To use and create movies of professional practices


The Anicare website offers you a set of films of breeders' practices commented by the breeders themselves and by scientists. These films are pedagogical tools that aim to shed light on the complexity of a professional's reasoning, to show the diversity of possibilities depending on the situation and the context.

The interest in using films of professional practices in training

The aim is not to propose good practices, but to support the learner's reflection. The training covers several aims:
- to bring out the learners' conceptions. it is possible to ask them for their opinion on one or more practices.
- to feed reflection and establish dialogue the knowledge through experience presented by the breeders and the scientific knowledge developed by scientists, in particular during a debate.
- to create a cognitive dissonance by proposing a practice likely to disturb the learner's conceptions, as this testimony shows : “I've learned to value animal welfare more, I used to see it only as something productive. This change in my way of thinking was because of the videos I've seen" and finally "for my part, I have changed my way of thinking somewhat and will take more account of animal welfare in my professional future"
- to generate a socio-cognitive conflict by debating one or more practices
- to encourage creativity by proposing several possible practices, and allow the learner to define his own.
- to be more empathetic with the farmers
- to facilitate speaking, self-expression, as this veterinary student says: "before the films I was afraid that people would think I was crazy (...) when we saw the films I dared to speak up, to say what I really felt. (...). The training doesn’t get us used to that".
- to have concrete examples : this student says : “We can see how things are going in the field, the problems they are facing, the solutions implemented. It captivates me more than reading a theoretical book".

How to choose the movies?

For each professional situation, we propose different practices in order to allow comparison according to the context, and not to be in the promotion of good practices.
Some practices are commented on by scientists to bring new insights.
The choice of films depends of course on your objective: one film can be enough to create a debate. Several are necessary if you want the learner to be creative. As a student said : “It was nice to have testimonies from different geographical areas, from people who find different ways according to their context (the soil for example, the possibility or not to go outside, the building, the infrastructures)".

To propose several films enables a critical thinking, as this student remarks : “I have learned about the different types of bedding and my idea has changed about intensive farms, before I thought that the animals were in worse conditions, but after watching the videos about the different bedding systems, I have appreciated that the concern in animal welfare is not the system but the material used, the handling and the number of animals confined

Or “I used to think that everywhere beds were handled in the same way or with small variations and the mentality of the farmers was always thinking about profitability and not the animal, but after watching the videos and observing that the animal always comes first


Usually after 4 films, learners are less attentive.
Beyond the content brought by the film, the quality of the image, the charisma of the person also influences the person. The educator will also be attentive to these effects and will point them out if necessary. As a student said : “I was really interested in the "paillot". The Spanish also impressed me because we were trying to follow his accent. Our attention was less then. The sand didn't mark me because I'm not a big fan. The one who put straw also because he seemed very sincere. He made me think of "love is in the grassland".


How to create the films ?

Although we offer a wide range of films, you may wish to create your own, or have them made by the learners (especially during their work placement period).
It is not necessary to have professional equipment. Mobile phones now offer sufficient quality.
The choice of the practice to be filmed depends on your educational objectives but also on the interest of the farmer: does he/she want to be filmed? Which practices is he/she willing to show? What others does he/she prefer to hide? It is a matter of being clear with the breeder about the use you will make of it. Any film is likely to be broadcast on the internet, despite the precautions you take. It is therefore delicate to take a practice outside the law, or a practice that may be attacked by certain lobbyists, NGOs. But at the same time, it would not be a question of choosing only the "acceptable" practices, which could be considered as good practices, and leaving aside those that could be controversial. The challenge is indeed to work on controversy as a lever for learning.

Once you have filmed the practice, invite the farmer to watch it and comment on the passages that you and the farmer will have chosen. Confrontation with the image must be done with respect. Some people do not like to see themselves on the screen. You can anticipate this and warn them that it is often unpleasant to see themselves.
During the confrontation, your role is to accompany the person's expression, to unfold it. Some people talk a lot, which is one of the interests of the method, others less. It is not a question of having a judgmental behaviour, explicitly or implicitly. Your posture should remain empathetic, your questions should help him/her to go deeper: what was his goal? On which hypothesis is it based? What did he or she feel? What knowledge was he mobilizing? What constraints led him to do so, and not otherwise?etc...
If your learners are going to make video-confrontations with breeders, it is preferable to familiarise them with the posture and the interview method beforehand in a context where mistakes are accepted.