Cinema as an Educational Tool in Primary School: Emotions, Narrative and Meaning-Making in the CIPS Project
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This contribution describes an experience of flm education carried out within the CIPS project at the Caponnetto Comprehensive Institute (IC Caponnetto) in Monsummano Terme, with the Piccolomini Higher Education Institute (IIS Piccolomini) in Siena as the leading school. The project was implemented in primary schools with the aim of introducing pupils to cinema as a form of expression, communication and meaning- making. The educational pathway proposed an active approach to audiovisual language, encouraging students to move from passive consumption of images to the ability to understand, interpret and creatively use them. Through workshop activities, pupils explored the relationship between cinema and emotions, experimenting with storytelling processes, narrative analysis and visual planning through the creation of storyboards. Particular attention was devoted to understanding the elements that constitute cinematic narratives: characters, settings, atmospheres, narrative sequences and communicative meanings. The pathway was also connected to the theme of peace through the reading and interpretation of a poem by Gianni Rodari, offering pupils the opportunity to establish relationships between poetic language, images and emotions. The subsequent creative writing phase allowed students to reinterpret their experience, consolidating the narrative and expressive skills they had developed. The experience highlighted the educational value of cinema as a tool capable of integrating cognitive, emotional and relational dimensions. Keywords: flm education; primary school; audiovisual language; emotions; storytelling; creative writing; creativity.
Author: Dei, Paola
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7168955479
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