PART TWO
ANALYSIS OF THE FILM

Analysis of film is a search for patterns and contrasts. This section of the text describes the patterns and contrasts in pace and flow that emerge from studying the film record of homes, villages and schools in a section of western Alaska. This description and discussion is in two parts: first, a detailed description of a number of pieces of footage representing the range of patterns found in the study; and, second, a more generalized discussion of patterns, contrasts and their significance. This general discussion draws on the whole five and one-half hours of film that were analyzed, not solely on the examples presented in detail.

The purpose of first presenting a detailed description of a number of cases from the film sample is to provide the reader with a more complete frame of reference within which to place the more general discussion. I also hope that these detailed descriptions will, more than any abstract definition, help to convey what I mean by pace and flow as well as show how these concepts were used in analysis of the film record.

The first case is one in which pace was widely shared and flow is high. The next three involve situations in which flow was low. The fifth case described in detail is one in which high flow developed quite possibly from the manner in which the teacher structured processes and relationships. The names of teachers here and throughout the study are the same code names used in Alaskan Eskimo Education. The descriptions are presented with photographs taken from the film record to help the reader see what is described and discussed. Many of these photographs are sequences which should be looked at with care in order to see the flow of movement as well as is possible in still photographs.

A Head Start Class in Kwethluk

A Combined Prefirst/Second Grade in Kwethluk

A Kindergarten Class in Bethel

A Kindergarten Music Class in Bethel

A Second Grade Class in Bethel

A Home in Kwethluk

General Findings of the Analysis