Using Movie Clips to Promote Reflective Practice: a Creative Approach for Teaching Ethics

To teach ethics implies setting rules, guidelines, and rational decision-making but it also requires creativity and acknowledgement of the affective aspects of our decision-making processes. Usually, ethical inquiries become involved in emotions that cannot be ignored but included in the learning process. The authors relate their experience with a pedagogic model involving film clips to prompt and frame discussions that might foster a more holistic approach to ethics education. Teaching with movies is also an innovative method for promoting the sort of engaged learning that education requires today. By allowing reflections on emotions, participants in these sessions can learn to develop their reflective abilities and attitudes. Life stories derived from movies fit well with the learners' context and expectations and could serve as a launching point for discussions of both the emotions and ethical scenarios. Using film clips in a structured way allows for new opportunities in ethics education.