Film in education – on its own or just a complement? : A qualitative study of three Swedish teachers´ views of using film in teaching

The aim of this paper is to examine which attitudes and experiences teachers have around the wide text concept, which is found in the course plan for the Swedish subject, and to find out which function films have in their teaching. The starting point of the paper’s theoretical part is the Swedish subject’s course plans and current research concerning the wide text concept and film in teaching. In order to achieve the formulated aim, qualitative interviews have been performed with three Swedish teachers active in the later years of compulsory-school. The result shows that there are divided opinions of the actual meaning of the concept. However the three teachers agree that film has something to enrich the teaching of the Swedish language and they are for most part positive to using film in their teaching. There are certain differences as to how film is practically used in teaching by the three interviewed teachers, but film is used largely in three ways as also the researcher Christina Olin-Scheller has concluded: as illustration, as complement and as comparison. The three interviewed teachers also mean that the students, for most parts, are positive to using film as a teaching method and that lessons using film function satisfactory