documeit resume 'ed 126 367 author bien', john a. · documeit resume 'ed 126 367 ce...
TRANSCRIPT
DOCUMEIT RESUME
'ED 126 367 CE 007 698
AUTHOR Bien', John A.TITLE Mass Media: A Cornucopia of Ideas for Adult
Educators.PUB DATE 72 fir
NOTE 69p.; Not available in har4 copy due to poorreproducibility of parts o the original
EDRS PRICE. 3F-$0.83 Plus Postage. BC/Not Available from EDRS.DESCRIPTORS *Adult Education; Adult Learning; Anthologies; Cable
Television; Citizen Participation; CommunityProblemt; Continuous Learning; EduCmtional Radio;*Educational Str4tegies; Educational Television;Instructional Firms; *Instructional Media; ListeningGroups; *Mass Media; Program Evaluation
ABSTRACTTh$ collection of readings deals with some important
developments affecting the use of the mass media in adult education,.These include cablecasting as a means of urging citizens to becomeinvolved in community problems, film as spurs to social action, andtelevision programs that espial, the soap opera format for educationalends. Also presented in the collection are suggestions for the futureuse of the mass media in adult education. These include the revivalof radio listening groups, problems of visual literacy, and the needfor more rigorous evaluation of ETV programs. Titles of thecollection's five sections of readings are: (1) mass communication:its potential for adult learning; (2) adult learning via the media;(3) adult education via mass media; (4) evaluation of programs; and(5) new vistas. The collection was compiled for use in graduate levelprograms for adult edu6ators.,(Author/AJ)
*************************At********************************************* r documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished* itaterials not available from other sources. ERIC makes every effort ** to obtain the best copy available. Nevertheless, items of marginal ** reproducibility are often encouttered and this affects the quality ** of \he microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC makes available ..** via -hhe ERIC .Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is_not* responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions ** supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original. *44*******,**************************************************************
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PREFACE
This collection of readings has been designed for graduate
students, to acquaint these potential adult educators with somS4e important
developments affecting the use of the mass media in adult education.
These include Cablecasting as a means of urging citizens to become
involved ip community problemRs films as spurs to social action, and
television erograms that employ the. soap opera format for educational
ends. Also presented in this collection are suggestions for the.future
use of the mass media in adult education. These include the revival of
radio listening groups, problems of-visual literacy, and theneedfor
more rigorous evaluation of ETV programs.
The collection is by no means complete. Other articles will be
added on the use of satellites and video cassettes and on the Open
University in Britain.° The collection is bel,ng submitted to you for
your evaluation and 'comments. With your help, I hope eventually to
compile a book that will give to adult educators a better understanding
,of the mass media as a tool in'their profession. In your evaluation,
you might like to comment on such things as the format, i.e., the titleso
of categories under which the articles are grouped and whether categories
should be added, deleted, or changed in some way. Or, you might indicate
articles which seem to you to be of particular value to adult educators.
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C9NTENTS:
I. MASS COMMUNICATION: ITS POTENTIAL FOR ADULT LEARNING
"Lifelong Learning: Does TV Have A Part?" Educational Broadcasting,January- February, 1973.
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"Lesson from A Small Soldier." Adult Leadership, December, 1970.
"Television and the Trail of '98." Educational Broadcasting, October,1971.
"Communicating with the So-Called Disadvantaged: Can We Find A,CommonGround?" BTSD Review, May, 1973.
"Visual Literacy! Understanding Media in Depth." Educational Broad-casting, May/June, 4972.-
II. ADULT LEARNING VIA THE MEDIA
"Sir Kenne6'Clark: Scholar? Entertainer? Adult Educator?" Educa-tional Broadcasting, November, 1971.
"Henry and Elizabeth: History via the Tube." Educational Broadcasting,March, 1972,-
III. ADULT EDUCATION VIA MASS MEDIA
A. Radio
"'Crossroad in Time': The Story of the Athabascan Indians."Educational Braa4asting, September, 1971.
"Reviving Radio, Listening Groups as Catalysts for Social Action."Continuous Learning, November-December, 1971.
"The RAVEN Brings Tidings." Educational /Instructional Broadcasting,April, 1971. (With Adrian Blunt.) ,
B. Television
"Canada: Into the 'Brotherhood' of Anik." Educational/InstructionalBroadcasting, October, 1970.
"TEVEC & Project Multi-Media." Educational Broadcastinb..-dly-Augu1973.
4Continued ...
"Public TV: Educational Gap?" Educational Broadcasting, March -April, 1973.
"...On Sesame Street for Adults" ("Sesame Street for Adults --Why Not?"). Educational/Instructional Broadcasting, May, 1971.
"The Soap.Opera-- A Viable Format for Adult Education via 'TV."Educational Broadcasting, November-December, 1972. '
Educational/Instructional
Educational/Instructional
C. CATV
"datecasting: Involving the Community."Broadcasting, December, 1970.
"The Davey Report: Whither Cablecasting?"Broadcasting, March, 1971.
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"Vancouver's Channel 10: Creating a Community Identity." EducationalBroadcasting, January-February, 1972.
"Skid Row '71: Ripples from a Pebble." Educational Broadcasting,June, 1971.
"Greenwich Cablevision: A British Experiment in Cablecasting."Educational Broadcasting, July-August, 1972.
IV. EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS
"Dilemma in the 'Cool' Medium: ETV's Need for Evaluation." Educational/Instructional October, 1969.
"Television: ,A ).11.able Channel for Educating Adults in Culturally DifferentPoverty Groups?--A Literature Review." Mass Media/Adult Education, April-May,1971. (With Darrell Anderson.)
V. NEW VISTAS
"The Open University: What Influence on North America?" EducationalBroadcasting, September/October, 1973. p.33.
"...'oh Hot Line" ("A Radio Equation: Adult Education Programming -I='Hot Line' = Social Action"). Educational/Instructional Broadcasting,May, 1971.,
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"Saskatchewan New Start--Life Skills and V g." Educational Broadcasting,December, 1971.
"Eskimos and Film--The Making of a PositionAkt." Educational Broadcasting, September-October, 1972.
"Video Ca4settes and Software: Two Strategies." Educational Broadcasting,March-June 1973.
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A
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I. MASS COMMUNICATION:. ITS POTENTIAL FOR ADULT LEARNING
S
Li f EioNg lERNiNg :60ES TV RAVE A ART
The author of ruture Shock remindsus that our present problems are going toproliferate and deepen in intensity, andthat people are going to have to be pre-pared to cope with them. They consist ofmajor social ills like pollution, violenceand poverty, and these are aggravated inpeople's minds by the staggering weightof information overload transmitted viathe media. In addition, mans individualsare al reads finding themselves ill-equipped lor.the increased leisure provid-ed by the shorter work week and earlyretirement. Becitise lifelong "learning"holds out the promise of helping all of usto sort out and cope with our problems,it is vitally important that we gain a clearunderstanding of what is meant by theconcept and what its implications are lorIV programming.
What, first of all, do we mean by learing? This concept is generally thoughtas a lasting change of behavior, the resultof experience. The experience itself in-.volves such things as gathering informa-tion and acquiring intellectual and socialskills to use the information for whateverpurpose the learner has in mind. Learningtakes place both formally, as in the class-room, and informally in the societal set-ting, where regular TV prograthmingplays a large part. Such learning is re-ferred to by educators as "learning bychance," contrasted with "learning bydesign." The latter occurs when we delib-erately create a situation to .the end that
Individual or group will learn newbehaviors. Here we are reminded.of suchadult programs as Sunrise Semester andUniversity of the Air and the youth-oriented Sesame Street.
To return to lifelong learning, briefly,this concept embraces both learning bychance and learning by design. It means,as Roby Kidd reports, learning throughthe life span, learning -across the disci-plines and learning as a search for truth toset us free.
What are the implications of lifelonglearning for TV programming? Obviously,lifelong learning operates by both"chance" and "design," as the TV audi-ence selects, often at random, programs
from a diversity of offerings, e.g., news-casts, sports events, documentaries, soapoperas and college level courses. Indeed,to many adulterV constitutes their prin-cipal source of information, though theymay not perceive the medium as such.The- habit begins in youth. One ratherstaggering estimate made recently is that,by the time a child enters school, he hasalready spent more hours learning aboutthe world from TV than he would spend
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in earning a college degree. Much of whathe sees involves falsity in advertising, un-ethical behavior and violence, which hasbeen shown to cause aggressive behaviorin children a dire portent for adult soci-ety. Surely both educator and broadcast-er have a responsibility to recognize thatTV is more than entertainment; that it isin fact, an educational tool of incalcula-ble power, whether operating by chanceor design. Shouldn't both parties be usingtheir influence to see that quality pro-grams are available to assist viewers inachieving the positive goals of lifelonglearning, as Roby Kidd has stated them?
'by John A. Niemi
Accent on Social Philosophy
LESSON FROM A SMALL SOLDIER
'Vancouver, B. C., Victoria Day,"Monday, May 18, 1970.
With the rapid outburst, "Ah-Ah-Ah!" a jubi-lant five-year-old yelled, "I've got you, Alex!" AsI approached the scene of action, little Alex, agedfour or five, lay still in the dusty street, simulat-ing death as the rest of the children went on withtheir game of Soldier vs. Student.
To an American teaching at a Canadian univer-sity, this scene came as a nauseating shock, especi-ally since British Columbians were celebrating aholiday dear to their heartsthe birthday ofQueen Victoria, who had presided over the oncemighty British Empire. But whereas the oldergeneration might have been reliving past glories,our small actors were recreating an event thatwill remain as a black marrupon American so-cietythe Kent State shootings.
Of course, children have always acted out adultroles in their little world. The difference today isthat their world has expanded enormously sincethe invention of the TV tube. They hatre becomeinhabitants of a "global village," ringside witnes-ses to the events of our time. As a result, ouryouth have mastered, at an early age, conceptsthat eluded, or partly eluded, previous genera-tions. The Apollo flights alone explained softiemysteries of gravity when illustrating the"thrust" required toj hurl men into outer space,their weightless state on the moon, and the prob-lems involved in returning them to earth.
