When I worked as "Safe Harbour-Respect for All" Provincial Program Community Organizer (funded through AMSSA), I remember I showed this film on Anti-Racism Day which we started naming it as "Racial Inclusion Day" afterwards. Today, in the realm of this time when individuals, employers and Universities are holding discussions how to end Systemic Racism, I thought I will share this film once again as a reminder. It needs your 1 hour and 30 minutes to watch this documentary. 'The Colour of Fear"
In Chapter 2 of Brookfield's "The Skillful Teacher" I agree with the "Assumption 3: The Most Important Knowledge Skillful Teachers Need to Do Good Work Is a Constant Awareness of How Students Are Experiencing Their Learning And Perceiving Teacher's Action".
"Skillful teachers realize that most of their procedural decisions (What content to teach next, what examples to use to illustrate a complex idea, who to call on in discussion, how to frame an assignment, the amount of time needed for small group breaks-outs , when to depart from the plan for the day and so on) should be guided by an awareness of how students experience the classroom.
It is my experience that showing audio-visual clips or giving an assignment to watch a movie leaves a lifelong impact on students' brain and it compels them to think deeper what is going to be their experiential learning at the end of the course. For example, in the present case, Systemic Racism is a big topic in any student's personal life. In a real life experience, some students are engaged in racism and bullying to others and some are a victim of such anti-social behaviours. These types of films could be thought provoking for both the populations and open micro-topics for discussions and further, they could prove to be transformative. I personally was strongly moved when I watched this film 10 years ago and it gave me an insight ...."really? this is actually happening?" I was actually ignorant about systemic racism while living in India because we were all "Brown" and we were all "Indians". Discrimination in hiring and Systemic Racism do occur in India but not so much on the basis skin colour. There are different types of discriminations in India and different parts of the world. This movie opened my eyes and I invited a discussion group of new immigrants from different countries who belonged to different races, skin colour and ethnicities and Canadian community at large which included employers and significantly powerful officials from the government (our local Mayor, MLA and MP) and we watched this movie together in a school auditorium along with high school students. The impact was powerful which was visible in the discussion after watching the movie. The students who were shy and didn't participate in the discussion verbally, their body language and facial expressions said it all. Last week I met a student of that class, who was a new immigrant at that time and still struggling racism and bully at his workplace came rushing to me in a grocery store parking lot and reminded me "Mrs Soni do you remember that movie "The Colour of Fear" which you had shown 10 years ago?". I was not happy what was happening with him but I was happy to note that my method of teaching worked that the students were learning and perceiving teachers actions.
This method worked for that population, it may not work for another set of population and I will have to find another method after gazing my audience (my students). The experiential learning and methodologies of teaching are constantly changing because there is a slow shift in students' mindset how they enjoy learning and what they enjoy learning. Our curriculum also need to change with time not only the teaching and learning methodologies.
What do you thing? Please share your views and I will be happy to answer your questions if you have any.
Looking forward to have a healthy discussion on Systemic Racism. Thank You
Kusum
Reference:
1. Brookfield, S. D.: The Skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust and Responsiveness in the Classroom: 2nd Edition: Jossey-Bass: A Wiley Imprint, 2006. P 28.
2. The Colour of Fear -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBSImagHK8c Stir-Fry Productions 1994
Reference:
1. Brookfield, S. D.: The Skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust and Responsiveness in the Classroom: 2nd Edition: Jossey-Bass: A Wiley Imprint, 2006. P 28.
2. The Colour of Fear -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBSImagHK8c Stir-Fry Productions 1994
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