Dirk Schouten, Amsterdam Polytechnic.
"That was great, we learned a lot more from this than from a
year in class. Are we going to make a video again next year?"
Students think it is fantastic to make a videotape
themselves or to work on a tape-slide show. They put a lot of
effort into it and are often willing to continue their work during
the breaks or to finish a job after school. Showing the program
to the target group is a climax, a victory in a struggle they chose
and fought for themselves. The discussion afterwards unites the
parties involved and there is mutual understanding for each
other's viewpoints; the necessary changes the students want will
indeed be carried out.
The teacher who is coaching such a project has an easy
job. The curriculum objectives are easily reached because
intrinsic motivation is the moving spirit behind the actions of the
students. She is surprised that the activities take so little time.
Even the math lessons could easily be integrated in the project
when they needed them for the analysis of the conversations they
taped. It is delightful to be a teacher for these students. The next
group is already anxiously waiting to hear her introductory
lesson. It has little news in store for them because the story of
her way of working has already spreaded throughout the school
like wildfire.
An audiovisual project like this generally goes well when a
model is used which divides the complex job into separately
manageable stages. The working model described is divided into
the research stage, the stage of analysis and the production stage.
The stages are subdivided still further, also in order to be able to
time each activity accurately. Research and analysis take up the
most time, production the least.
ADVANTAGES
It has advantages to place audiovisual media (AVM) in the
hands of students. A short summary:
AVM give pupils possibilities to make the knowledge they have
acquired accessible to others. Knowlege can effectively be passed
on to a target group. This is not a noncommittal proces; it serves
to start changes. With AVM students can tape their own
experiences and bring them into the classroom. In that way AVM
become part of education and are a starting point for learning.
By making this authentic research material themselves students
gain control over their own situation. Audiovisual research
material offers good opportunities to re-live and analyze the
researched situations. By making audiovisual materials
themselves, students find out about the manipulative possibilities
of the mass media and in that way they develop a critical
consciousness towards the mass media. Students can express
themselves with AVM and can be less dependent on reading and
writing abilities. Making a program is one of the best exercises
in reducing complex problems to manageable size and in
providing insight into complex relations. Working wiht AVM
encourages independent thinking and acting. In short: Go to it!
NEUTRAL SUBJECTS
Two more things are of importance before the teacher can
work with the model. Without this basis the making of
audiovisual material by students can degenerate into unthinking
acceptance of the codes and conventions of the mass media.
"Yeah, great, let's make a videoclip with lots of blood". Or it
can be bogged down in useless hard work. Students running
around wiht a camera, recording interviews by the cubic foot,
but never giving a moment's thought to what they are doing and
never monitoring their material.
In the first place the work is done on the basis of a project
approach. The dictionary definition of 'project' is very usable in
this respect: 'A subject that is taken into study by a group of
pupils or students together, on wich a report is made or of wich
the outcome is in some way explained or shown'. This definition
is still too neutral, though, and lacks the involvement needed for
students to produce useful work of their own. The approach is
only fruitful when the subject follows naturally from the ideas,
opinions and interests of students. And the audio-vusual show is
certainly not a neutral affair, because by showing a program
students can express their own opinions and in that way are able
to aim at targets of change. When students made a program
about a dangerous crosswalk it was not only a piece of work in
wich they convincingly demonstrated the situation was full of
danger. It was also a program that provided a solution to change
the situation.
In the second place students have a story to tell, they have
real interests and are willing to aim for them. Often their
interests are difficult to recognize and to handle because they are
expressed in terms that do not please teachers, for example:
"How do I get out of this dump of a school as soon as possible".
The model described here takes the two conditions mentioned
above as its starting points.