While such advances in the cognitive domainare gratifying, we must deplore the concepts thatare being stressed with respect to the affectivedomain. The high incidence of violent acts onTV$ in news, cartoons, and films, has been welldocumented. How rare, by comparison, are pro-grams like the amazingly successful. "SesameStr ," ith its emphasis on constructive andh py lear ing experiences for children.
What ca we, as adult educators, do about theituation which children like Alex find them.-elves? r, lice, children learned certain values al-
most en irely in the home, the school, and thechurch. oreover, as a prominent educator re-cently poi ted out, these institutions were mu-tually rei forcing, sharing common objectives andpuposes. Now they arlk frequently at odds with
Author, ,Dr. John A. Niemi, is Associate Professor ofAdult Education, The University of British Columbia,Vancouver, Canada.
each other. Psychologists and socioldgists tell usof the breakdown of family life. The school, oncethe bedrock of our democratic society, is styledby some critics as an anachronism, clinging tonineteenth century philosophies and practices.And the church, an important institution in thefounding of the new world, is accused of remain-ing aloof from contemporary problems, instead ofgiving leadership to the people. F.
It is, of course, hard to assess the degree towhich TV hastened the decline of these Ofluences.But theire is no dou4 concerning the pervasiveinfluence of TV itself. The medium is largelycontrolled by the broadcasters and the advertiserswho support the industry. These groups have con-tinued to promote programs featuring- violenceand to pass them off (afre-ntertainment, with littleregard for their effects upon young people. Thereis no one to act as. a catalyst between these groupsand the parents, teachers, clergy, and other adultsconcerned with the rearing of children. Here, itseems to me, is an opportunityindeed a respon-sibilityfor-adult educators.
It may not be iiossible for us to work directlywith parents or with the schools or ,the churches,but we could develop public affairs programscentering on such questions as these: What effectdoes the visual impact of'TT X violence have on ouryouth? Whitt can be done through the home, theschool, and the church to counter this influence?Or, more positively, what values should we beteaching to our young people through the home,the school, and the church? How can parents,teachers, and other adults who oppose violence onTV make their views ,known to broadcasters?Here, for example, the role of the adult educatorwould be that of bringing the adults and thebroadcasters together at a public forum whichcould be televised. Using his knowledge of COITf-munity organization and his skills in programplanning, hA might organize listening groups toreact to the ideas presented at the forum. An-other type of program would be similar to "TheAdvocates," allowing both sides of a particularissue to be aired and inviting audiences Ao re-spond. Further programs might consist of work-shops.
Alex didn't die An Monday, May 18, 1970. Nodoubt his mock battle 'was soon forgottenorwas it? Will it be resumed when the TV screenlights up with another instance of 'stark violence?What is our responsibility?
It is the function of the AEA Committee on Social Philosophy tofocus attention in issues of meaning and value within our culture.Addiess mail to AEA Social Philosophy Committee, 150 CiingressStreet Braintree, Man. 02114.
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V
Televisionand the
Trail of. '98
Recently, while ona visit to Alaska, Ifounchimyself sitting on the dusty floor ofthe Skagway City Hall, which dates fromthe famous Klondike Gold Rush of '98.Perhaplf a few ghosts of that period werepresent as the people of Skagway, to6r-ists, and others crowded into the Hall tomeet an international commission ofAmericans and Canadians planninirt6 es-tablish a Klondike Gold Riish International Historical Park. Some of the excite-ment of those ,early days ran through theroom as the group unveiled its plan toride a helicopter next day to the summitof the perilous Chilkoot Trail, andshowed a National Film Board of Canadadocumentary depicting the triumphs andthe failures OT the men who had blazedthe Trail. The film consisted largely ofold photographs ingeniously -juxtaposedand explained in lively narrative style byPierre Berton, the ivell-known Canadianauthor and television personality.
As I marveled at the technology thatAcould lift these men effortlestsly above the
350 .,angle slopes' across which the earlypioneers hid struggled in ice and snow, Icouldn't help pondering these questions:What would have been the impact of theKlon ike Gold Rush had the televisioncam a beamed the story to the world?Wou the aura of rorpance and the headysense enture been lost, or at leastdimmed? Th old photographs empha-sized the comradeship, the courage, andthe clan of the men who dared the Trailof '98. The modern television camera,with its pitiless, all-encompassing lens,would also .ive captured the harsh reali-ties: the uninding lines of men lugging-upthe slopes a ton of provisions each, 100pounds at a time; the frustration of themen who gave up and sold their, suppliesat ten cents on the dollar; thousands ofhorses slipping off the narrow trails toperish in the gulches below. Television's-immediacy, its on-the-scene reporting,would.have heightened the impact.,", , P. Ili, ef,
Indeed, I thougl)t, there as a parallelwith the controversial Vietnam war. Notlong ago, before the television age, warhad aroused the same glory that we asso-ciate with the Klondike Gold Rush; thehorrors of conflict were overshadowedand often reported late. As recently asWorld War Two (and certainly in WorldWar One), this sense of romance had pre-vailed, celebrated in poem and song. Buttelevision effected a dramatic change. InVietnam, the camera has instantly re-corded the grim facts: anguished refugeescarrying their wounded; GI's treadingcautiously over unfamiliar terrain; a heli-copter crashing in the jungle.
Much of the old romance of war hasbeen lost, replaced by a- who assessmerbof its triumphs and its costs. At its best,television brings to many other happenings this balance, or perspectiv", so essen-tial for educating the public. is func-tion of television may wel b its mostimportant contribution o c modem
Oscene. We need a publi educated to ap-,preciate the romance of great eventswh-ilc retaining a grasp of their stern real-ities. S
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by John A. Niemi
I
COMMYNICATING WITH THE SO-CALLED DISADVANTAGED --CAN WE FIND A COMMON GROUND?
John A. NieTii
Adult Education FesearchUniversity o Ert-:s"r. Cc= bia
The term "disadvantaged"is frequently, chosen to describeindividuals' or groups sharingcertain socio-economic andsocial-psychologicaa character-istics. The former include lowincomes, limited education andlimited job opportunities; thelatter include close kinshipanfl neighborhood ties and a"lime9for today" philOsophy.However; "disadvantaged" hasacquired pejorative connota-tions, setting individuals orgroups apart as somehow infe-rior. For this reason, the
groups from the dominant society'is `bound to cause problems ofcommunication. In this paper,it is my purpose to focUs on .
some of these problems-, andthen to draw implications forthe.adult educator. _Hopefully,in doing so, it will be poss-
°-;'ible to find common grotind ortwhich to meet.
First, let us look atconcept of communication, whic'tibas its root in the Latin"communis," mean g "common."Fundamentally, th communication
term "culturally different", will' process involves an exchange ofbe Csed with respect to'povertya meaning between the sendersub-Cultures found in our Notth (Encoder) of a message and theAmerican society. Here4 "cul- receivet (Decoder). This pro-
cess does not, of course, refertorverbal transmissions alone,but includes non-verbal trans-
, missions which may or may notb; intentional, e.g., facialexpressions, gestures, toneof voice. Schramm's model ispertinent here -- his Sender-_Encoder-Signal-Decoder-Receiverpattern, with.its dependenceupon intersecting fields ofexperience.' In fact, thepoints of intersection, as theconcept i applied to the dom-inant soc ety and the cultu-
r nts who have never learned rally dif erent groups, may bet speak English or French, and extremely limited. Once, itminority races such as Indians seems mo e appropriate and moreand negroes. realistic to talk about differ-
ent "cultural milieus." ThisThe obvious "apartness" ..term hints1at perhaps the most
of these culturally different important barrier to communica-
ture" has its traditional mean-ing, referring to groups of
\people who share distinctive,designs for living. 1r2 This\group embraces -both the rural
or' and the urban poor. Inhe first Category are indi-iduals or \families living on
m rginal land and Indians onreservationS in the secondcategory a'rel the rural poor'who have migrated to the cityarnd who often live in ghettos,and other=ghetberdWellers sucha new immigrants, "old" immig-
tion between these groups andthe dominaht society--the verydifferent perceptions enter-,tained of reality, and thestereotypes and assum tions ofboth sides An illu tration isthis comment b Mi sissippiblack man tat ing th Harvardpsychiatrist Robert Coles:'
"The people who help us, we'regrateful to them, butrj wishthey wouldn't keep telling ishow sorry they a e for us,how bad have And Iwish th r eyes 14n4t pop'out eve y time see we'renot cryi all da ong andrunningo w or something.The other ay a white fellow,he said how wondeful myhouse is, and how good we gft
. along together how im-pressed he wa it all. I
tp say, "Don't begiving us that kind of C-bm-pliment, because it shows onyou what you don't know aboutus."``
Notice hoig negative-is,the per-ception of the white man, IdHow deeply-the negro resentsthe interpretation placed uponhis' life style.
In three separate studies,Skene;,Derbyshire and Rogersset out to4dentify personalitytra,its common Wcultura.11y
' differenti groups and to de-scri0O'relatiOnships betweenthem and the' dominant society':Almo4t, all traits listed in thestddies arem'negative: -thesepe6ple are said to be boister-ous, _physically aggressive,reticent, fatali8Vic, suspi-cious,'etc.5 In studying thefitdings;-one can hardly avoidth conclusion.that irrorthe esearchers' own, biases
arising from their particularperceptions of reality."
likewise, an ,account 8Vaohnie Scott, the first negrofrom Watts to attend Harvard,reveals the different "reali-ties" arising from differentcultural milieus andthp re-sulting conflicts-and.comiuni-cation problems. After hisfailure at Harvard and hisreturn to Watts,,he wrote:
"Watts appeared very strangeto me when I returned. Andyet as I 'walked through theprojects, as I went by oldhouses; on the back streets,and as I described my Harvardexpetiences to my friends,I again became aware of thetremendous spiritual tollthe ghetto exacts. I couldnow feel the hopelessness.1, in failing Harvard, hadbeen ripped asundeT from allmy retreats from poverty, andfor once I had-to sta(pd nakedbefore my own fear,' .beforthe leering face of myself,an. old man perched' on a milkcrate cacleling'at the youngladies."
