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If There Is a Reason to Study

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If There Is a Reason to Study
學習的理由
Directed byAdler Yang
Produced byWuna Wu
StarringLi-Ann Chen, Pei-Ling Tsai, Yu-Xuan Lin, Xing-Hao Gong, Adler Yang
CinematographyAdler Yang, Yan-Fu Lin
Edited byTzu-Yin Wu, Jia-Hsien Zhao, Yu-Ning Guo, Adler Yang
Music byMin-CHieh Shi, Adler Yang
Production
company
Awakening Lab
Distributed byActivator Marketing Licensing Co.
Release date
  • August 12, 2016 (2016-08-12)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryTaiwan
LanguageChinese

If There Is a Reason to Study (Native title: 學習的理由) is an ethnographic documentary film spanning 7 years directed by Adler Yang. The production of the film started in March 2009, when Yang was 14 years old, studying at the Humanity (RenWen) Junior High School as a grade 8 student. The film was theatrically released in Taiwan and Hong Kong since August 2016 by crowdfunding, screening at major theaters in Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Kaohsiung, Yilan, Kowloon, etc. The film has also been selected in more than 10 film festivals internationally, receiving 11 awards and recognitions.[1]

In the film, Yang documented the story of his friends' in the Humanity Junior High facing the high-stakes high school entrance exam, the Basic Competence Test (BCT), and followed them until their college years. The film not only examines how high-stakes testing and the tracking systems shape students' lives in the long run but also uncovers a more common struggle beyond school, which Yang calls Allocation Dependence: As long as one grows a dependency on allocated resources or/and the resource allocation system, one will strive to fit into the allocation criteria, even at the cost of, including but not limited to, alienation, waste (i.e., some qualities have to be trimmed off/disposed of), disparity (i.e., every person's standing point are more or less advantageous or disadvantageous in the face of the criteria), exhaustion (i.e., people's behaviors shift away from resource regeneration and focus on fitting into the allocation criteria), and fragility (i.e., people loses their capability of obtaining and regenerating resource if, by any reason, the allocation cease to function).[2][3]

Reception and influence

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Originally titled The Soul -- I Don't Want the BCT, the film has been publicly known in Taiwan since 2010, as the project was surprisingly selected as a grantee by the Public Television Service.[4] Since then, Yang and his team at an average age of 15 have been continually invited to educational meetings and conferences to represent the voice of students, joining the public discourse of education reform.

First started in 2001, the BCT was announced to be replaced in a few years by President Ma Ying-Jeou on January 1, 2011. In 2013, the last BCT had ended, replaced by the Comprehensive Assessment Program in 2014.

In the 2014 South Taiwan Film Festival, Golden Bell Award Best Director John Hsu considered If There is a Reason to Study one of the three most surprising films in the festival, praising that it is the "best work among all recent films addressing the education and testing culture in Taiwan. Talented and sincere."

On August 12, 2016, Deputy Minister of Education Chen Liang-gee met with Yang and his teammates for their contribution to Taiwanese education,[5] invited them to participate in future collaborations, and praised the film for its authentic representation of the education in Taiwan.[6]

The film was praised as the "epitome of 2016 Taiwanese Movies" by film critic and Golden Horse Film Festival judge Bing-Hong Zheng.[7] He also noted that If There is a Reason to Study is the most successful crowdfunded Taiwanese documentary project in 2016, reaching 282% of its initial goal[8]

The film's Chinese title "學習的理由(literal translation: reason to study)" has since then become a common term widely used in the education discourse in Taiwan even when the actual film was not being conversed.[9][10][11]

Based on this documentary and other ethnographic data not used in the film's final version, Yang continues to develop his research and present his findings internationally on the relations between/mechanisms underlying educational practices and systemic human struggles.[12][13][2][3][14][15][16]

References

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  1. ^ "If There is a Reason to Study -- Home". 學習的理由 If There is a Reason to Study. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  2. ^ a b Yang, A. (2021). How Might We Unveil Generative Mechanisms of Wicked Problems? Discovering "Allocation Dependence" Through a Critical (Auto)Ethnography of an Alternative School. 2021 International Association of Critical Realism Conference. South Africa.
  3. ^ a b 楊, 逸帆 (2021). "配分依存：全人的発達を抑制する生成メカニズム". 総合人間学. 15. 総合人間学会: 39–59.
  4. ^ TVBS. "不想考基測！　15歲紀錄片導演入選│TVBS新聞網". TVBS. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  5. ^ "陳良基的創新筆記". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  6. ^ 聯合新聞網. "這部記錄片很強 陳良基葉丙成都有感 | 生活 | 即時". 即時. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
  7. ^ "鄭秉泓／2016年最傑出的台灣電影 | 娛樂星光雲 | ETtoday東森新聞雲". 娛樂星光雲 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  8. ^ "細說2016年台灣紀錄片，沒有比這篇更全的了" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2017-05-10.
  9. ^ "- 4歲，學習的理由- YAMAHA之星！". www.yamahamusic.tw. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  10. ^ "Lis情境科學教材". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  11. ^ "「學習」的第一堂課：找到為自己學習的理由". www.cmmedia.com.tw. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  12. ^ Adler Yang (2017). "Beyond good intentions, into our lifestyles". Asian Network for Youth Social Entrepreneurs Forum. Seoul Metropolitan Government. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.22166.93764.
  13. ^ Adler Yang (2020). "Transformation of a System Begins With Transforming the Way We Live". Isha Foundation. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.18963.14888. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. ^ Adler Yang (2021). "從《學習的理由》、超額比序/學習歷程檔案爭議，論文明難題與系統變革的可能 (On Civilization's Dilemmas and the Possibilities for Systemic Transformation: Through the Lens of If There is a Reason to Study and the Exam-Free Enrollment Debates)". Youth Development Administration. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.14375.62882. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. ^ Adler Yang (2021). "What if the "Disadvantaged" are already the most "Resource Abundant?" A case for shifting from "Forecast-based" to "Agent-based" talent incubation". 2021 Konrad Adenauer Sharing Political and Civic Engagements Spaces (KASpaces) Regional Roundtable on Accelerating Progress and Equity in Education. Singapore: Konrad Adenauer Foundation. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.18626.66245.
  16. ^ Adler Yang (2022). "台灣已經有「世界級教育體系」了嗎？ 為什麼都感覺不到？—— 從《學習的理由》、超額比序/學習歷程爭議，談未來課綱的思維轉向 (Does Taiwan Already Have a "World-Class Education System?" Why Don't Most of Us Feel So?)". 2022新課綱實施與教育協作論壇. National Academy for Educational Research. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.33243.44328.
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