MEDIA ACTION PROJECTS
INDEX TO ARTICLES AND TEXTS
- Real Communication with Video. SUMMARY
- Some Considerations on the Use ofVideo in Communicative
Actions. SUMMARY
- Organizing the Differend orColonizing the Systemworld.
SUMMARY
- The Right to Information on Local Markets. SUMMARY
- Introduction to Freinet teaching methods. Interview with
the principal of the Freinet school in Hoofddorp,Holland.
SUMMARY
- Students Make Audiovisuals Themselves: How it can be
done.SUMMARY
- "AH! ERNESTO!" A great short story on education by the
famous writer Marguerite Duras. Enjoy
it!
- Teaching by
Polarisation by Gert Z. Nordström. A precious text
when reflecting on teaching methods.
- Using video in as an instrument in communication,
applyingfeedback and feedforward. SUMMARY
Disclaimer
Comments, suggestions and orders for the MAP book are mostwelcome
and can be sent to my e-mail
address.
Return to:
On this site you can find information on the MAP book
and download texts.
The texts are about the use of video in education with
methodologies related to visual anthropology, qualitative
research and communicative action according to Jürgen
Habermas' "Theory of Communicative Action".
The learning methods used are Freinetian teaching, action based
learning and experiental learning.
The target groups for this site ranges from teachers to
faculty, fromparents to students in various educational
settings.
In many institutions video is mainly used to serve as
ateaching aid in the hands of the teacher or as a tool of
indoctrination or oppression. It is seldom an instrument of
liberation in the hands of the learners.
In our opinion we try to use video as a research tool, as an
analytical device and as a production instrument in the hands
of the students.In this way students can pursue their own
educational goals with the help of a basically powerful
instrument. Teachers are the facilitators in this process.
This may sound revolutionary. Well, it is not. We have years
ofexperience, working with students from the age of 6 to 70. We
have been teaching in primary schools and universities in Holland
and England.We have facilitated groups in Europe and Africa. All
those people had a few things in common. They all had their
curiosity and the urge to pursue it. They wanted to find out
things about the world around them and wanted to report their
findings to others, with the aim to change conditions of lifeand
work. Sometimes they succeeded.
For all those purposes they used audiovisual equipment;as a
research tool and as communication tool and as a change
agent.
This site contains texts and Media Action Projects background
information on the use of video in education.
By using a text you agree to the disclaimer
Return to:
SUMMARIES
SUMMARIES of the texts that can be downloaded:
-
SUMMARY: A basic text on the use of Jürgen Habermas'
"Theory of Communicative Action" in communicating with video.
The text gives a short introduction to Habermas' theory and
applies it to communicating with video.Theoretical and
practical shortcomings in the use of video and television in
communication are discussed. The text ends with a diagram for
critically evaluating programmes on their communicative
effectiveness. The text is one of the appendices to the MAP
book.
[To the text: HTML]
[TXT]
Return to:
-
SUMMARY: When video is used as a change agent in social
processes, themethod of making video feedbackloops can be
useful. In this text I describe theoretical issues and give
some practical advice.
This text also appeared in Slovakian in: PREDPOKLADY
ZAVADZANIA ISO 9000 NA SLOVENSKU. ISBN 80-967048-3-4.
[To the text: HTML]
[TXT]
Return to:
-
SUMMARY: In this article, Hugo Letiche and Dirk Schouten
report on a research project carried out in Eastern-Europe's
Slovakia.
Business School students from Erasmus University in Holland
and the School of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia, jointly
researched 'quality' in Slovakian factories. They used video
as a research tool, applying theoretical and practical
notions and methodologies used in visual anthropology and
action based learning.
The text was part of a presentation on Summit 2000 in
Toronto, Canada, May 13-17, 2000.
