Documentary producer and SJSU Emeritus Professor of Sociology Bob Gliner’s new 30-min. documentary Communities as Classrooms — about a profound educational initiative at four schools in El Salvador — airs Sunday, June 5, at 8 p.m. throughout the San Francisco Bay Area on PBS station.
Communities as Classrooms shows an educational experiment in participatory democracy that could serve as a model in the US. The documentary shows how students become actively engaged in solving problems in their own communities, not as an extra-curricular activity, but as part of learning math, language, writing and other basic educational skills — skills they see as necessary to solving the issues their communities face.
The documentary was produced in association with the Ministry of Education in El Salvador. Gliner has produced several other documentaries including Learning From El Salvador, Schools That Change Communities, Lessons From the Real World. Gliner’s focus on social problems and social change has brought him to locations that include Russia, Macedonia, Viet Nam, India, Tanzania, Israel, Ecuador and Cuba, where he has filmed award-winning stories.
For more information or to read reviews, visit Gliner’s website at DocMakerOnline.com.