Finally, there is the I.study conducted at Mounds, '1
Illinois, by Byuarm, whoreports the, failure of a com-munityraction p ram designedto bring degroe a e whitestogether to dis uss racial
,tissues . Whereas the design Ofthe study called for inter-'action between the races 6n anecilal basis, a superordinate-subordinate relationship perf-sisted, with the.negroesassuming the lesser xole. Theocleavage made it impossible forinformal channels of communica-tion to operate4or for formal
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channels to open up for ex-changes of opinion and informa-tion" on radial issues.7
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What are the bases of thedifferent perceptiqns of.real-'ity? Some have already been'.touched upon--different value
tems and attitudes springingroast ocial"cohomic and other
forces operating in the envi-ronment. Adult Educcaion and"the Disadvantaged Adult presentsma y studies.that'substantiateth se relationships.' Alth ghthe diversity,ofothe gum -,
makes it difficult toit has been fouild that
many uphold Value systems thatare clearly at variance withthose of the dominant society.Because they see no future that'difpre significantly from the
'preSaiht, these groups tend tobe prOmatic and to lean toward"present" orientation or re-.wards, whereas the dominantsociety is more concerned witthe future. 'Also, as a respto discrimination by the domant Society, many groups rej qt,explicitly, or implicitly, itsinstitutional structures infavor of "small personal kfri-(sh. , locality or friendship'
n8gro ps.
Other impediments tck com-,smunication arise from differ-ences in 'language; the mostobvious involves the non Englishspeaking members of cW.turallydifferent groups. And evenwhere such persons have attemp-
CZ ted to learn English, thereexist "interferences"-fr.m theirnative language. For am.le,among'a group of FinnisCanadians, it was fowl thatmany had evolved a "slang" whichis a curious combination ofEnglish sound approached
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through Finnish rules of pro-'nunciaeion.i."Finglish," as itis .known in the United States,produces such words as "hospi-talli" for "hospital" and "co-operativii" for "co-operative."9In addition, there are languageproblems attributable-to region-al or local dialects, as exem-plified by certain expressionsfound to be common in Appala-chia: .a.bein (being able) ; duthe goes a playin (go t andPlay); shes fixin (w ile shefixed) .
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Another communicationproblem'is with the 'large groupcommonly called the "hard-corepoor." Their language, like 5other languages, has.at timesbeen maligned by, the dominantsociety,-as inferior, sub;-standard, etc. But such appel-lations overlook the value ofthe language within the groupitself. There, it is a viableform of communication, descri'-bed by Berriste,th as having "asimplicity' directness- ofexpressman, emotionally virile,pithy/and powerful, with ametaphoric range of" consider-able force and appropriate-ness."' The language servesadmirably the needs of thegroup for an obvious reason--Ericoder and Decoder share thesawe%cultural milieu. But,outside that milieu, andespecially 'in the context of .,
the dominant society, the lan-guage of the hard-core poormay suffer severe limitations.Notably, verbal facility isrestricted, a condition,t hat.often causes these people torely significantly on non-verbal cues in both giving andreceiving messages. Thus, whenmessages are.received.from thedominant society, the hard-core
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poor will often pay moreltatten-.
tion to-actions than to words.As for giving messages, a studyconduCted at the Univarsity ofPittsburgh implies that certainfeatures of the language usedby this group render it almostincomprehensible to personsoutside.': To compligate thesituation, there is evidencethat the language is sometimes.delibprately contrived "to keepthe outsider out."'3
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What are some of the diffi-culties? An important one is ,
that the - language is "a pre-dominantly descriptive mode ofabstractio rather than ananalytic one. ." and
Meanings are emb dded inlocal and time-bo nd settings.The meanings deperd, for fullunderstanding, on he author-ity and other socia relation-ships of the communi ants,as well as on their ages,sexes, and other personalcharacteristics, on the timeand place in which .tliey'arespoken. . . .
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Moreover, many distinctivewords have been formed by var-i'Ous means, becoming idioms noteasily grasped by outsiders,for example,:
Agentive Substitution . .
produced by substitutingtypical actions or functionsof an actor for the actorimself, by-the addition of-er (baby- -crumb crusher, peapusher; door --slammer; toothhru;:h--pearl pusher. . .
Thy' uno of words suoh a.: "job"arid "man" an suffices to con-struct new selections (e.g.,crying--kleenex job; hair--
-comb job, greaSe job; out-witted--tank job. . :; socialworker--job man; neighborhoodleader- -man man; most -respec-ted or knowledgeable person--down man. .
HeOltative Appellations --This group of words is pro-duced by selecting an extremeresult as a substitute forits cause (e.g., angry-,smoking; fight with a gun- -blast; fight with a sharpinstrument--bleed. . .15
What are some implications_of these communication problemsfor the adult educator wholans programs for culturally.,
d'fferent gropps? He mustr- lze thaOlisown backgroundan training are likely to makehim perceive reality differ-ent) from the adult learners.He c uld unwittingly took attheir situation through thelens o his own middle classbiase8 nd assumptions and so,misjud4 their needs and expec-tation6,, To help avoid this r
pitfall, t is essential thatthe adult educator involve inthe groups fully in thekpro-gram planning.process. Other-wise, he risks failure. Manyprograms have foundered in thepast, because tyhey have beenbased on the needs of thegroups as perceived not by thembut by persons in the dominantsociety. Program& have been \traditionally baSed on minimalskills in reading, writing,and computation, instead oflarger configurations offering*choices from a wide array oflife - styles.
One strategy that has beenused successf011y to determinethe needs of culturally differ-
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ent groups is film or VTR. Tofacilitate dialogue within acommunity, its members can, bythese means,-not only discerntheir problems ore clearly buttake a direct and in seekingcreative solutions. A goodexample is the project - launchedby the St. Jacques Citizens'Committee of Montreal. It isreported that:
They went out into the streetsand interviewed the peppieabout their problems, in orderto learn more about the neigh-bortiood and to make people'think about what could 4edone. Then an edited 1131f-hour tape was used to analyzediscussioR at the beginningof a series of public meet-ings. The procedure was veryeffective; people plungedinto the heart of the dis-cussion, instead of beingfearful about expressing them-selves. The citizens alsolearned a lot about themsel-ves by viewing themselves inactiorrduring meetings anddiscussions."
. he approach is similar tot, thatadvocated by Paulo Friere, whoseconcept of "conscientization"seems to me to represent whatwe often call "involvement" atits best:
. ./. the process in whichmin, not as recipients, act*as knowing sur4ects, achievea deepening awareness bothof the socio-cuItural real-ity which shapes their livesand of their capacity totransform that reality."
Another implication arisesfrom the immensely complicatednature of the language of the
to.
groups! The adult educatorwill err if he thinks thatthese languages are simple andeasily mastered, because thepeople generally have a .lowlevel of education; or if her .
regqrds these languages asinferior and crude. Rather,he must respect ttlem for theirqualities of utiPity and forceand even learn, if he .can, tounderstand them. Such under-standing of a man's language isa valuable key to a man's needsand hopes. At the same time,the perceptive adult educatorwill recognize the dilemma ofindividuals or groups who haveonly one "langgage" availableto them. They lack the optiops,of better educated ,persons who '!cifshift easily from colloquiallanguage to more formal pat-ternS as the occasion demands.The task, then, is one of edu-cating members of the cultur-ally different groups in theperception and use of theavailable options, in order toimprove communication betweenthem and the dominant society.
ti
A third implication re-lates to the adult educator'sstrategy in making contact withthe groups. Because of theoften closed nature of thesegroups, he should probably notattempt to make head-on contactwith them. Rather, as theUniversity of Pittsburgh studypa' it, he ought to seek out"sophisticated, knowledgeableinsiders" to assist him."The use of insiders would behelpful at all stages of aprogram-rplanning, promotion,operation, and evaluation--tohelp overcome misunderstandingsthat go beyond the skill ofthe adult educator. He wouldbe well advised, also, to 4
15
r,
consider employing para-profes-sionals or professionals drawnfrom the. groups. In Alaska,for example, sponsors from thenative community oftentbecomeA.B.E. teachers, although theypossess only a high schooleducation. The obvious advan-tage is that these teachersactively share the "reality"
. of the People whom the adulteducator wants to reach and soperceive the problems betterthan he could.
Other implications of theco nication problems thathav been discussed may be Use-ful to the adult education whooccupies the role of\theteacher. He should have em-pathy with his students, in-cluding patience with their,fears and a sincere regard fortheir value systems and modesof communication. In parti-cular, he must be aware of thesensitivity of the learners. tonon-verbal cues and not betrayshock or disapproval by facialexpression or bodily_movements.At least one research studyhas shown that teachers whoappeared successful were thosewho could set aside their ownvalue systems and accept theadult learner as a human beingof considerable potential.'`Additionally, the teachershould seek assistance frymlinguists when dealing withadult learners whose nativelanguage diVers from that ofthe dominaKt.society." Here, aconti-astive analysis of thetwo languages', showing theirsimilarities and differencesrelating to such things asvowel sounds): consonant sounds,
,a intag-should prove useful.
Concerning materials, theteacher should recognize thelimitations of standardized orpackaged items ?Lich as books-or programs developed forradio or television. Such
seldora-,meet thespe ial needs of the adultlearner, but tend to restricthim by imposing on him a"reality" not his own and alanguage that he does netunderstand. Hewever, somematerials could be usefullyadapted by the teacher, andcertainly, they could furnishhim with ideas for developing
.
materials of his own. Avariety of techniques shouldalso be used to foster one-way and two-way communicationbetween teacher and studentand between student andstudent, so that all act asboth Encoders and becoders.Such techniques includerred-tures, discussion, role-playing,and field trips. A happy'by-product of this approach wouldbe the creation of an open,threat - free,, classroom climatein which each one would feelfree to express his needs,. hisanxieties, and his expectations.
