Heather J. S. Birch, Nicole Fletcher, Cheryl Metcalf, and Clara Birch

The development of critical analysis skills and habits of mind is significant in this particular era of education when students are growing up with a greater volume and frequency of daily media inputs. Short clips peppered throughout childhood and adolescence make it more difficult to distinguish the value between virtual and in-person experiences and constantly compete for attention and influence regarding identity formation (Haidt 9). Foundational systems-theories of child development, which placed media at the outermost circle of human interaction, have seen transformation and critique in recent years (Navarro and Tudge). Media content today can be as influential on the socio-emotional development of children as family, teachers, and members of a faith community. When we give students the tools to interact with and understand media, they engage in a process not only of critical thinking and expression but of formation as well.

The Ontario curriculum offers a practical and well-structured framework known as the “critical analysis process” (Ministry of Education 23) designed to guide learners through thoughtful, deep engagement with artistic works, including digital media works such as movies. This article describes how K–12 teachers within Ontario and beyond might apply this process in connection with drama curriculum expectations, based on movie scenes, which can foster critical thinking as well as active engagement in dramatic arts.  

Overview of the “Critical Analysis Process”

The critical analysis process in Ontario’s arts curriculum is a framework teachers can use to guide their learners through an intentional and reflective journey toward understanding artistic creations such as movie scenes. This process consists of five core stages, which scaffold students’ thinking and expression. The stages are intentionally ordered to prompt students to first express an initial reaction, and then to conduct further investigation to build knowledge. It is important to note that the “consideration of cultural context” stage can be revisited at any point during the process, and this stage must be engaged in for at least one round or more before reaching the final stage where an informed point of view is expressed. Each stage can be done through discussion with a partner, or a small or large group, and is effectively done through recording individuals’ or the group’s ideas throughout, in order to be able to refer back to the results of engaging in each stage. Here is a short description of each stage in the critical analysis process, as described in the arts curriculum (Ministry of Education 23-28), as applied to movie scenes. 

Initial Reaction: Students experience a movie scene and then record their first impressions and emotional responses. Writing and drawing are both legitimate ways to record the initial reactions that are experienced at this stage, without yet getting to deep thinking, conversation, or time to reflect.  

Description: Students view the movie scene again and identify and describe details they observe such as shapes, colours, framing, camera angles, background images, and so on, focusing on concrete observations without immediate interpretation or asking why.

Analysis and Interpretation: Students think critically about the details listed in the previous stage and what they might mean, why they may have been included by the movie makers, and how those details contribute to character, narrative, messages, or themes. Before this stage is complete, students should also engage in “consideration of cultural context.”

Consideration of Cultural Context: Students investigate the context surrounding the creation of the movie scene, or the culture represented within the scene. This is a fact-finding mission to bring information to the background of the scene. Students can look for information about topics as general as the time period, setting, or genre of the movie, or as specific as information directly from the movie producers and actors about what they were intending to accomplish in the scene. The information gathered during this stage is put together with the previously gathered information to inform, deepen, or enlighten the previous thinking.

Expression of an Informed Point of View: Putting everything together, students now articulate their own point of view about the movie scene, which is informed by their engagement in all the stages of the process so far. This informed point of view will be supported by evidence from their analysis and research and go beyond a statement of personal preference to demonstrate a nuanced and more critical understanding of the scene. 

The arts curriculum (Ministry of Education 23–28) lays out the five stages in the process and provides a sample set of guiding questions to help students engage in each stage. The following section presents the stages in a linear fashion, although in the curriculum presentation, “consideration of cultural context” appears at the center of the process to depict that we may go back to engaging in this stage at any time during the process to continue informing our approach to any stage. These questions are printed here, directly as they appear in the curriculum (reproduced with permission).

Initial Reaction

• What is your first impression?
• What does this work bring to mind?
• What does this work remind you of?
• What do you feel? What emotions does this work evoke?
• What puzzles you? What are your questions?
• What connections can you make between this work and your own experience or other art forms?

