Animated cinema as a tool for spatial imagination: experiments with high school students

Abstract

The present article stems from a study that problematized the ways in which cinema is used in Geography learning based on the illustration of content, and representation of reality. The study aims to explore possibilities for thinking with images in the school context based on the contributions of Migliorin and Pipano (2019; 2023) regarding cinema as a world-creating device, and the discussions of Oliveira Jr. (2005; 2011), Queiroz Filho (2011) and Pimenta and Ferraz (2014) on the relationship between cinematographic language and Geography learning. The research applies a qualitative approach developed through literature review, and experimental activities with high school students. The animation entitled “The Boy and the World” was used as a device to mobilize the production of images and spatial imaginations by the students, followed by the collective creation and discussion of drawings produced by the participants. The results indicate that experimentation fostered reflections on space, diversity, socio-spatial inequalities, and the relationship between rural and urban areas. In addition, it has contributed to break the passive role assigned to students when watching films. The authors concluded that animated cinema presents the potential to expand the possibilities for creation, imagination, and meaning-making in geography education, shifting the focus from content transmission to experimentation, and the production of perspectives on the world.