In using television andfilm, the A.B.E. teacher must,not assume that his studentswill learn readily from thesemedia. It is a mistake tothink that persons having lowverbal facility will necessa-rily demonstrate a high degreeof visual literacy. What ismeant by this concept? Brief-ly, it means the ability to"discriminate and interpretthe visual actions, objectsand/or symbols, natural or man-made, that he encounters in
16
7
his environment."20 Suchski is include seeing relation-shi s among ideas or events,whe her these are presented inseq ence or in flashback; dis-cer ing intricate relation-ships among characters; sort-ing out the multiple meaningscontained in a visual message;distinguishing truth fromfalsity, especially in adver-tisements and political mes-sages; perCeiving implicit aswell as explicit assumptionsand value systems; and so on.
4 began this paper byannouncing that I would 4ocusattention on some problems,affecting culturally differentgroups in their communicationwith the dominant society andexplore certain implicationsfor the adult educator. The.paper is by no meanscompre-.:hensive, but it does. perhaps,highlight a few of the morepressing concerns. In closing,I can hardly do better thanqUOte from Arkava's Sociologyfor Impoverished Life Styles:
The general Communications. . . approach ls one thatis based on the underlyingassumption that confusionexists between individualsand social systems becausethey are not effectively,communicating. The idea isthat if people'can see morecorrectly, communicate moreadequately, and reason moreeffectively, they will beable to lay a realistic com-mon:basis for action and_changing. 21
IMO
REFERENCES
1. Bagdikian, Ben H. In theMidst of Plenty: A NewRepofq on the Poor in,America, Baltimore: 1966,p. 49.
2. Lewisti_Oscar. "The Cultureof Poverty." Thq ScientificAmerPban, October 1966;p. 19.
3. SchramM, Wilbur. "Proce-dures and Effects of MassCommunication," In NelsonB. Henry (editor), MassMedia and Education, Chi-cago, Illinois: NSSE,1954, pp. 113-120.
4. "Breaking the AmericanStereotypes," Time,February 14, 1972, p. 48.
5. Anderon, Darrell, andNiQMi, John A. Adult Edu-cation and the Disadvan-taged Adult, Syracuse,New York: Syracuse Univer-sity Publications in Con-tinuing Education and ERICClearinghouse on AdultEducation, 1970, pp.21-22.
6. Scott, Johnie. "How It Is--My Home Is Watts."Harper's Magazine, October1966, p. 48.
7- Byuarm, S.W. "CommunityAction: A Case Study in/Racial Cleavage," Un-published Ph.D. thesis,University of Illinois,1962, pp. 58-60.
1'7
4
8
AndersonAnd Niemi; op.cit., pp. 29-30.
9. Niemi, J n A. "Englishfor 'Old Canadians': TheFinnish Project In BritishColumbia." The EnglishQuarterly, Fall, 1972.
10. Qazilbash, A. Husain. "ADialect Survey ofAppalachian Region." Un-published Ph.D. disserta-tion, Florida State Uni-versity, 1971, pp. 313-359.
11. Bernstein, Basil. "SocialClass and LinguisticDevelopment: A Theory' of,Social Learning." In%A.H. Halsey; Jean Floudand C. Arnold 'Anderson(editors), Education, 'Economy and Society0961e,p. 308.
12. Anderson and Niemif op.ci-t., p. 27.
13. Cohen, Rosalie eta al."Implications fox Culture.Conflict from a/SemanticFeature Analysis of theLexicori of the Hard-Core."Pittsburgh: University ofPittsburgh Re-,,
Or
4
16. ,Hen ut, Dorothy Todd."Th Media: Powerful Cata-lyst for Community Change."In J hn A. Niemi (editor) f
Mass Media and Adult Edu-catiO, Englewood Cliffs,New Jersey: Educational'Technology Publications,1971, pp. 114-115.
17. Freire, Paulo. "CulturalAction and Conscientiza-tion." Orvard EducationalReview, Vol. 40, No. 3,August 1070, p. 452.
18. Cohen, op« cit., p. 4.
1.9. Barnes, Robert F: andHendrickson, ArOrew. AReview of AppraisalrofLiteracy Materials andPrograms, Columbus, Ohio:The Ohio State ResearchFoundation, 1965, p. 95.
20. Debes, John L. "The Loomof Visual Literacy--AnOverview." In Clarence M.Williams and John L. Debes(editors) , Proceedings of,the First. National Confer-ence on Visual Literacy,New York: Pitman Publish-ing Corporation, 1970,p. 14.
Arkava, Morton L. A Socio-logy of Impoverished LifeStyles, Boulder, Colorado:,Region VIII, Adult BasicEducation Project at theUniversity Of Colokado,1970, p. 74.
Learningsearch, and DavelopmentCenter, Mimefo paper, 1967,p. 2.
14. Ibid., pp./5-6.
15. Ibid., Appendix, pp. 1-2.
"21.
18t
4-
VISUAL LiTERACY? r
UNUERSTANdiNg
MEdiA IN DEpTI-1
In .describing the adult Iiiiracy proc-ess, Paulo Freire emphasizes that "learn-ing to read and write ought to be an op-portunity for men to know what speakingthe word really means: a human act im-plying reflection and action." Vertsal.literacy, then, goes far beyond the mini-mal skills of reading, writing and compu-tation. Although the problems of verballiteracy have received intensive study,relatively little is known about visual lit-eracy. Yet, it too is "a human act imply-ing reflection and action" and derhandingskills as complex as those involved inverbal literacy. Visual literacy is ex-plained as follows in the Proceedings ofthe First Notional Conference on VisualLiteracy in Rochester, N.Y., March 1969:
Visual literacy refers to a group of visioncompetencies a human being can developby ,seeing at the same time he has andintegrates othersensory experiences. Thedevelopment 61` these competencies isfundamental to norrnatVnan learning.
en developed, they enable a visuallyiterate person to discriminate and interpret the visible actions, objects, and/orsymbols. natural or manmade, that heencounters in his environment. Throughthe creative use of these competencies,he is able-to communicate with others.Through' the appreciative use of thesecompetencies, he is able to comprehendand enjoy the masterviorks of visualcommunication.
We dO not know how many NorthAmericans are visually literate; but we doknow that they spend considerable timewatching TN, and film, and we can bepretty sure that few have been instructedin critical viewing. How many, for exam-ple, know when ,hey are being conned bysubliminal messages, especially by %OatMcLuhan calls "the unconsciousdepth-
, messages of ads"? How many are aware
EDUCATIONAL BROADCASTING. Mayriunt 1972
of underlying assumptions not made ex-plicit, like the assumption in one recentfilm' that violence is necessary and satisfy-ing to humans? Or, howlnany notice thekind of visual aid selected to reinforce ordisparage certain attitudes or values? On atechnical level, do viewers understandhow close-ups, long shots and flashbacksassist the act of communication?
It must be remembered tttat mostviewerS,. especially older people, are ac-customed to linear presentations, whetherin the form of lectures, documtntaries orsoap operas. Through learning to read,these people have mastered skills thatserve them well in watching films or TV.The most notable are the ability to see .
relationships ih a sequence of ideas orevents and the ability to discern intricaterelationships among characters. However,regular TV programs with their news, ad-vertising and\ entertainment, are moving.
old linear model. In theirthe multimedia model
r senses with patterns of
away from thplace we haybombarding omotion and nd, susceptible to manyinterpretations! Also, the whole thrust ofmodern film-making is toward kaleido-scopes of diffused images and meanings,)with little spoken or written language.How will viewers react with delightedcomprehension or with confusion? Wecannot continue to assume that they willsomehow develop visual literacy ena-bling them to sort out multiple meanings --to distinguish truth from falsity and toperceive implied assumptions and valuesystems. By crJA e critical view-ers, visual litera y ,can reduce the possi-bility that they will be manipulated bythe .media. Such instruction calls forsystematic planning. Isn't it time we hegan offering courses in indepth analysisof the media?
19byJohn A. Niemi
1
N,
*
If). ADULT LEARNING VIA.THE MEDIA
v
2©ci
v
/
r.
SIR KENNETH CLARK:
SCHOLAR? ENTERTAINER?
ADULT EDUCATOR ?
111 Upon hearing that Sir Kenneth Clark'sfilm series "Civilisation" would appear onIBC in Canada and through the Publicroadcasting Service in the United States,purchased copies of Clarks's books Civi-
lisation: A Personal View and A Guide toivilisation by the National Gallery ofr t. From the BBC publication Theistener, I had gleaned information about
Clark's role as a scholar and an entertain-,gr (in the best sense of the word). Be-ause this series was clearly-directed to andult audience, I found myself watching
from the perspective of an adult educatorI*nterested in the mass media.
The task of integrating and condensingnto thirteen programs a staggering vol-
ume of information about the culture ofWestern Europe made inevitable Clark's
111
h o ice of the lecture techhique. 'Butlark's lecture differed markedly from
the usual' television lecture directed to.adults. Instead $f merely dispensing infrir-
III,
II
I O
,mation, Clark sweeps the viewer alongwith hire. Together, they explore anancient French abbey; the fresh Englishcountryside, the frescoes of St. Peter's inRome, and other hallowed places. Howdoes he do it? By melding his wisdom andknowledge with the technical skill of theBBC television personnel. According toPeter Quennell (The Saturday Review,August 28, 1971), Clark early recognizedthe potential of television for the "Civili-sation" series. The resulting blend ofcolor;Thiutit and other sounds, imagery,and narration has proved irresistible tolarge audiences.
Clark ,unerringly hit upon some im-portant principles of adult learning. Onehas already been mentioned: the planningof vivid, variegated experiences which in-volve the viewer. Another principle is thatof establishing rapport with him. Clarkdoes so through an easy, informal mannerof speech and dress. He greets the viewer
directly, often in everyday languagesalted with htimor. He asks questions like"What is civilisation?" adding "I don'tknow. I can't define it in abstract termsyet. But I think I can recognise it when Isee it. ..." A third principle relates toClark's organization of his subject matter:he justifies his interpretations. For exam-ple, he cites Constable's painting "Wil-lows by a Stream" and some of Words-worth's poems to illustrate the naivete ofthe "cult of simplicity." Finally, heknows the importance of relating the oldand the new, the past and the present; hetells us that medieval and Renaissancearchitecture surpassed our own because"the architects were artists."
