Teacher Q&A: Richard Donnelly, Bedford High School

Richard Donnelly teaches history and economics at Bedford High School. For the past four years, he has helped students to create short documentaries on recent events in world history.

PS: How did you become involved with Primary Source?

Richard: Bedford is a Primary Source partner district, and I began taking Primary Source classes when I started teaching at Bedford High School six years ago. The first course I took was about China, and since then I have taken other courses on China as well as some on the Middle East.

PS: Tell us about the work you've been doing with students and documentary movies.

Richard: I began making documentary videos with my sophomore World History students about four years ago. I developed the project after going to see a Primary Source presentation by Sam Wineberg, the author of "Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts," in which he talked about how students construct their versions of history. I wanted to see how students, with a background in world history, would interpret and present recent events even thought they had not yet learned about them in class. In the documentary video project, I assign the students topics from recent world events that they need to research and make into a ten-minute documentary video. I chose the medium of documentary video because, for the students, it is more exciting than writing a paper and it is the medium by which they interact with the world. In addition, after the students have finished their documentaries, they can show them to other students as a way of teaching them about the world. In fact, many of the students have posted their movies to YouTube.

PS: What has surprised you the most about this project and the films that students have made?

Richard: Honestly, it is the aspects of world history the students have taught me about. Before I assign students their topics, I do my own research to determine if there is enough material to make a good documentary and how hard it is to access information. In general, I am fairly knowledgeable about the topics the students are working on. Still, they come up with information and insights into world events that I never knew. In fact, assigning the students the project is a good way to learn.

PS: Why is it important for students to explore international perspectives in the classroom?

Richard: The United States is a part of a global community and today's students will be working with people around the world as a regular part of their lives. Because of this, being aware of people and cultures beyond the borders of the United States is as important as knowing math, science or any other area of study. If students learn how to approach learning about the rest of the world by having an informed and open mind, and can use critical thinking, they will be prepared in engage in a global environment.

PS: How has your experience with Primary Source influenced this project?

Richard: Beyond serving as an inspiration for this project, Primary Source has been very helpful as a source for expert opinions and resources that my students can use as they work on their documentaries. Primary Source is unique institution for a project like this.

PS: What topics will your students be working on this year?

Richard: The general theme for this year's documentaries is countries struggling to build democracy. The democratic process is more than voting. It involves having laws to protect individual rights, having a civil society in which people can participate in the political process, and governmental structures that allow for a sharing of power. Based on this theme, students will be working on making documentaries about the struggle for democracy in countries such as Belarus, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Burma, Pakistan, and Venezuela. The students will be showing their documentaries are part of Bedford High School's Spring History Night on June 4th.

PS: What advice would you have for other educators interested in student filmmaking?

Richard: The first piece of advice would be to really learn the technology involved in making documentary videos. The technology has changed a great deal over the past few years and it is now far easier to make documentary videos and the quality of production has increased. However, in order to help students troubleshoot problems and answer their questions, it helps to know the technology. My suggestion, and the way I learned, is to take the time to make a documentary video. The first video I made took a lot of time and was not very good, but I learned from my mistakes and the second video was much better. I also use my videos as a sample that I show students when I assign the project as a guide to the type of work that I expect from them.

My second piece of advice is to make sure that the students focus on the topic they are covering for their documentary There is a tendency to make these types of projects a showcase of technology. The students need to be reminded that the video technology is only a medium to communicate and that the important part of the project is the content of their documentary. In order to do this, I set up the project so that the majority of the time the students put into the project is focused on research, writing and editing a script, and gathering images. The actual video production is the last part of the project, which they only work on once they have developed the idea and voice of their documentary.