[To the text: HTML]
[TXT]
Return to:
-
SUMMARY: In this paper, given for the Council of Europe on
a workshopon cultural minorities, Dirk Schouten presents a
model by which the right toinformation can be exercised by
groups; a class in a school, agroup of adults, a group of
young Turks, a group of migrantsetc., etc.. The model
describes procedures and indicates ways toenable the
individual to integrate into the local community withthe
support of audiovisual means. Some of the basic assumptions
that support the model and indicate some of the advantages if
using it, will bedescribed. The model is constructed on three
pillars: Research, Analysis andProduction. The model has been
used over a number of years with hundredsof different groups
in Europe and Africa. Working with the model not only
convinced the author that it adequatefor producing
audiovisual material on a truly democratic base, but that is
also a good instrument to exercise the right to be a member
of a society.Examples are given to illustrate the model:The
first example is about a class of primary school children
living nearbySchiphol Airport (Holland), doing research on
the effects of the airport ontheir lives.The second example
deals with a defined environment; the world of theTurkish
entrepreneur. Turkish entrepreneurs are seen as 'natural'
entrepreneurs, but a lot of them fail because there is a lack
of understanding about contradictory regulations and Dutch
bureaucracy. The use of video combined with feedback loops
plays an important role inestablishing contact between the
various stakeholders involved in theproblems of Turkish
entrepreneurs.The text also gives some information on the
principles and philosophies thatunderpin the model: The
German philosoper Jürgen Habermas an his theorieson
communicative action and the French postmodernist Francois
Lyotard withhis concept of 'le differand'.
[To the text: HTML]
[TXT]
Return to:
-
SUMMARY: In this text background information is given on
the Frencheducatonalist Celestin Freinet and the Brazilian
pedagogue Paolo Freire. The basic principles of Freinet
education are given and made tangible by an interview with
Arno Hokke, principal of a Freinet School in Holland.
This text is an appendix to the MAP book.
[To the text: HTML]
[TXT]
Return to:
-
SUMMARY: An early text on the 'Eerbeek Model'; the
predecessor of the MAP model.
[To the
text]
Return to:
-
SUMMARY:Feedforward seems to have unseen possibilities
when used in communication with video. The text is under
constructions. When you are interested in this kind of stuff
and maybe willing to participate in experimenting with the
described methods, email
me.
Return to:
Title:
MEDIA ACTION PROJECTS
A Model for Integring Video in Project-based
Education, Training and Community Development
Authors:
Dirk Schouten and Rob Watling
Foreword by Len Masterman
(Author of "Teaching the Media" and "Teaching about
Television")
Published by:
The Urban Programme Research Group
School of Education
University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham
NG7 2RD
England.
ISBN: 0- 85359- 209 - 8
Dimensions: 21 x 30 cm (landscape). 92 pages.
Paperback, full colour cover, with illustrations, diagrams and
flowcharts.
PRICE: $ 20 or 20 Euro (p & p included).
Ordering: Write an e-mail and I will contact you
onhow to get the book ASAP.
ORDERING via GPN
The MAP book can also be obtained in the U.S.A. via
Great Plains National (GPN), one of the country’s largest
and most respected educational product distributors located at
Nebraska ETV at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.
The price of the book at GPL is US $ 19,95
Address:
GPN
Nebraska Educational Telecom
P.O. Box 80669
Lincoln, NE 68501-0669
United States of America
Voice: 800-228-4630 or 402-472-2007
Fax: 800-306-2330 or 402-472-4076
E-mail:Go!
Web: Go!
MAP at GPN:
Go!
You can find MAP also in the catalogue of the:
CENTER FOR MEDIA LITERACY
Go!
Return to:
Media Action Projects is a
new practical guide forteachers, pupils and parents who want to
use video ineducation, training and community development.The
clear twelve stage model helps facilitators and teachersto
support groups as they research, produce and showaudiovisual
texts. The model has been used succesfullythroughout Europe and
Africa in settings ranging fromprimary schools to universities,
from community groups toliberation movements.
Beginners can use this book to develop the skills insupporting
practical media work. They will also find ahands-on course to
help them become resourcefulfacilitators. Experienced media users
will find here a newapproach which will enable them to support
more groups asthey produce real texts about issues of real
importance. Fullof new ideas and practical examples, this book
represents adefinitive break with conventional media practices.
