Dreams, Visions, Movies: Tools for Meaningful Teaching

I remember the first time I successfully helped one of my five daughters with a life problem by relating it to a movie she had seen. Sara was only five at the time, and had come to me distraught over some interaction she’d had with a sister or friend. As so often happens with parents, I was inclined to dismiss the issue as trivial, but to Sara it seemed important, and my caring side for once gained the victory over my tired, busy side.

As I struggled with how to help her understand the solution, I recognized the situation as analogous to a scene from one of her favorite movies. I walked her through the scene and asked questions about what the protagonist had done when faced with the same emotions Sara was feeling.

At first she didn’t see what I was getting at. Her face was clouded, her brow pinched. Then the moment of realization came, and the light and relief in her eyes showed me that her young mind had, for perhaps the first time, made the connection between story and real life. She saw how the movie could help her succeed.