However, as an adult learning experi-ence, "Civilisation" has one drawback.The amount of information presentedwithin each 50-minute program is over-whelming; Clark regularly surveys more
,than forty works of art. For the viewer toassimilate the material, it would be pref-erable to organize the series into smaller"packages," perhaps 26 programs of 25min tes duration. Nevertheless, I, likem y others, am indebted to Sir KennethCI rk for his gentle, urbane, supremelykn wledgeable interpretation of human
ievements. His transforming touchhelps us to appreciate anew the power oftelevision as arLeducational medium.
by John A. Nlem l
21
0
!HENRY ANd IL lizAbuli:
HisToqy VIA ThETubE
Are the recent B.B.C. programs center-ing op British history prodding NorthAmericans to think about new approach-es to the design ol educational programsfor TV? Some will argue that the two se-ries "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" and"Elizabeth" are strictly entertainmentand that any "learning" happens bychance, not design. In fact, the two seriesdisplay some of the best features of bothentertainment and education.
Al though audiences are apparentlycaptivated by the red-headed, hot-tempered Tudor monarchs Henry and hisdaughter Elizabeth, the series do morethan merely exploit their foibles and theiramorous adventures. Studentsof politicsand others can observe with fascinationthe absolutE power which these monarchswielded, in startling contrast to the re-straints placed upon the present Queen.Yet, as the series makes. clear, until theTudor monarchs actually ascended thethrone, their lives were often in dangerfrom a legion of conspirators grasping atpower Tor themselves., For these mon-archs, the "games" they had to 'play ipthe waiting period constituted a kind Ofapprenticeship in statecraft. Elizabethgrew in political astuteness in the precar-ious years when her half-sister' Mary heldthe throne and plotters threatened Eliza-beth's life. Later, she deftly played hersuitors off against each otheiN to maintainthe balance of power and secure Eng-land's position. Likewise, Henry's firstmatrimonial venture had political ends;his marriage to Catherine of Aragon ceirmented England 'and Spain in their alli-ance against France:'
Both series aptly illustrate the "greatmill" theory of history thalkgnificantevents are frequently born of conflicts be-tween personal desires and political goals.Such a theory, serving as the foundationof a TV series, forecasts sure -fire enter-tainment, as producers know. In our in-finitely lesser spheres, many of us havefaced similar conflicts, and thus can iden-tify with the protagonists. But to clingtoo narrowly to this theory is, of course,to leave out other considerations and riskdistorting reality. It is here that theB.B.C. perhaps sells education short. Nei-ther series tellslus much about the socialhistory of the times,. especially the impactupon the common People of the politicalevents dramatized so vividly. In the seriesfocussing on Henry, we find little con-cerning .the religious controversy thatrocked the age, with far-reaching conse-quences, Also, the highly personal natureof the series biases us concerning Henry's
EDUCATIONAL ElhOADCASTING, March 1972
character in particular. His lechery andhis obsession with having a son to succeedhim are emphasized; his skill at statecraftbarely hinted at.
Yet, even with these limitations, mosteducators would agree that the se-
ries are valuable both as supplements forpersons already acquainted with Tudorhist2ry, and as stimuli to others to seekmore information. The series certainlyportray aspects of Henry's and 'Eliza-beth's characters with fidelity, bringing usinsights into the function of the mon-archy in those days, and capturing muchof the color and vibrancy of Tudor Eng-land, especially in Elizabeth's time.
byJohn A. Nleml
22
III. ADULT EDUCATION VIA MASS MEDIA
2 3
"CROSSROAti INTiME": THE STORYOf ThE AThAbASCAN I.NalANS
IWith all., the attention being heapedon the Plains Indians and the Pacific
Coast Indians, relatively little is knownbout the Indians who occupy one of thershest regions of the world. I refer to
6,500 AthabasCans of Alaska, two-
1
1
I
1
thirds of whom inhabit its vast interior,while the rest live in the city of Fair-banks. Today, radio is bringing to publicattention the story of this once nomadic"snowshoe and toboggan" people nowoccupying villages that grew up around
24
the trading posts or schools founded bythe white man. I hroUgh a grant from theCPI3, the pnivcrsity . cj. Alaska's educa-tional radio station KU AC has produced aseries of thirteen half-hour program, en-titled "Crossroad in Time." Initially airedin. Alaska, the series is scheduled for aWider 'audience this Fall by NAtional Pub-lic Radio.
As the series explains, the coming ()Ithe white man brought a seemingly end-less demand for furs, a scramble for goldand, more recently, a search for oil. Theold Athabascan ways have been slowlyabandoned, problems of employment andacculturation have mounted, and theAthabascans have indeed found them-selves at a wossroads. Some have ac-cepted village life, others have tried to
white life-styles, often to their frus-tration, while still others have foundthemselves unable to coriform to eithersociety. What is, it like to be forced intoaccepting another man's culture? Howdoes it feel to be pressured not byforce, but by lack of alternative to dalwith another man always on'his terms?These broad general questions are ex-plored through topics like Athabascan vil-lage life, the "impact of a cash economy,unemployment, alcoholism, act turati9n, education, the work of riativ' organ,izations andmon-native organiz ions, etc.
The method used is tape interviewswith the Athabascans .rdinary menand women, as well as eir chiefs inthe villages, at th 4./ 'versity of Alaska,and in the city, - airbanks. Not all ofthe persons inter 'ewed resent the whiteman; one /old-timer; recalling the near-starvation winter of 1916, said candidlythat "life is a lot easier than it used tobe." Yet it is clear that the paternalism ofthe white man is no longer wanted. Asthe interviews reveal, the Athabascans, es-pecially the youth, arc eager to snake iton their own. Their hope lies with thesettlement lif native land claims filedagainst the ederal Government, antissuecomplicated by the 'recent discovery ofoil on Alaska's northern slope. Should theAthabascans and the, other native groupswin their case, they foresee opportunitiesto participate in the econornic growth ofAlaska and to grow in pride and politicalpower. ,
' "Crossroad in Time" is, then, an edu-cational -series designed to inform the
- public{ of\the, history and i e aspirationsof thr Athabascans of Ala ka. At thesame time, the series should dispel thesimplistit notion, held by many Ameri-cans, that all of the Indian people havesimilar societies and face similar prob-lems. In fact, the problems vary enor-mously. Only when they have-been iden-tified, as in the "Crossroad" series, canprograms be devised to help the Indianseverywhere to cope with the white man'sworld that has been thrill so uncere-moniously upon.thcm.
by John A. Nimi
RE
VIV
ING
RA
DIO
' LIS
TE
NIN
GG
RO
UP
S A
SC
AT
ALY
ST
S F
OR
SO
CIA
L A
CT
ION
John
A. N
iem
i
)Thi
sart
icle
is b
ased
on
a sp
eech
giv
enby
Joh
n N
iem
i at t
he 1
971
CA
DE
SS
Con
fere
nce
held
at L
akeh
ead
Uni
vers
ity, J
une'
2, 1
971.
ktee
tse
em a
nach
roni
stic
, in
this
day
and
age
, to
talk
abo
utre
vivi
ngra
dio
liste
ning
gro
ups?
In
this
art
icle
, Iho
pe to
con
vinc
e th
e re
ader
that
the
answ
er is
dec
isiv
ely
"No.
" I
have
a lo
ng-s
tand
ing
inte
rest
in th
eto
pic,
for
it p
erta
ins
to th
e al
mos
tun
tapp
ed p
oten
tial o
f ra
dio
as a
chan
nel f
or a
dult
educ
atio
npr
ogra
ms
whi
ch w
ould
incl
ude
tele
phon
erc
onm
nini
catio
n w
ith li
sten
ers,
the
purp
ose
bein
r to
obt
ain
feed
back
'from
them
and
tosp
ur s
ocia
l act
ion
on lo
cal i
ssue
s. T
he id
ea o
flis
teni
ng g
roup
sis
not,
of c
ours
e, n
ew o
n th
e C
anad
ian
scen
e.T
hrou
ghou
t the
for
ties
and
fift
ies
and
wel
l int
o th
e de
cade
of
the
ZZ
sixt
ies,
We
had
in th
is-c
ount
rya
Soci
ally
pow
erfu
l net
wor
k of
list
enin
gC
digr
oups
cal
led
the
Nat
iona
l Far
m R
adio
For
um. T
he n
umbe
rof
thes
eFo
rum
s re
gist
ered
dur
ing
the
thre
e pe
akse
ason
s w
as a
s fo
llow
s: in
1948
-49
1,58
8; in
194
9-50
1,60
6; a
nd in
195
0-51
1,46
5. A
lso,
the
larg
est n
umbe
r of
par
ticip
ants
repo
rted
at o
ne m
eetin
g oc
curr
ed in
the
sam
e ye
ars:
20,
293,
20,
7 9,
and
18,
119.
1So
suc
cess
ful w
as th
is-r
adio
-lin
ked
adul
t edu
catio
nei
crp
rise
that
it m
ay h
ave
prom
pted
the
1.95
1 H
ouse
of
Coi
Wm
ons
Spec
ial C
omm
ittee
on R
adio
Bro
adca
stin
g to
mak
e th
is c
omm
ent:
"The
rea
l job
of
radi
obr
oadc
astin
g in
edu
catio
n is
the
fiel
d of
adu
lt ed
ucat
ion.
"2..)
The
se p
relio
ntfi
try
rem
arks
are
not i
nten
ded
as a
wis
tful
look
into
the
rear
-vie
w m
irro
r at
the
vani
shed
glo
ryof
rad
io. F
ar f
rom
it. I
will
try.
to s
how
how
and
why
the
revi
val,
of th
e "l
iste
ning
grou
p" ty
pe o
fed
ucat
ion
for
adul
ts is
not
'mer
ely
poss
ible
,bu
t con
stitu
tes
a ri
chre
sour
ce f
or b
ring
ing
soci
al a
ctio
n on
impo
rtan
t iss
ues.