MODEL
RESEARCH
The rough division of the model into the research, analysis
and production stages can now be refined. The research stage
can be divided into knowledge-assessmemt, problem-definition,
choice of theme, presupposition and the actual research. For
clarity's sake these stages are treated separately. In practice they
often blend into one another or go on at the same time. The
process the students go trough during the making of an educatioal
production starts with:
1. Knowledgde-assessment.
The world is big and it is hard to get a handle on it. To
produce some order out of chaos students make clear to each
other what they already know about the subject. They often do
this by putting together an album of photographs. They make
snapshots of things they think important and combine them with
their own written texts. In that way they bring their own
experiences and ideas into the classroom. Pictures and texts are
discussed with the teacher. Together with the students she traces
presuppositions in their thinking and reveals implicit basic
assumptions. She then presents them to the students. They can
agree with her or give better interpretations of their own
material. In that way they try to isolate a theme from this photo-
book. For example, a group of youngsters on the dole turned out
to have roughly similar views on the poor way in which the
Employment Exchange worked, after putting together a book of
pictures. It quickly brought them to the question why the
Employment Exchange did not work for them. Was there
something wrong with them? Or was it the labour market? This
required some thought.
In this stage, photography is a very useful tool. After a
fifteen-minute explanation, students can go on to produce
authentic material that is accessible to many people. Elswhere it
has been described how students can make screened photographs
with very simple means. In this way offset quality photo-books
can be made with a simple Xerox machine. Multiplication of
photo-books becomes dirt-cheap. The photo-books are used in
school, but grandparents and aunts receive them too. Sometimes
they are also sold. In the course of discussing the photo-book the
students naturally reach the next stage.
2. Problem-definition:
Arranging and analyzing reality in such a way that
situations are no longer viewed as self evident but as a
consequence of historical, social and political causes. Situations,
ideas and circumstances are connected with factors like social
position, cultural background, history, interests and philosophies.
The teacher can be an important support by asking questions, by
retaining important remarks and by finding out if the connections
that are made work for all students. Most of the time a broad
scala of possible themes emerges. Everything seems to be related
to everything else.
3. Choice of theme.
A wide area of interest must be narrowed down in order to
be manageable. Choices will have to be made. In the first place,
criteria for the choice have to be established, because the school
as well as the teacher have their own interests in the choice of
theme. What if one has to coach a group that picks a neo fascist
or sexist theme?
A few examples of criteria: The theme must be fitting for
the social group of the participants. The problem must be
researchable by the participants on their own. It must have an
action perspective and it must be possible to direct it towards
desired change. The theme must be well defined so it can be
handled by the paticipants in the available time and with the
available money. These criteria can sometimes differ, depending
on the type of teaching situation.
The students decide which area or problem they want to
deal with and on which subsector they want to concentrate.
4. Presupposition.
For the initial research a theme is still too unmanangeable.
It is too broad, too comprehensive and sometimes too abstract to
inspire action. The problem must be narrowed down in such a
way that a presupposition emerges.
The presupposition contains a number of elements. First,
the ideas and experiences of the students themselves must be
contained in it. Secondly, it must contain the problem they
choose as well as the most significant parties involved.
Finally,the solution they have in mind for the problem should be
stated explicidly. For example, a class of young farmers
complained about their future traineeships with farmers. Their
hypothesis was: 'Things often go wrong between farmer and
trainee because their expectations differ. A farmer expects a
farmhand and the trainee wants to look over the books and talk
about farm profits. Not the school but we ourselves must find the
right traineeships'.
5. Research.
This involves testing one's own ideas and opinions against
those of others. For example,a group of students goes to the
Employment Exchange to talk to the employment officer about
his good job and their slim chances to find work at all. They take
a photocamera and a cassetterecorder with them or a
videocamera and a microphone. They carry on conversations
with the employment officer and they also meet someone whose
job mediation has turned out very badly. One conversation often
provokes another. To the teacher nothing is more beautiful than
to see a group of students return to school after an afternoon of
research. Full of great stories and remarks about the content of
what they experienced and what the people said in the interviews.
In this stage audiovisual media are indispensable, because
registrations of conversations and photos of situations are
accessible to everyone, as opposed to notes, for example. Also,
during research all participants can listen to the farmer, talk to
him and to each other and intervene in the conversation. If one of
the students makes notes and cannot keep up, obviously a
selection is made and that happens again when the notes must be
worked out. Moreover, when using a camera and recorder the
students are less dependent on writing and reading abilities. And
a recorder also records sounds that are difficult to describe; the
nervous coughing of the police officer, the ticking sound of a
foot against the leg of the table. All these sound can have a
meaning.