Description

• What do you see when you examine the work closely?
• What grabs your attention in the work?
• What do you sense (e.g., see, hear, smell, feel, taste) when you examine the work?
• What stands out for you? What do you notice (e.g., elements)?
• What “qualities” do you hear or see in this work (e.g., strong, repeated rhythm; rapid and slow movements of the upper body; vibrant paint colours; bold brushstrokes or lines; a performer speaking in role with clarity and conviction)?
• What do you think the artist worked particularly hard at while he or she created this work?

Consideration of Cultural Context

• What interesting things did you learn about the artist’s life and work? Is there something important that we need to know in order to understand the meaning of his or her work?
• Were working conditions for people in the arts more or less favourable at the time this artist lived than they are today? Why, and in what way? Are there viewpoints or voices that are left out or never heard in the works?
• In what ways do you agree or disagree with what the artist or critics said about the work? Also, were there competing beliefs and practices at the time?
• Why might different audiences view a work in a way that is different from the artist’s intention (e.g., parents and a teenage audience might understand something different from seeing or hearing the same work)?
• How might the work be understood differently by different people in the same time period or by people in the past and in the present?
• Were you surprised by anything you discovered? If so, what?

Analysis and Interpretation

• What elements and conventions of the art form are used in this work?
• How are the elements organized, combined, or arranged?
• How does the work evoke ideas, feelings, and images?
• What do you think is the theme or subject of the work? (i.e., What is the artist trying to communicate, and why? or, in reflecting on their own work: What did you intend to communicate, and why?)
• Why do you think the choreographer, composer, playwright, or visual artist created this work?
• What message or meaning do you think the work conveys?
• In your opinion, what is the artist’s view of the world?
• How does this view match or contrast with your own view of the world?

Expression of an Informed Point of View

• How effectively does the artist select and combine elements to achieve an intended effect in this work? (i.e., What works?)
• What doesn’t work and why?
• Has your point of view shifted from your initial reaction? If so, how has it changed?
• Have your thoughts or feelings about the work changed since your first impressions? If so, how have they changed?
• What made you change your mind?
• If you have not changed your mind, can you now explain your first reaction more fully or precisely?
• Is this an important work? Why?

These questions, based on the critical analysis framework, encourage a thoughtful, layered engagement with media. Rather than experiencing a movie scene and defaulting to surface-level reactions or perhaps even stereotypes, moving through the five stages of the process by formulating and articulating responses to these questions can prompt students to take time to think, observe carefully, ask questions, and seek out further information. The ultimate goal of the process is to lead students to express an informed point of view, which is most effectively arrived at through engaging in all the stages within the process.

Engaging Students with Movie Scenes

Our students are accustomed to consuming media in short, highly engaging bursts; therefore, we advocate for carefully selecting an individual scene from a movie, which may be effective for instructional purposes, without needing to show the entire production. Strategic selection of one scene, chosen for its relevance, emotional impact, or message, may be effective for immediately capturing students’ attention and creating a strong point of connection with the content, even for a student who may not usually be drawn to viewing that type of movie in full. A pedagogical benefit of using shorter movie scenes is that more time is available for active learning, including follow-up drama activities that can deepen comprehension and embodied understanding.

Embodied learning theory highlights how knowledge and concepts are grasped through active use of the body in learning experiences (Branscombe 3). Grounded in the principles of embodied cognition, embodied learning positions thinking as inseparable from the body’s sensory and physical interactions with the world (Sanz et al. 395; Stolz 475). This pedagogical approach places the human body at the center of the learning process, acknowledging that learning unfolds within interconnected biological, social, and cultural contexts (Fraleigh 13;). Even in moments when learners appear physically still, their bodies are actively engaged, as subtle physiological shifts in heart rate, breath, temperature, and circulation reflect an ongoing process of interaction and adaptation (Anttila 3). Recognizing this connection between mind and body underscores the value of drama-based and movement-rich activities, which allow students to embody the concepts and analytical skills they develop through the critical analysis process  (Vettraino et al. 194)

When students encounter a movie scene, they are exposed to a rich set of messages about identity, community, problem solving, or relationships. An initial reaction may simply consist of noticing or recognizing what is already familiar to them, or what easily stands out as important, resonant, or agreeable. Guiding students to pause, reflect, and ask questions about what they see transforms passive viewing into an active exploration: Who made this? What choices did they make, and why? How do I, and others, respond to this story or character? Formulating responses to these questions can enhance students’ engagement in drama activities; trying out a different voice, movement, or emotion may represent a deeper level of complexity after engaging in this process.