Tru
e, th
eda
zzlin
g, u
biqu
i AT s
TV
scr
een,
with
its
ever
chan
fing
pat
tern
s of
sou
ndan
d co
lour
, see
med
for
Vfi
mc
to-
fini
sh o
ff r
adO
tor
at B
ast t
o di
m it
s.ap
peal
. But
, loo
king
at a
noth
er R
epor
t wri
tten
two
deca
des
afte
r th
e}
lous
e of
Com
mon
s R
epor
tto
whi
ch I
ref
erre
d ea
rlie
r, w
e di
scov
erso
me
surp
risi
ng c
oncl
usio
ns..
The
197
1 R
epor
taf-
a Sp
ecia
lC
omm
ittee
of th
e Se
nate
on
Mas
s M
edia
(kn
own
a4 th
e "D
avey
Rep
ort,"
aft
er it
s.
,24
6,
0
4a
Cha
irm
an)
reve
als.
that
"vi
rtua
llyev
ery
hoin
e in
Can
ada
has
it m
inim
umof
one
latli
o se
t," a
nd th
at, "
on th
eav
etag
e, th
ere
arc
over
two
radi
ose
ts p
er h
ome
... "
3 ho
wev
er, t
he r
espo
nses
of
Can
adia
ns to
que
stio
nsab
out p
rogr
ams
show
ed a
str
ikin
gco
ntra
st b
etw
een
radi
o an
d T
V.
Whe
reas
.nin
ety -
two
perc
ent p
refe
rred
Can
adia
n ra
dio
prog
ram
s, o
nly
43 p
erce
nt c
luis
e C
anad
ian
TV
pro
gram
s.4
On
the
othe
r ha
nd, w
hen
asse
ssed
by
liste
ners
as
a m
ediu
m o
f ed
ucat
ion,
radi
o ra
n a
poor
fou
rth
behi
nd T
V, n
ewsp
aper
s, a
nd m
agaz
ines
.5 I
nsh
ort,
Can
adia
ns s
eem
gene
rally
to f
avou
r th
eir
own
radi
opr
ogra
ms,
but
to p
lace
littl
e va
lue
on th
eir
abili
ty to
edu
cate
.
.I
thin
k th
at, a
s ed
ucat
ors,
-we
have
to c
apita
lize
on th
e fi
rst _
find
ing,
i.e.,
that
Can
adia
ns li
ke th
eir
own
radi
opr
ogra
ms,
and
wor
k ha
rd to
Cha
nge
attit
udes
with
reg
ard
to th
e se
cond
fin
ding
, i.e
., th
at r
adio
is n
oted
ucat
iona
l. A
4iro
blem
that
imm
edia
tely
pres
ents
itse
lf is
the
use
ofth
e te
rm "
educ
atio
nal"
inth
e D
avey
Rep
ort.
I le
re is
a c
omm
ent.
appl
ied
to T
V:
11/ i
s ed
ucat
iona
l. Pe
ople
Jik
e th
e vi
sual
pres
enta
tion
offa
cts
and
of e
nter
tain
men
t The
y un
ders
tand
the
'new
sbe
tter
beca
use
they
can
see
wha
t has
hap
pene
d. I
tal
low
sth
em to
par
take
of
patp
of
life
whi
ch o
rdin
arily
wou
ldbe
inac
cess
ible
.6
Whi
le th
is d
efin
ition
has
the
ring
of
McL
uhan
's"g
loba
l vill
age,
"ot
her
wri
ters
que
stio
n' w
heth
er s
uch
pass
ive
view
ing
resu
lts in
lear
ning
.M
iller
, for
one
, sta
tes
flat
ly th
at th
e ob
ject
ive
of E
TV
is n
ot m
erel
y to
invo
lve
the
view
er.,
wha
teve
rha
tm
eans
, but
to e
ffec
t "so
me
wel
l-de
fine
d ch
ange
" in
him
.7V
mov
e fr
om th
e co
olT
V m
ediu
m to
the
hot r
adio
med
ium
, McL
uhan
impl
ies
a un
ique
rol
e fo
r it.
"R
adio
,"he
say
s, "
affe
cts
mos
t peo
ple
intim
atel
y,pe
rson
-to-
pers
on, o
ffer
ing
aw
ord
of u
nspo
ken
com
mun
icat
ion
betw
een
wri
ter-
spea
ker
and
liste
ner.
Thi
s is
the
imm
edia
te im
itt o
ffad
io. A
pri
vate
expe
rien
ce."
8
Lon
g be
fore
McL
uhan
put
it s
o w
ell,
open
-lin
e ra
dio
prog
ram
s w
ere
prov
idin
g th
is k
ind
of e
xper
ienZ
:e f
or li
sten
ers.
Initi
ally
, the
rad
io h
ost
perm
itted
them
to r
epoh
via
tele
phon
e su
chtr
ivia
as
mis
sing
pet
s, h
owto
app
ly f
or a
taxi
lice
nce,
-etc
. The
n re
spon
ses
bega
nto
com
e in
fro
mex
hibi
tioni
sts,
fro
m e
vang
elis
ts (
polit
ical
and
rel
igio
us),
and
fror
lone
lype
ople
. And
, slo
wly
, the
for
mat
und
erw
ent
a ch
ange
. Mar
e an
d ni
prc,
the
open
-lin
e pr
ogra
ms
cam
e to
foc
uson
Soc
ial,
isgu
es.-
Soin
e of
thes
ecu
rren
t pro
grw
s, li
ke C
BC
's C
ross
-qpu
ntry
Che
cktp
a w
hich
repl
aced
the
Nat
iona
l Citi
zens
'Fo
rum
in 1
965
arc.
base
d on
res
earc
han
d on
the
avai
labi
lity
of a
gue
st e
xper
t.Q
dcst
ions
arc
pos
ed p
rim
arily
to e
'itik
r.sl
iscu
ssio
n fr
om/th
e ra
dio
audi
ence
: Her
e,in
the
'opp
ortu
nity
give
n th
e au
dien
ce to
par
ticip
ate,
and
thus
to b
ecom
e em
otio
nally
247
invo
lved
t- t
cont
rove
rsia
l iss
ues,
lies
the
real
val
e of
the
talk
show
s, a
ndth
e so
urce
Xf)
heir
popu
larit
y,as
M it
fOr
d co
nam
s:
... th
eta
lksh
ows
thriv
eon
con
trov
ersy
and
act
ivel
yen
cour
age
t-lie
unce
nsor
edai
ring
ofno
n-co
nfor
mis
tT
hey
at le
ast o
iler
pote
ntia
l of u
ninh
ibite
ddi
scus
sion
..and
- ro
ugh-
and-
tnib
le d
ebat
e. P
erha
ps in
anov
er-t
ranq
uilli
zed
land
, ibi
s is
the
key
to th
eir
succ
ess.
9
She
als
o em
phas
izes
that
the
talk
shi
m is
ove
rwhe
lmin
gly
adul
t in
'411
its a
ppea
l, w
ith le
ss th
anse
ven
perc
ent
of p
erso
ni u
nder
eig
htee
n ta
king
part
in th
e ia
tero
itIng
e.'9
Thu
s:lit
is, a
ll th
e in
ure
surp
risin
g to
find
how
lifew
adu
lt ed
ucat
ors'
are
taki
ng-
adva
ntag
e of
the
phen
omen
on c
alle
d th
e-ta
% s
how
. The
re a
retw
o re
ason
swity
they
mus
t bee
dme
invo
lved
; One
rel
ates
to a
wea
knes
sI h
ave
not m
entio
ned
with
res
pect
to th
e ta
lk s
how
: its
tend
ency
-to
invi
te to
o m
any
yast
ions
to m
ake
poss
ible
a th
orou
gh a
nd lo
gica
lin
vest
igat
ion
of a
topi
c. T
he c
onfu
sion
res
ultin
g fr
om th
e un
witt
ing
diss
emin
alio
n of
wro
ng a
ssum
ptio
ns o
r ha
lf-tr
uths
cou
ld le
adto
that
mos
t exp
losi
ve ti
f soc
ial s
ituat
ions
, the
pol
ariz
atio
n' o
f com
mun
ityop
inio
n on
com
plex
issu
es. P
erha
ps th
e si
tuat
ion
:cou
ld b
e av
oide
d if
the
adul
t edu
cato
r br
ough
t to
bear
his
kno
wle
dge
of a
dult
lear
nini
;pr
inci
ples
and
his
com
man
d of
the
adul
t edu
catio
n pr
oces
s. S
till
anot
her
reas
on w
hy a
dult
educ
ator
s m
ust p
ay a
ttent
ion
to th
e Ilk
show
is th
at th
e ho
st n
ot o
nly
prov
ides
a p
ublic
foru
m fo
r al
iena
ted
peop
le a
nd o
ther
s; h
e ha
s le
arne
d ho
w to
rea
ch th
em th
roug
ha
dist
inct
ive
"sty
le"
that
enc
oura
ge*t
hem
to r
espo
nd.
Sur
ely
it is
cle
ar th
at th
e br
oadc
aste
r an
d th
e ,e
duca
tor
mus
t poo
lth
eir
tale
nts
to r
emed
y th
e si
tuat
ion
whe
reb
the
educ
atio
nal r
ole
ofra
dio
has,
by
defa
ult,
been
pla
yed
out b
y th
e br
oadc
aste
r al
ork
Suc
hha
s no
i alw
ays
been
: the
cas
e. A
s st
ated
by
the
1965
Rep
ort k
of th
e..