It is often the teacher who puts the students on the track of
all these possibilities. She helps students formulate questions,
divides the tasks and takes care that the group does not take too
much tape, because it must all be monitored and discussed
afterwards.
Students also collect material in the form of books, music,
loose notes and everything that seems interesting during research.
Depending on the duration of the research period stacks of
material pile up. Collecting material can go on forever but it is
advisable not to spend more than fifty percent of the available
project time on research, otherwise there is not enough time for
the next stages and they must be cut short. That would be a
waste of the time spent on preparation and research.
When the research phase is concluded, the next stage begins.
ANALYSIS
An important stage between research and production is the
analysis of the material collected by the students. Of course,
analysis also takes place during the research stage. On the way
back to school the kids tell each other that it is too dumb for
words that you are not allowed to handle the farmer's harvester,
and this is also a form of analysis. In another conversation such a
remark can show up again as a direct question to a farmer.
6. Analysis.
This involves viewing and monitoring the collected
material and discussing the experiences. The premise is
compared with the collected material. The central question is: are
there any aspects of what we have heard and seen that contribute
to our premise and, if so, what are they? If the presupposition
does not correspond with the collected material, what does? Are
there any indications in the material that the research should take
another direction? Does the research indicate circumstances that
are illustrative for the problem?
Naturally, research and analysis are not strictly separable
processes. They often interplay. Students monitor tapes, compare
statements, put a lot on paper and discussions, at times heavy,
lead to:
7. Thesis.
The premise, adapted or not, is made into a thesis. It often
takes the following form: 'This part of reality is put together like
this, as far as we have been able to establish'.
When students have so much knowledge in their hands they do
not want to keep it to themselves. Most of the time they already
know in one of the first stages of the model who they want to
adress their knowledge to (now defined in a thesis). However self
evident this choice may seem to the students, it is still necessary
define it.
8. Choice of target group.
Most of the time the teacher explicitly raises the question
of the target group and indicates a few possibilities to the
students. To whom can you best adress your thesis? Are you
making a program on abuse in the school for your fellow
students (in order to gain supporters), for the board of direcors
(in the expectation that something will be done about it in your
school), for the school inspector (so something will also change
in other schools) or for the ministry of education (so nothing at
all will change). All these target groups demand a different
approach, even when in each case the program is about one and
the same thesis. For example, fellow students can be approached
in a much more 'popular' way than the school inspector.
When the target group is known you can ask yourself
which medium is best suited to reach it.
9. Choice of medium.
In a culture that is adapted to reading reports a tape-slide
series is of little use. An poignant example is that of a group of
youngsters on the dole who sent a tape to the ministry of Social
Affairs. A civil servant over there is still busy finding a recorder
to view the thing.
Media can be books of photo's, exhibitions, tape-slide
series, radio programs for local broadcasting, neighbourhood
papers, videoprograms, etc. Most of the time the choice does not
only depend on the target group but also on the available means.
When the medium has been selected the choice remains which
kind of narrative is most appropriate or attainable.
10 Choice of form.
Generally speaking, one can choose between two extreme
forms; documentary or drama. Both forms have their advantages
and disatvantages with respect to the expressive qualities of the
students, the instrumental abilities of the teachers and the
possibilities for reception by the target group. In principle,
working in a documentary form produces usable programs the
fastest.
The stage of analysis is now finished. Not only has the
material from the research stage been analysed, the students also
know now what they want to archieve with the results and how
they are going to go about it.
PRODUCTION
The only other thing teachers and students need to do is to
make a program. That has now become a piece of cake. All
stages the students have gone through, so far, can also be
conceived as a meticulous preparation for the production of a
program.
11.Production stage.