Practical Application—Example Lesson: Inside Out

In this example, the critical analysis process is used to prompt informed thinking and responses to a scene from the movie Inside Out. When the character Joy attempts to suppress the character Sadness in order to keep Riley happy, the situation backfires.

Analysis

Initial Reaction: After viewing the scene, invite students to share their immediate responses in a class discussion: What did they feel while watching? What stood out to them? Have they ever been in a situation similar to Riley? Which character did they agree with? This stage invites students to become aware of their own gut reactions while setting aside judgments for later exploration.

This is an abridged version of this article. To read more, subscribe to Christian Educators Journal.

---

Works Cited

Anttila, Eeva. “The Potential of Dance as Embodied Learning.” Proceedings of Embodied Cognition and the Arts Conference, University of California, Irvine, 2018, pp. 1–6.  https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3s7118mr

Branscombe, Margaret V. Teaching through Embodied Learning: Dramatizing Key Concepts from Informational Texts. 1st ed., Routledge, 2019, doi.org/10.4324/9780429462986.

Fraleigh, Sandra Horton. Dance and the Lived Body. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1987, doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjrjj.

Haidt, Jonathan. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books, 2024.

Keogh, Andrew. God Loves You Infinitely. United Kingdom, Xlibris US, 2010.

Ministry of Education. The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1–8: The Arts. 2009, www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/arts18b09curr.pdf.

Navarro, Jessica L., and Jonathan R. H. Tudge. “Technologizing Bronfenbrenner: Neo-Ecological Theory.” Current Psychology, vol. 42, 2023, pp. 19338–54, doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02738-3.

Pope Pius XI. Studiorum Ducem, 29 June 1923, www.papalencyclicals.net/pius11/p11studi.htm.

Sanz, Ricardo, et al. “Thinking with the Body: Towards Hierarchical, Scalable Cognition.” Handbook of Cognitive Science: An Embodied Approach, edited by Paco Calvo and Antoni Gomila, Elsevier Science, 2009, pp. 395–421, doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-046616-3.00020-7.

Stolz, Steven A. “Embodied Learning.” Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol. 47, no. 5, 2015, pp. 474–87, doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2013.879694.

Vettraino, Elino, et al. “Click, Clack, Move: Facilitation of the Arts as Transformative Pedagogy.” Journal of Transformative Education, vol. 11, no. 3, 2013, pp. 190–208.

---

Heather J. S. Birch is an Associate Professor of Education and the director of the Bachelor of Education program at Tyndale University in Toronto, Canada. Her research interests include cross-curricular arts integration and teacher education.

Nicole Fletcher is an Assistant Professor of Education at Tyndale University. She teaches environmental education, spiritual formation and arts integration to teacher candidates. You can often find her writing music for the local church and exploring the Bruce Trail with her husband and three children.

Cher Metcalf is in her 22nd year of teaching in the arts with both Secondary and Elementary experience. Cher also teaches the arts and instrumental music to pre-service and in-service teachers at Tyndale University. Her passion is musical theater, and she recently started the Burlington Broadway Birds, providing dramatic opportunities to children in grades 2 through 12. Her favorite role is as mom to her two teenage daughters, who also love the arts.

Clara Birch is a young professional currently working as a data analyst in the consulting sector. She has conducted research projects relating to accessibility and operations research for healthcare systems. She is a pop culture enthusiast and enjoys using her technical and research skills to interact with pop culture in creative ways.