Manual

Twelve documentary films, together with a manual which can soon be available for download on this website, as well as with seminars for secondary school professors following them, are a part of FREE ZONE project in secondary schools.

The FREE ZONE was established with an aim to launch discussions and broaden knowledge on contemporary social and political topics from around the world in Serbia itself, thus enabling the human rights problems to be perceived and understood planetary and in as full meaning as possible.

The films aimed for Civic Education teachers and students attending this curriculum are adapted to duration of a school class, the age of viewers and topics examined during the Civic Education curriculum. Having in mind that the film is a new educational tool here, we have prepared a manual for teachers which should facilitate their work, introduce additional conversation topics, and suggest possible methods for classroom activities. The manual is an integral part of the material given to every teacher attending the seminars focused on film use in lecturing Civic Education, organized by FREEZONE.

A text unit is prepared for each film in the manual, which consists of a brief description of the film, author's biography, additional information of the film's topic, a country where it happens, a problem the film deals with -- which should help teacher to put the film story in a context and offer students a possible reference frame, whether it is a poverty in Bangladesh, (in)tolerance in France, neglected children in Russia or link between the war in Africa and carefree diamond buyers in Europe.

Also, there is a suggestion given for each film for a possible use and goals for a lecture where a teacher can use it.

Having in mind that the films are primarily (but not exclusively) intended for the Civic Education lectures, it is clearly indicated to which goals of this curriculum certain films are best related to.

Finally, scenarios of activities are offered for all films, for teachers and/or students to start in the class and outside, regarding the film seen.

Authors of articles and scenarios in the manual see their suggestions for class activities (with film screenings) as possible ways to treat different children and human rights issues and/or other socially-related topics.

It is our assumption (and wish) that, together with films, both teachers and students will develop their own models and ways of treating the topic/problem/right the film deals with.

We truly believe that film screenings in classroom, followed by lively activity, will enrich and make happy both students and teachers and enable them to join together the FREE ZONE lectures on children rights, human rights, democracy and civic society.