Use of Movies in Human Rights and Democracy Teaching

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine how cinema movies contribute to students’ learning of human rights and democracy in the 2017-2018 Academic Year Fall Semester. The research was modelled according to the pattern of action research from qualitative research methods. Research was conducted for 13 weeks in a public university in Turkey. In the Human Rights and Democracy course, 13 movies about human rights were watched, interpreted and evaluated. Structured interview form was applied to 13 students. Data was analyzed by content analysis. The findings revealed that in general movies can be useful in teaching human rights and democracy issues. In this way, it has been found that both cognitive and affective subjects can be learned permanently. It has been concluded that movies can be used effectively in value teaching and movies based on real events should be used.