Films as emergent educational resources in Indian upper primary social studies classrooms: a multimodal inquiry

Abstract

PurposeThis study explores the relevance of film texts in Indian social studies classrooms for students at the upper primary level. It examines how different types of visual texts can facilitate awareness, critical thinking, discussion and action.Design/methodology/approachUsing multimodal discourse analysis (MDA), this paper critically evaluates five selective films from regional cinemas in India and explores their teaching implications for social studies. The study argues that films are vital multimodal resources that can challenge the prevailing narratives in social studies pedagogy. It conveys how the suggestive revised taxonomy could benefit the students. It proposes a classification system for film analysis with discussion and states how films can bring out interrelated themes and encourage deeper, critical inquiry within the curriculum. The study finds discourse around the films and qualitatively stresses dialogue exchange with sentiment analysis using MAXQDA software. Developed by VERBI software, MAXQDA is a product whose name is inspired by the German Sociologist Max Weber, while the ‘QDA' stands for Qualitative Data Analysis.FindingsThe films act as multimodal texts, navigators, metaphors, communicative circuits and catalysts. The paper concludes that films can improve and expand multimodal learning of social studies in three ways: films help learners connect emotionally with the concepts, films make the learning process more appealing and extend it beyond classroom boundaries and films offer a unique insight into the socio-cultural subtleties that are often limited in textbooks.Originality/valueThis research pioneers an intersectionality-driven framework for film analysis in the curriculum for Indian upper primary social studies, offering innovative pedagogical tools to enrich Indian curriculum insights and bridge existing knowledge gaps.