The Role of Cinema in the History of Media Education in Canada

The era of audiovisual culture began more than a hundred years ago with the advent of cinema, and is associated with a special language that underlies non-verbal communication processes. Today, screen influence on humans is dominant, as the generation for which computer is an integral part of everyday life has grown. In recent years, non-verbal language around the world has been a major tool in the fight for influence over human consciousness and intelligence. Formation of basic concepts of media education, which later developed into an international pedagogical movement, in a number of western countries (Great Britain, France, Germany) began in the 60’s and 70’s of the XX century. In Canada, as in most highly developed countries (USA, UK, France, Australia), the history of media education began to emerge from cinematographic material. The concept of screen education was formed by the British Society for Education in Film (SEFT), initiated by a group of enthusiastic educators in 1950. In the second half of the twentieth century, due to the intensive development of television, the initial term “film teaching” was transformed into “screen education”. The high intensity of students’ contact with new audiovisual media has become a subject of pedagogical excitement. There was a problem adjusting your children’s audience and media. The most progressive Canadian educators, who have recognized the futility of trying to differentiate students from the growing impact of TV and cinema, have begun introducing a special course in Screen Arts. The use of teachers of the rich potential of new audiovisual media has greatly optimized the learning process itself, the use of films in the classroom has become increasingly motivated. At the end of 1968, an assistant position was created at the Ontario Department of Education, which coordinated work in the “onscreen education” field. It is worth noting that media education in Canada developed under the influence of English media pedagogy. The first developments in the study of “screen education” were proposed in 1968 by British Professor A. Hodgkinson. Canadian institutions are actively implementing media education programs, as the development of e-learning is linked to the hope of solving a number of socio-economic problems. In particular, raising the general education level of the population, expanding access to higher levels of education, meeting the needs for higher education, organizing regular training of specialists in various fields. After all, on the way of building an e-learning system, countries need to solve a set of complex technological problems to ensure the functioning of an extensive network of training centers, quality control of the educational process, training of teaching staff and other problems. Today, it is safe to say that Canada’s media education is on the rise and occupies a leading position in the world. Thus, at the beginning of the 21st century, Canada’s media education reached a level of mass development, based on serious theoretical and methodological developments. Moreover, Canada remains the world leader in higher education and spends at least $ 25 billion on its universities annually. Only the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia are the biggest competitors in this area.