There is"... nothing in the available literature to compare with
it".
Return to:
- Foreword by Len
Masterman
page 5
- Introduction
page 7
- Section One: The basic elements of the model
page 9
- Section Two: How to begin using the model
page 17
- Section Three: The model, stages 1 - 12
page 19
- Section Four: Planning the model
page 55
- Section Five: Shortcuts and variations
How to adapt the model for differennt groups
and circumstances
page 59
- Section Six: Teach yourself the model
short course for newcomers to video equipment
page 65
- Section Seven: Basic editing
How to handle simpler types of equipment
page 73
- Section Eight: Accounts of two video productions
in Holland and England using the model with
different age groups. Details of how the model
was used and adapted in each case
page 81
- Section Nine: The Authors
page 91
- Bibliography
page 92
Return to:
By Len Masterman
I was in Dirk Schouten's debt even before I had met him. In
1986 he had devoted much time and intellectual energy
totranslating some of my own work into Dutch and in thefollowing
year he arranged for me to teach a series ofworkshops at his
college in Eerbeek, outside ofAmsterdam. It is easy, of course,
to warm to one who hasworked so hard on your behalf, and not
surprisingly theDutch workshops turned out to be relaxed and
convivialaffairs, and Dirk Schouten the congenial host I
hadexpected.
What I hadn't anticipated was the originality and rigour
ofDirk Schouten's own teaching, particularly in that areawhere
such qualities have been in notoriously short supply,that of
practical media work. He and his colleaues hadsomehow managed to
get young working-class adults whohad been alienated from
education producing photo-books,radio programmes and video-tapes
about their lives whichwere of astonishing honesty and
accomplishment. And thetapes I saw on how groups of students had
gone abouttheir work -their planning, discussions and
decision-making- was as good an exemplar as I had ever seen of
democraticvalues at work in education.
In short, I returned from Holland having learned much morethan
I had given, and determined both to find out moreabout the
processes which lay behind Dirk Schouten's work,and to make these
available to other media teachers asquickly as possible.
Accordingly I partly returned hiscompliment to me by urging him
to write up his work, andproduce an English translation of it
which I would try todisseminate. This monograph, after too long a
delay, is theresult of that request. It would not have been
produced,however, and certainly not in its present form, without
thecommitment and application of Rob Watling - of whommore
later.
When Schouten's manuscript arrived, even I was astonishedby
its detail and coherence. I had expected some originalideas and
approaches, illustrated by practical examples. What I received
was a comprehensive account of a twelve-stage model, which had
been practically thought through andtried-and-tested over an
extended period of time, and in avariety of educational settings.
Here was nothing in theavailable literature to compete with it.
In its theoreticalrigour and in the richness of its empirical
detail it was outon its own, a genuine original.
But the very uniqueness and completeness of Schouten'smodel
presented some problems. First of all there weredifficulties of
language. Schouten's English translation wasexcellent, but it was
a translation nevertheless with rhythmsand cadences unfamiliar to
British ears. More importantlySchouten had been compelled to
hammer out a distinctivevocabulary to describe what he was doing,
and to signalsignificant breaks with more conventional practices.
Thiswas a language which Schouten had internalised. He used
itnaturally. But it presented some barriers to those coming tohis
work for the first time. Finally, Schouten's examples,taken
largely from his most recent work with adultcommunity groups, did
not entirely 'fit' with the situationsof those teachers whom I
wished to reach, media teachers inBritish schools and
colleges.
At which point, enter Rob Watling a British mediaresearcher
who was carrying out an international review ofpractical media
work in 1992, and who was bowled over, asI had been, by Dirk
Schouten's work. Watling travelled toHolland to gain first-hand
experience of the Eerbeek model,and since then has collaborated
with Schouten on a numberof projects in Holland and Britain. He
has adapted themodel with a wide range of British groups in
primary andsecondary schools as well as in colleges and
universities. Watling's achievement has been to take Schouten's
originalEnglish draft and present it in a style and with
exampleswhich make it as accessible as possible to British
teachers.