Com
mitt
ee o
n B
road
cast
ing:
AL
onet
ime
... th
e (%
adi
anA
ssot
i.10
11 o
f Adu
lt E
duca
-lic
in c
olla
bora
ted
with
Cn
the
prod
uctio
n of
twe.
pty-
Six
, bro
adca
sts
a' y
ar
'the
CLI
C a
dult
educ
atio
nM
!
prog
ram
min
g is
stil
t ver
y im
pres
sive
, but
it is
dis
cOnc
ertin
g,o
toha
ve(b
o re
part
-4 d
eclin
ein
an a
rea
Whe
re n
ewde
Vel
opm
ent i
s un
doub
tedl
y hi
ghly
des
irabl
e an
d pi
obab
lyne
cess
ary
in th
e'ub
solu
te s
ense
.11
itT
he-
resu
lts,o
f thi
s co
llabo
ratio
n be
twee
n th
e C
iaad
ian
Ass
ocia
tion
for
Adu
lt E
duca
tion
and
the
Can
adia
n B
road
cast
ing
Cor
pora
tion
are
,4 p
erha
ps b
est
illits
trat
ed w
ith r
efer
ence
tgot
wrc
fam
ous
liste
ning
grou
ppr
ogra
ms
= T
hy N
atio
nal F
arm
Rad
to.F
orum
and
the
Nat
iona
l Citi
zens
'F
orum
. Let
uilo
oksb
rietly
'at t
hese
pro
gram
s, to
gai
n;so
ihe
insi
ghts
into
the
reas
ons
for
thei
r su
cces
s an
d to
con
ject
ure
how
this
info
ntat
ion,
248
plus
a -
kntiw
ledg
e of
the
talk
sho
w fo
rmal
,toul
d he
lp-
adul
t edu
cato
rstg
, des
ign
educ
atio
nal p
rogi
nns.
'1.1
1 fir
st p
rogr
am, t
he N
atio
nal F
arm
Rad
io F
orum
(19
4119
65),
was
an
expe
rimen
t in
adul
t edu
catio
n gr
owin
g ou
t of t
he D
epre
ssio
n.T
his
liste
ning
gro
up p
roje
ct, d
esig
ned
for
rura
l Can
adia
ns,
spra
ng fr
omth
eco
lhtb
o-ra
tive
effo
rts
of ,t
hrer
e C
anad
ian
orga
niza
tions
the
Can
adia
n A
ssoc
iatio
n fo
r ,A
dul&
Edu
catio
n', t
he C
anad
ian
Bro
adca
stin
gC
orpo
ratio
n,an
d th
e C
anad
ian
Fed
erat
ion
of A
gric
ultu
re. I
lere
is th
est
atem
ent i
ssue
d ab
out t
he a
im o
f the
pro
gram
:
was
agr
eed
that
the
aim
.to
mak
e pe
ople
face
thei
rpr
oble
mk
11w
ould
be u
nwis
e to
ass
ume
that
peo
ple
are
mer
ely
rece
ptiv
e an
d as
king
for
an a
dvis
ory
serv
ice
of th
iski
nd. W
e sh
ould
not
tell
peop
le w
hat t
hey
ough
t to
do, b
utra
ther
itis
very
, im
port
ant
tole
t the
m fi
nd o
utfo
rth
emse
lves
wha
t nee
ds to
he
done
. An
atte
mpt
sho
uld
hem
ade
to a
ssum
e re
spon
sibi
lity
and
take
act
ion
them
selv
esta
War
ds a
sol
utio
n of
the
prob
lem
faci
ng th
em."
Thi
s -p
hila
tpop
hy c
ryst
alliz
ed in
to th
e F
arm
For
um s
loga
n "R
ead
List
en -
Dis
cuss
and
Act
with
You
r...N
eigh
bour
s."
Acr
d th
em
ovem
ent
grew
with
the
deve
lopm
ent o
f loc
al F
ornm
s, w
hose
rai
son
d'et
rew
asde
scrib
ed a
s fo
llow
s by
the
Que
bec
Pro
viN
al. F
arm
For
um S
ecre
tary
:.
An
effe
ctiv
e jo
b of
fiel
d w
ork
cann
st b
C d
liner
by in
divi
dual
cont
acts
mad
e by
the
Pro
vinc
ial r
am ?
Po
r u
in S
ecre
tary
.E
xten
sion
- th
roug
h gr
oups
has
long
pee
n re
cogn
ized
as th
em
ost e
ffici
ent a
nd e
ffect
ive,
inet
hOd
of d
oing
ext
ensi
onw
ork.
Mem
bers
of a
n ex
istin
g. F
orum
are
as
a ru
le a
nxio
usto
see
ollre
r gr
oups
org
aniz
ed. T
hey
are
fam
iliar
with
the
surr
ound
ing
dist
rict a
nd in
thirb
est p
ossi
ble
posi
tion
tokn
ow th
e ne
ighb
ours
mos
t lik
ely,
to o
rgan
ize
a F
orum
."
L.
The
org
aniz
atio
n of
list
enin
g gr
oups
and
the
deve
lopm
ent o
f stu
dym
ater
ial&
bec
ame
the
resp
onsi
bilit
y of
the
Can
adia
n A
ssoc
iatio
n fo
rA
dult
Edu
catio
n an
ethe
Can
adia
n .g
gikp
citt
ion
of A
gric
ultu
re, w
hile
the
plan
ning
and
pro
duct
ion
of p
rogr
ams"
heca
nie
the
resp
onsi
biht
hy o
f the
CB
C. O
f cou
rse,
in o
rder
t9 b
e su
cces
sful
, the
_Aili
onal
Far
m R
adio
For
um h
ad r
o w
in th
e su
ppor
t ofin
fluen
tial g
rotip
s at
the
prov
inci
alle
vel,
i,e.,
univ
ersi
ties,
go.
verm
acitt
al d
epar
tmen
ts' o
f agr
icdi
turc
and
educ
atio
nal a
genc
ies.
" A
ccor
ding
toin
Ohl
iger
otw
ho h
as d
one
'ext
ensi
ve r
ear
ch o
n lis
teni
ng g
roup
s, th
e p
ttern
tot'
coop
erat
ion
thus
esta
blis
hed
ersi
sted
with
chan
ge H
uron
the
twen
ty-li
ve y
ear
run
of th
e F
arm
For
um.'
5 D
UI w
fat-
is im
port
ant,
for o
ur p
urpo
ses,
is th
atra
dio'
bec
ame
the
devi
ce b
y w
hich
iaiic
h F
oram
rec
eive
d in
form
atio
n.E
very
hal
f-ho
ur b
road
cast
con
tain
ed a
twen
tyfiv
e m
inut
e, im
part
ial
exlin
inat
ion
ofa
Vic
and
a fi
v -m
inut
e st
ikun
ary
of fe
edll'
ack
onpr
einO
us p
/ogr
Sm
s" g
athe
red
fron
tis
on
a re
gion
al b
asis
. The
r y7
-24
9
41!0
e,t)
4 *
.
.te
chni
que
allo
win
g lis
tene
rs to
res
pond
gav
e va
luab
le in
sigh
ts in
topu
blic
it,p
in
on s
ocia
l iss
ues.
Eve
ry fo
Lrth
bro
adca
st w
as d
evot
edlo
asu
mm
ary
nom
the
prev
ious
thre
e br
oadc
asts
, thi
s tim
e on
a n
atio
nal
basi
s. In
a d
ition
, the
Far
m F
orum
del
ved
into
topi
cs o
f nat
iona
lin
tere
st. F
or e
xam
ple,
a 1
945
prog
ram
ent
itled
"E
duca
tion
for
Rur
alLi
ving
" in
vest
igat
ed p
ublic
opi
nion
on
vario
us q
uest
ions
rel
ated
to r
ural
scho
ols.
Foc
usin
g-on
the
then
con
trov
ersi
al is
sue
of th
e fo
rmin
g of
larg
e-s
choo
l dis
tric
ts, t
he p
rogr
am s
ough
t res
pons
es fr
om li
sten
ers
who
had
had
actu
al e
xper
ienc
e.w
ith th
ese
larg
er u
nits
. Her
e dr
e th
e fin
ding
s:..
... 8
3 pe
r ce
nt o
f the
For
ums
in A
lber
ta, 7
5 pe
r ce
nt in
New
Bru
nsw
ick
and
Nov
a S
cotia
, 68
per
cent
in B
ritis
hC
olum
bia
and
33 p
er c
ent i
n O
ntar
io a
re in
dis
tric
ts w
here
larg
er u
nits
hav
e be
en o
rgan
ized
. Of t
hese
For
ums,
68
per
glig
'ce
ntar
efa
vour
ably
impr
esse
d w
ithth
e re
sults
The
yre
port
ed th
at th
e la
rger
uni
t bid
bro
ught
a m
ore
dive
rsifi
edcu
rric
ulum
,be
tter
scho
ol e
quip
men
t, im
prov
ed h
ealth
serv
ices
, mor
e re
crea
tion;
libr
ary
serv
ice,
bet
ter
paid
and
abet
ter
plac
ed te
ache
rs. T
hey
stre
ssed
als
o th
e fa
ct th
at m
ore
coun
try
thild
ren
now
hav
e th
e op
port
unity
of a
ttend
ing
high
sch
ool.1
6
A s
igni
fican
t com
men
t on
the
findi
ngs
was
this
one
:/
On
the
who
le th
e F
orum
find
ings
sho
wed
that
farm
...pe
ople
can
be tr
uste
dto
mak
e" w
ise
deci
sion
s re
gard
ing
rura
lsc
hool
s pr
ovid
ing
they
are
fully
=in
form
ed, a
nd p
rovi
ding
they
arc
con
sulte
d w
hen
the
deci
sion
s ar
e m
ade.
17
The
tech
niqu
es e
mpl
oyed
in th
e N
atio
nal F
arm
Rad
io r
For
umpr
ogra
ms
incl
uded
the
pane
l dis
cuss
ion,
the
inte
rvie
w, a
nd o
ther
s. A
lso,
in o
rder
that
the
rura
l lis
tene
r co
uld
appr
aise
crit
ical
ly th
e id
eas
com
ing
to h
im o
ver
the
radi
o w
aves
, prin
ted
mat
eria
ls w
ere
dist
ribut
ed p
rior
to-
a br
oadc
ast.
