How do you teach screen subjects to students who don’t engage with the ‘classics’?
- written by Alexandra Ferguson
This is a question that often raised its head between myself and colleagues week after week.
An exasperated:
“They just don’t watch anything!?”
An alien concept to educators who have always enjoyed immersing themselves in film, television and screen. However, they are watching, and engaging, with more media than we could ever predict. It’s our attitudes towards the media itself that can cause a barrier as educators.
I delved deeper into this conundrum after the release of the Wuthering Heights (2026) trailer. On our way to London, perched on the Elizabeth Line, a friend of mine said the trailer reminded her of Saltburn (2023), which makes sense as the films share the same director.
“Did you watch, Saltburn?” She asked me.
I had, indeed, watched Saltburn, and we both agreed we didn’t understand what all the fuss was about.
We couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about because the content wasn’t shocking to us as middle-aged women. We were lured by the promise of extremes, but it struggled with the pay off as we have a much more diverse frame of reference than the majority of young people today.
My friend and I (perhaps, you, as well) grew up in a time when we watched films for the first time when they premiered on TV channels. We eagerly recorded films to VHS and watched them, over and over again because there was nothing else to watch. Sometimes, pulling out a mystery VHS with no label could lead to watching something entirely unexpected.
Discovering new films, television shows, or content was a real treat, and it came with great anticipation and excitement.
In 2025, it couldn’t be a more different experience.
“The difference for students and young people now, isn’t a lack of interest or intellect, it’s the fact that everyone is watching something. ”
Why did I watch Saltburn? Well, it was the same reason I watched Birdbox (2018) and countless other films on streaming services. I watched because it’s what everyone was talking about. I needed context for the jokes and the memes, the quotes and the comments on social media. Even if many of these were paid for by the production company to generate engagement: it worked.
Here lies the problem with teaching young people without the context of traditional screen content. In the majority of cases, young people watch what they have instant access to and whatever is generating the most interaction on social media. They’re not likely to engage films, television, or screen content that has historically been at the centre of media teaching.
When I was studying Film and Television at university in 2006 - 2009, I carted my grey-box of a television and DVD player along with me, armed with a subscription to LoveFilm (now Netflix) and unlimited access to DVDs at the university library. I spent hours watching films in my dorm room, some recommended by my peers, and others recommended by lecturers. Trawling through obscure websites looking for film recommendations and discovering the back-catalogues of directors/writers/cinematographers was a dream come true.
The difference for students and young people now, isn’t a lack of interest or intellect, it’s the fact that everyone is watching something.
How many times in a week does someone ask you:
Have you seen this!?
‘This’ could be anything, on any channel or platform, including recurring content on YouTube. Plus, there’s an expectation that if it’s recommended, you should make time to watch it. In this vein, students want to be part of the conversation, and keeping up with the constant release of new content is often a priority over understanding the roots and references of current releases.
Finding a reference point that resonates with students is an essential part of the teaching process. Engaging with students and validating the things they are passionate about, or content they find interesting; even just content they have actually seen, allows educators to link to other references, and most likely, better teaching examples.
That said, uncovering new teaching examples among today’s plethora of options, is a blessing. Not only because students can aid us in this, but also because we have access to talent from across the globe, from diverse backgrounds, and stories being told in a variety of exciting new ways.
A few years ago, one of my teaching colleagues would often start with K-Pop as a reference point for cinematography, because this was something the majority of their students engaged with. From there, they could gauge what other traditional screen content the group might be interested in, and could make recommendations based on their love of K-Pop. It was important for them not to dictate what the students watch, but to work with them to find examples across screen platforms to engage them. This was often a diverse selection of films, television shows, YouTube shows, video games, and music videos. Capturing their interest was the most effective way to teach, and in many cases, students were excited by the prospect of learning more through older, more traditionally recognised examples.
“Now, as a teacher myself, I can understand her frustration, but I can also see an opportunity for her to engage with us about something we were excited to explore.”
As educators, it’s important to appreciate the environment in which young people are engaging with media and screen. They’re bombarded with content constantly (aren’t we all), and will often watch films or television shows on their phone screen. This isn’t necessarily a choice made as a preference, but for convenience. They have access to so many options that it wouldn’t make sense for them to seek out a specific film or television example when there is so much for them to watch instantly. They have very little exposure to a live broadcast experience, and so don’t fully understand the buzz of watching something along with millions of other people as a once in a lifetime opportunity.
I don’t make these points to be negative about their experience, but to put into context how young people are entering into studying screen subjects. They still want to be celebrated and understood, but their opinions about screen content are often germinated from a smaller, more accessible pool of examples. When teaching, listening to their opinions and allowing students to feel heard is the first step to understanding their frames of reference. Using examples they know can reel them in and build their interest in specific areas. It doesn’t erase the traditional examples, but opens a door to them.
During my time at university, many of my class had just seen The Departed (2006), and we shared with one of our lecturers how much we’d enjoyed it. Her response was to laugh at us and imply we were idiots because none of us had seen the original film, Infernal Affairs (2002). Now, as a teacher myself, I can understand her frustration, but I can also see an opportunity for her to engage with us about something we were excited to explore. As you might imagine, her response to my excitement didn’t encourage me to watch Infernal Affairs, and also didn’t encourage me to continue to share my opinions in the classroom.
“My own experience teaching film, screen, and content creation to young people encouraged me to meet them where they are, then build upon the areas which excite them to stoke their interest, and finally feeling confident to guide us to explore more examples, both old and new.”
The balance between encouraging self-exploration and recognising screen content that engages young people, in the same breath as trying to encourage young people to engage with classic examples, or examples that often appear in academic writing, is a very difficult one. However, the importance of finding a common ground is what ensures the history of screen is never abandoned. It’s just as important that the future generations of the screen industry understand the evolution of celluloid, the process of hand-editing, or loading film to a projector by hand.
My own experience teaching film, screen, and content creation to young people encouraged me to meet them where they are, then build upon the areas which excite them to stoke their interest, and finally feeling confident to guide us to explore more examples, both old and new.
Conversations like this are particularly important as we move further into an era of AI and lack of transparency when it comes to creating art. Fortifying students with an understanding of screen history, appreciation of screen craft, and a critical eye when it comes to newly released content will work to mitigate a future where young people no longer honour the works that have come before them.
Alexandra Ferguson is Programme Lead for The Film & TV Educators Network.
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