What a British readership will find in these pages is
anaccount of practical media work which brings togetherqualities
we have come to think of, during the 80s and 90s,as educational
polarities: it is democratic, yet rigorous;creative, yet
systematic; original, yet well-tested; reflectiveyet active;
practical but not technical; progressive yetdelivering high
standards.
Media teachers won't have to adopt Dirk Schouten's modelin its
entirety to benefit from his work. Even his asides -on keeping
technique in its place; on predicting andmanaging stressful
situations; on the significance ofresearch; on preparing for
interviews; on avoiding theshooting of too much material - if
heeded, would improvethe quality of most practical work beyond
recognition.
But what strikes this reader most forcibly about the
workdescribed here is its refinement of educational
qualitieswhich have been rendered almost literally foreign to us
overthe past ten years by our now over-centralised
andoverprescribed curriculum. Anyone, of whatever
politicalpersuasion, watching the videotapes of Schouten's
studentsat work, would attest to the democratic and
educationalvalue of the processes they are engaged in. Yet
theyassume the primary importance of students' own ideas,
theinvestigative nature of real learning, the
possibleparticipation of parents, the linking of educational work
withcommunity action, a high degree of student control overtheir
own learning, indeed a whole panoply of educationalapproaches
which are now virtually out-of-court for Britishteachers. Their
re-emergence, in however tentative a form,and the re-opening of a
debate about the nature of a high-quality democratic education is
long overdue. I hope thatthis monograph will not only be a
fitting tribute to DirkSchouten's work, but provide a relevant
starting-point forthat debate.
Len Masterman. Wirral, UK, August 1997.
Return to:
This booklet offers a
systematic way of working forteachers, parents and pupils who
wish to undertake practicalmedia work (particularly video and
audio-visual texts) ineducation, training, community development
and similarsettings. The model has been developed over a number
ofyears since its conception at the Folk High School inEerbeek,
Holland, and provides an organisational structurewithin which
groups can identify both their goals andsubprocesses for
archieving them.
The book contains examples of the way the model bas beenused
in a number of different settings. These are clearlymarked in the
text.Thanks are due to Karel Lantermans and Henk van Helvoortwho
laid the foundations for the model and to Hans Frolingwho
developed the type of documentary approach at itscore. Goof van
Amelsvoort has given important help withthe theo retical basis of
the work. It has been heavilyinfluenced by the pedagogies of
Paulo Freire and CelestineFreinet, and by the theories of
Jürgen Habermas(particularly his Theory of Communicative
Action). Some details of their relevance to this work can be found
on the Internet at:
http://dirkschouten.nl
Len Masterman has been of great support to this
project.Without his contributions and encouragement this
Englishversion would never have seen the light of day. Thanks
arealso due to all the people, parents, teachers and pupils
whocontributed to the model for their support. It has now
beenused with a wide range of groups from primary schoolpupils to
unemployed young people and with communitygrouos throughout
Europe and in several African countries.recently it has been used
on a number of courses andresearch projects at the University of
Nottingham,Amsterdam Polytechnic, and Erasmus
University,Rotterdam. The booklet refers to several of these
projects,though we have altered some of the details for the sake
ofanonymity and clarity.
Our experience of using the model in such a wide range
ofcontexts convinces us that there is something of great value
atthe heart of the process: students are made powerful in
theclassroom and come to use that power in positive andpurposeful
ways. In some countries there is undoubtedly atide that is
running against this sort of process. But tideschange, and we
remain committed to the right of people toengage with issues
which they know to be important.
