Watch movies for value education

Wouldn’t it be interesting if watching movies was made a part of our educational curriculum? Giving students a new reason to watch movies, The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) recently launched a handbook on Value Education that lists down 47 classroom-worthy movies highlighting "social and moral values”. According to CBSE, films can be an excellent resource material in the curriculum for Value Education. And why not, there are a host of movies that are not only a source of entertainment but are also educational in different ways. The handbook points out that “often intentionally or unintentionally cinema does provide avenues for challenging rigid beliefs and exploring solutions for intractable conflict”.

Ever wondered, what part have movies played in educating us?  The CBSE handbook gives a number of examples of how moral lessons can be intertwined into the teaching of various subjects. Dominated by Bollywood blockbusters, the list includes the following movies among others:

• Lage Raho Munna Bhai : New look at Gandhian philosophy
• No One Killed Jessica : Fight for justice
• Boot Polish(1954) : Dignity of labour
• Baghbaan : Love and respect for parents
• Dor (Nagesh Kukoonur) : Compassion and friendship

Two Hollywood Movies on the list:

• Sidney Poitier’s To Sir, with Love : Message of morality, respect & Integrity
• Cast Away : Fight for survival against difficult odds through sheer grit

For the movies listed below, let’s go down memory lane and find out what lessons/values have we learnt from these:

Children Movies:

• Bumm Bumm Bole
• Chillar Party
• The Blue Umbrella( based on a Ruskin Bond novel)
• Taare Zameen Par
• Parichay

Patriotic movies:

• Haqeeqat
• LOC: Kargil
• Kranti
• Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero
• Shaheed, The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey
• Sardar
• The Legend of Bhagat Singh
• Upkar

Classics:

• Purab Aur Pachhim
• Naya Daur
• Manthan
• Mother India
• Do Bigha Zamin
• Jagriti
• Do Ankhen Barah Haath etc.

While cinema often creates and promotes stereotypes, it can also be used to encourage public discussion and question these stereotypes.

Share your thoughts with us here about which of these are your favourite movies and why?