Vernacular cinema, self-concept and the perceptual–conceptual shift: exploring conversations between film education and developmental psychology

Co-authored by film education practitioners and developmental psychologists, this article seeks to establish an interdisciplinary dialogue between the emergent discourses of film education and developmental psychology. In particular, it explores the possible implications for our understandings of film education of recent psychological research into: (1) the cognitive and social consequences for young people of developing a sense of self; and (2) understandings of children’s development of visual cognition. Seeking areas of commonality and mutual resonance between different disciplinary vocabularies and methodologies, ultimately we present a series of proposals for how film education may benefit from further interface with developmental psychology.