Dirk Schouten. Amsterdam
Rob Watling. Nottingham. 1997
Return to:
Dirk Schouten is
one of Europe's most innovative mediatrainers. He has worked as
cameraman, editor and soundengineer for many of the Dutch
broadcasting companiesbefore studying at the Dutch Film Academy
where hemajored in 'Media i n Social Processes'. Since that time
hehas worked as a media-facilitator for UNESCO (consultanyand
media projects in Portugal, Austria and Nepal),Leiden University
(Dept. of Clinical Psychology), ErasmusUniversity Rotterdam
(Faculty of Business Administration),the Amsterdam Polytechnic
(Master of Education),Nottingham University (MEd) and many
others, varyingfrom liberation movements in Zambia to
universities in Poland and Slovakia.
Most of the groups he facilitates use video as a research
toolin projects aimed at changing conditions of life and work.He
has published articles on a variety of subjects includinglocal
radio and television, media-education and innovativeuses of
media. His latest projects are about the use ofvideo as a
"feedforward" tool in facilitating organisationalchange.
Dr. Rob Watling is a Research Associate at the Universityof
Nottingham School of Education. One of the UK'sleading experts on
practical media work, he has over 20years experience of using
video, photography and film ineducation and community work. He
has worked as adramatherapist, community development worker, and
mediatrainer - always promoting media activity in communitiesand
political movements. After studying English andFolklore at the
University of Stirling and Media Educationat the Polytechnic of
Wales, he wrote his PhD at theUniversity of Nottingham on the
links between practicalmedia work, education and community
development. he hastaught on innovative media courses at the West
GlamorganInstitute of Higher Education, Nottingham Trent
Universityand the University of Nottingham. He writes regularly
forpractitioners and academics, and has lectured on his
workthroughout the UK as well as in Spain and France.
Heintroduced the use of Media Action Projects to the UK, andhas
developed powerful new uses for the model in Action-Research
projects and in the evaluation of urbanprogrammes. His most
recent research in this field had beenfunded by the Economic and
Social Research Council, theEuropean Social Fund, and the Joseph
Ro wntreeFoundation.
Rob
Watlings Homepage
Rob'sother
Homepage
Return to:
Links to other sites of interest:
Rob
Watlings Home Page
Rob's
other Homepage
Center for Media
Literacy
IBM-FDO
Y2K patch
NEWS ABOUT MAP
- August 2001: A second distributor
A second distributor for the MAP book:
Address:
GPN
Nebraska Educational Telecom
P.O. Box 80669
Lincoln, NE 68501-0669
United States of America
Voice: 800-228-4630 or 402-472-2007
Fax: 800-306-2330 or 402-472-4076
E-mail:Go!
Web: Go!
MAP at GPN:
Go!
- February 2001: NAA catalogue
The NAA (Nederlands Audiovisueel Archief/
Dutch Audiovisual Archive) produced a catalogue on Dirk's work as
media teacher. Most of his work is now in the archive and
availablefor research purposes.
- May 2000: Summit in Toronto
MAP went to Summit 2000 in Toronto. Dirk gave a
lecture and did a workshop with 12 pupils from a Toronto school.
These pupils were the only young contributors to a worldwide
conference bearing the title: Children, Youth and the Media in
the new Millenium.
is
up an going from February 2000 on.
Now there is an easy chat facility for MAP users all over the
world.
- The MAP-FAQ
is starting from September 1999 on
The FAQ is still small. It
will become bigger and bigger as faciltators, teachers, students
and pupils come up with questions and answers.
Keep an eye on the MAP-FAQ!
- The MAP book
The MAP book is available in the USA from May 1999 at
the: Center for Media
Literacy
4727 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 403,
Los Angeles, CA 90010
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Telephone (323) 931-4177
Fax (323) 931-4474
Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm
(Pacific Time)
To place an order for the MAP book, or inquireabout an
existing order:
- Call toll-free: (800) 226-9494
- Credit card orders and purchase orders(education/government)
may be faxed to (323) 931-4474.
- Or mail your order to the address above.
People may e-mail the center atorders@medialit.org to request
an order form.
Please do NOT send the Center an order via email.
Return to:
Last update: August 6, 2000
END OF TEXT