In practice, the students now make a shooting schedule: a
list of things they want to record. They return to the Labour
Exchange with three questions for the employment officer. He
already gave the answers in the research material, but now they
film him with a factory visible in the background. Then they will
also shoot the empty assembly hall which they later use when the
guy on the dole talks about how it all happened. When they have
done the shooting they list what they have on tape and at what
tape counter reading it can be found. Then they design the coarse
structure for the program, a sketch of the content of the program
on the basis of a story structure. An example of a structure: For
the introduction we use the footage we shot at the dangerous
crosswalk. The core of the program exists of the juxtaposition of
the views of the mothers and of the police pr-man. It ends with
our conclusion that the crosswalk should have traffic lights. In
between we put summaries so that the story is easy to follow.
The appeal to the viewers (in this case the Department of Public
Works) will be made after the show. Much more complex
structures are possible, depending on the possibilities of the
students.
After this the students make an editing schedule and edit
the program. That sounds easy and it is. In a project that takes
up about seventy hours the stage of production takes up little
more than twenty hours. The editing of a videotape or a tape-
slide series, including music, commentary and captions takes
about four hours.
12. Presentation (including reactions of the target group).
The programs made by students are watched in their
presence by the target group. That is often the moment to
exchange ideas again with the target group. A pleasant by-
product of this new exchange is that often new ideas for themes
or programs arise. Then the process can start over again. But
every participant in the process has gained a mass of experience
and is motivated to look at the world from a different point of
view in order to get a little more of a handle on it.
DURATION
Naturally, in practice we see stages mix and we see that it
is sometimes possible to run through stages very quickly or even
to skip them altogether, because they are already part of the
actual experience of the participants.
The model is usable for almost any amount and any
division of time. We have worked in classroom periods, in half-
day shifts and in whole weeks. The total amount of time for
going through the model has varied from eighteen hours to six
weeks. Roughly divided, the first stages up to the research phase
take up about ten percent of the available time. Research takes up
about fifty percent of the time, analysis ten percent, and the
remainder of the stages about thirty percent.
When the model is used in day-release courses the
participants use about half the time for research. In other
situations like film and t.v. schools the students spend less time
on research and more on production. In philosophy classes
relatively more time is spent on analysis of the research material
and less time on production.
BACKGROUND
The model is rooted in the work of Freinet and Freire.
Some notions of of the French educationalist Celestin Freinet
(1896-1966) are indispensable background for this model. First,
his method of natural learning (la m‚thode naturelle de
l'apprentisage) in which a pupil is offered a functional context for
learning. The pupil can spontaneously aquire knowledge and
abilities, starting from the motivation to do things better because
they now are of genuine interest. Secondly, the method of trial
and error (t…tonnement experimental) for opening up new
possibilities. On one hand the pupil is open to new situations and
is actively prepared to encounter these new and unknown
situations. On the other hand the pupil has a great ability to cope
in different situations of life. In Freinet's words, disposing of
'adequate techniques of life' (techniques de vie). Thirdly, the
formation of the pupil for and by means of work. Work,
according to Freinet, is in essence not something forced upon
man but it is the most fundamental human need. When that need
is fulfilled by meaningful and inspiring work it is a source of
deep satisfaction. Already in the thirties Freinet saw the possible
uses of audiovisual equipment which has now become available
for education.
Freire's notions of dialogue-reflection-action are clearly
important for the model presented here, but we need not go into
them in detail.
CURRICULUM OBJECTS
With the model very simple and very complex curriculum
objects can be realised. During the research stage, for example,
it can be necessary to learn how to make a phone-call in order to
make appointments for interviews. In a complicated analysis,
statistics are sometimes indispensable and they must be learned
before the analysis phase can start. In this model it is possible to
insert mini-courses on special subjects, which interrupt the
process described here in favour of learning abilities that students
need at that particular moment. Learning how to handle a
videorecorder or the explanation of editing equipment to edit a
program are in fact also mini-courses.
IN CONCLUSION
To work with the model one does not need much in the
way of audiovisual equipment. With very simple means good
results can be archieved. We now have about ten years of
experience with this way of working. We worked with Dutch as
well as foreign students, in the Netherlands, Zambia and
Portugal. Wherever people have interests and want to disseminate
them,this model can be used.