Musical Film as a New Pedagogical Tool in History Education

In this thesis, which is a comparative qualitative content analysis of the musical films Hamilton, Miss Saigon and Chess, compared to the textbooks SOS Historia 7–9 and Utkik Historia 7–9. The study has been done to see if musical film can be used as a pedagogical tool and if they can create a good historical context and historical empathy when compared to what the textbooks cover in the current time period. This is because aesthetic elements are often not included in the theoretical subjects in school and where musical films would be a new area of use for teachers. What the result and conclusion shows is that the historical context can vary depending on which musical film is analyzed against which textbook. Sometimes the musical film provides a better historical context than the textbook just as Hamilton, and sometimes it has been worse as in Miss Saigon and Chess, depending on whether it was about time periods, places or actors. What the study also shows is that if the textbook and the musical film are combined, the historical context is often strengthened, as they sometimes complement each other. This is because they address different time periods, places and actors, but which can be considered equally important in order to have a rich and broad historical context. When it comes to historical empathy, Hamilton is weaker and the textbooks do not strengthen it either. While it is the other way around in the case of Miss Saigon and Chess, where historical empathy can be created with the help of the textbooks, although SOS Historia can be considered better in this case. However, it emerges from the study that a third pedagogical tool is often needed, such as a personal letter, diary or newspaper article for example to reinforce historical empathy even more. Although the musical film is long and more time-consuming, the use of it as an educational tool is considered positive. Musical films could also influence a student's learning and it becomes a new way of absorbing information from the current historical period. That in this way one can acquire a historical understanding with a different kind of pedagogical tool than what is usually used in a classroom and at the same time introduce the aesthetic learning processes into the non-aesthetic subjects.