA’s facilitator, Judith Cockman, explained to them what they were about to see. Judith talked about the films, about the program, and about what she wanted them to look out for so that they could have a discussion afterwards.

Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute student DJ 

We’d been warned by our lead teacher that the ESL students were a pretty shy, quiet bunch, so Judith was trying extra hard to prepare them for sharing their thoughts after the screening.

The short CHILI & CHEESE got quite a few knowing laughs from the audience. The film is about a humorous altercation between a convenience store owner (who used to be a doctor in his home country) and a particularly cheeky customer.

Afterwards, the students watched DOUBLE HAPPINESS, Mina Shum’s film about a young woman trying to juggle her Canadian identity with her family’s traditional Chinese heritage. Albert Campbell has a very large population of ESL students of Chinese origin, most of whom found the film very funny and probably pretty familiar. They definitely caught all the Cantonese jokes that the rest of us may have missed!

Canadian filmmaker Mina Shum answers questions via Skype about her film Double Happiness

After the film, we connected to director Mina Shum in Vancouver via Skype, and gave the students a chance to talk with her and ask questions. In spite of the teacher’s warnings that nobody was likely to say a word during the Q&A, at least seven or eight brave souls spoke into the microphone (much to the shock and delight of the staff who were in the room with us).

REEL CANADA exposes young people to Canadian culture, and brings shy kids out of their shells! Go team.

On May 8, 2012, over 250 ESL students at Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute will be getting together to watch DOUBLE HAPPINESS and participate in a Q&A with director Mina Shum via Skype from her home in Vancouver. This will be REEL CANADA's first ESL event with high school aged students, as our "Welcome to Canada" programme has thus far only involved adult English language learners. 

We're thrilled that long time REEL CANADA supporter and Advisory Board member Mina Shum is willing to wake up at the crack of dawn (BC time) to do a morning Q&A with students in Toronto. She's been our guest many times in the past, and never fails to inspire and engage students with her passion for what she does.

The film, about a modern Chinese-Canadian girl growing up with very traditional parents and struggling to forge a new identity for herself without abandoning her heritage, was apparently the group's top pick, as it struck a chord with many of the students, who have similar experiences in their own lives.