Analysing the potential of Disney-Pixar films for educating young children in inclusive values

ABSTRACT

The use of films in the classroom is not new, as they promote critical thinking and reflection (Prats, Lluis. 2005. Cine para Educar. Barcelona: Belacqua). However, their role in promoting inclusive values with young learners remains relatively unexplored. Films have been considered a powerful pedagogical tool that helps students be in contact with the Other, creating new feelings of understanding and emotional attachment (Saito, Haito. 2010. “Actor-Network Theory of Cosmopolitan Education.” Sociological Theory 29 (2), 124–149). In the present work, the pedagogical potential of three Disney-Pixar films is explored to educate young learners in inclusive values related to difference and diversity. To do this, the authors perform a formal analysis using eight key elements linked to inclusive education and the Spanish curriculum for infant education. Results show that these elements are present, with a higher predominance of portraying different races or ethnicities, and the display of border transgressions, demonstrating they may enhance young learners’ learning of inclusive values in the classroom.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusive education
• Disney-Pixar films
• inclusive values
• intercultural awareness
• young learners

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ana Virginia López-Fuentes

Ana Virginia López-Fuentes works as a lecturer at the Department of Education Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Spain. She holds BA degrees in Infant Education and Primary Education, with a bilingual English-Spanish specialism. Since 2016, after completing an MA in Cinema and Literature in English, she has been working in film studies. In May 2021 she obtained a PhD in English Studies from the University of Zaragoza with a dissertation on the potential of cosmopolitanism in twenty-first-century Disney animation films to promote inclusive education.

Raquel Fernández-Fernández

Raquel Fernández-Fernández is a lecturer at the Modern Philology Department (Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid). She holds a PhD on Modern Languages (English Studies). In 2014 she was awarded the European Language label for the design and coordination of the bilingual project at Centro Universitario Cardenal Cisneros. In September 2021 she was appointed the Director of the Master’s studies in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Her areas of expertise are EFL teaching, bilingual education and the use of literature in FL.