Son
ic M
embe
rs s
ubsc
ribed
to th
e C
AA
E J
ourn
al F
ood
for
771o
ught
, so
that
they
cou
ld. c
ontr
ibut
e in
telli
gent
ly to
the
disc
ussi
onth
at fo
llow
ed th
e br
oadc
as. A
fter
the
disc
ussi
on, r
epor
ts w
ere
com
pile
d by
a se
cret
ary
and
forw
arde
d to
the
prov
inci
al o
ffice
of t
heE
arn'
For
um. I
fth
e lis
tene
rs h
adac
hiev
c4d
lons
ensu
s, p
lans
wer
efo
rmul
ated
for
a co
urse
of a
ctio
n on
the
prob
lem
at t
he lo
cal l
evel
. As
Ohl
ter
poin
ts o
ut
Thr
ough
olitt
he h
isto
ry o
f the
Fai
nt F
orum
, th
natio
nal
spon
sors
pla
ced
cons
ider
able
em
phas
is o
n'th
e e
ensi
ve u
seci
f fee
dbA
ck p
roce
dure
s, c
aref
ul p
repa
ratio
n of
.sup
ple-
inen
trl p
rinte
d m
ater
ials
, and
the
desi
rabi
lity
of. a
ctio
nre
sulti
ng fr
on3.
the
disc
ussi
on. I
t was
the
long
-tim
e em
phas
ison
the
com
bina
tion
of th
ese
thre
e el
emen
tset
hat b
roug
htm
ost o
f the
inte
rnat
iona
l atte
ntio
n to
the
Far
m F
orum
.18
A
Wha
t 'co
urse
s of
soc
ial a
ctio
nto
har
k ba
ck to
the
purp
ose
of th
is
250.
-411
artic
lere
sulte
d fr
om T
he a
ctiv
ities
of t
hese
list
enin
g gi
mps
? A
nim
pres
sive
one
rel
ates
to th
e bu
ildin
g of
a c
oope
rativ
e,cr
eam
erY
by
farm
ers
in r
ural
Que
bec.
Prio
r .to
the
esta
blis
hmen
t of t
he F
arm
For
uth-
---
in th
e E
aste
rn T
owns
hips
of Q
uebe
c in
194
0, it
is r
epor
ted:
Far
mer
s w
ere
not a
ccus
tom
ed to
Coi
ning
toge
ther
to d
iscu
ssth
eir
prob
lem
s an
d to
wor
k ou
t a s
olut
ion
toge
ther
. The
Cov
ians
valle
Co-
cpira
tive
stan
ds a
s co
ncre
te e
vide
nce
of th
ene
w w
ay in
whi
ch th
ese
farm
ers
appr
oach
thei
rfro
blem
s.T
his
crea
mer
y w
as s
pons
ored
as
an "
actio
n pr
ojec
t" b
pthe
Eas
t Far
nham
tane
ford
yce
For
um7s
lt is
typi
cal o
f the
num
erou
s pr
ojec
ts w
hich
hav
e re
sulte
din
rura
l com
-m
uniti
es fo
llow
ing
disc
ussi
ons
in F
arm
Rio
Fon
im.I9
Or,
list
en to
the
voic
e of
Ale
x S
im, a
n ea
ly le
ader
in m
ass
med
iaan
d ex
tens
ion
wor
k in
Can
ada;
spe
akin
g in
194
6 at
a s
ympo
sium
on
the
futu
re o
f (he
Far
m F
orum
:
:I d
o fe
el a
s 1
driv
e ab
out t
he c
ount
ry, o
ften
on r
oads
plow
ed fo
r th
e fir
st d
ime
beca
use
Far
m F
orum
s go
t afte
rth
e C
ounc
il; o
r to
a fi
lm s
how
, 'or
a m
ass
mee
ting
spon
sore
dby
a g
roup
Of F
arm
For
ums,
or
a ne
wly
-org
aniz
ed c
o-op
,th
at s
uch
com
mun
ity e
ffort
s w
ill c
ontin
ue a
nd m
ultip
lybe
caui
e of
the
Far
m F
orum
mek
vem
ent.2
0
Com
pare
d w
ith th
e N
atio
nal F
arm
Rad
io F
orum
, the
Nat
iona
lC
itize
ns: F
orum
was
a le
ss e
ffect
ive
liste
nin
grou
p. T
his
serie
s, w
hich
ran
Nt-
1%19
43 to
196
5, w
an d
evel
oIn
dy b
y th
e C
AA
E a
nd th
etB
C a
s th
e ur
ban
coun
terp
art
oth
e F
arm
For
um. B
oth
wer
eco
mpo
sed
mai
nly
of c
omm
unity
gro
ups
orga
nize
d in
a p
artic
ular
neig
hbo
hood
, and
the
form
at e
mpl
oyed
by
the
Citi
zens
' For
umw
asm
odel
led
ter
that
of t
he F
arm
For
um.le
fliat
is, p
rior
to a
bro
adca
st,
the
mem
beof
the
liste
ning
gro
ups
rece
ived
prin
ted
mat
eria
l; an
d fiv
em
inut
es o
f he
thirt
y-m
inut
e br
oadc
asts
wer
e de
vote
d to
com
men
tsfr
om r
cgi
t for
unis
on
the
prev
ious
bro
adca
st. A
lso,
pro
visi
onw
asm
ade
for
a m
onth
ly p
rogr
am, w
hich
aire
d th
e op
inio
ns o
f the
For
ums
over
a n
atio
nal n
etw
ork.
How
ever
, the
Citi
zens
' For
um n
ever
cau
ght o
n,as
the
Far
m F
onnn
,had
. As
we
have
see
n, th
e la
tter
enjo
yed
a m
oral
bas
is o
f agr
icul
tura
lsu
ppor
t acr
oss
the
coun
try,
larg
ely
beca
use
itpr
esen
ted,
topi
cs o
fim
med
iate
and
obv
ious
con
cern
to fa
rmer
s an
d le
d to
dire
ct s
ocia
lac
tion.
On
the
othe
r ha
nd, t
he C
itize
ns' F
orum
, dea
ling
with
man
ydi
vers
e gr
oups
, cho
se m
ore
gene
ral t
opic
s; a
nd s
o ha
d di
fficu
lty w
inni
ngsu
ppor
tfr
omin
stitu
tions
whi
ch h
ad th
eir
own
adul
t edu
catio
npr
ogra
ms,
e.g
., lib
rarie
s an
d Y
MC
A. E
ven
indi
vidu
al li
sten
ers
had
diffi
cult
time
beco
min
g ar
ouse
d ov
er s
uch
'bro
adto
pics
as
the'
esta
blyf
men
t of a
n in
tern
atio
nal U
nite
d N
atio
ns p
olic
e fo
rce,
or th
e
251
citiz
en a
nd h
is g
over
nmen
t. In
sho
rt, t
he C
itus
' For
um fa
iled
to ta
keth
e gr
ass-
root
i app
roac
h th
at is
a b
asic
of a
dult
educ
atio
npr
ogra
mm
ing.
Oth
er c
ritic
al d
iffer
ence
s c
ed b
etw
een
he tw
oor
ums:
the
philo
soph
y es
pous
ed b
y th
e F
arm
For
um c
ause
dit
tooc
us o
nco
mm
unity
pro
blem
s, a
n ap
prdi
rei
nfor
ced
y th
e sl
ogan
"Li
sten
- D
iscu
ss a
nd A
ct w
ith Y
. r N
eigl
ibcu
rs."
On
the
othe
i han
the
Citi
zens
'F
orum
env
isag
edlit
icy
enlig
hten
edci
tizen
s, a
inci
p
philo
soph
y th
at w
as n
ot -
clea
r to
the
aver
age
liste
ner.
Inst
ead
ofap
prec
iatin
g. th
e lo
ng-r
ange
val
ue o
f the
ser
ies,
man
y ci
tizen
s be
cam
eF
rust
rate
d. T
hey
felt
that
the
grou
p de
cisi
ons
they
rea
ched
wer
e m
erel
yac
adem
ic, t
hat i
s, u
nrel
ated
to th
eic
ever
yday
wor
ld a
nd u
nlik
ely
tocu
lmin
ate
in s
ocia
l act
ion.
Mor
eove
r, th
e la
ck o
f fie
ld o
rgan
izer
s fo
r th
elo
cal C
itize
ns' F
orum
s st
ood
in th
e'vl
ay o
f im
plem
entin
g de
cisi
ons
tpat
mig
ht h
ave
solv
ed s
ome
of th
eir
com
mun
ity p
robl
ems.
21 F
inal
ly, t
heC
itize
ns'
For
um r
anin
todi
fficu
ltybe
caus
eit
copi
edth
e lo
ngbr
oadc
astin
g "s
easo
n" w
hich
the
Far
m F
orum
, had
dev
elop
ed to
mee
tth
e so
cial
nee
ds o
f the
rur
al li
sten
er. A
s on
e w
riter
poi
nts
out:
the
long
bro
adca
st s
easo
n re
quire
d th
e su
stai
ned
atte
n-tio
n of
the
indi
vidu
al a
s bo
th a
list
ener
and
as
a pa
rtiu
ipan
tin
s di
scus
sion
gro
up. I
t was
pre
cise
ly th
is ty
pe o
f atte
ntio
nth
at th
e C
ititc
ns: F
orum
cou
ld n
ot m
uste
r fr
om th
e ne
w-t
ime-
cons
ciou
s" u
rban
soc
iety
, whi
ch o
bjec
ted
to a
nyle
ngth
y co
mm
itmen
ts. B
esid
es th
is fa
ct, t
he u
rban
ite w
as in
the
mid
stof
Lio
man
y di
stra
ctin
g in
fluen
ces,
suc
h as
Loin
nicr
cial
ized
spo
rt, t
o gi
ve h
is fu
ll at
tent
ion
to a
ny o
neac
tivity
ove
r a
long
leng
th o
f tim
e.22
-%
Vita
l can
we,
as
adul
t edu
cato
rs, l
earn
from
the
expe
rienc
es o
f the
Nat
iona
l Far
m R
adio
For
um J
ai th
e N
atio
nal C
ity n
s' F
orum
? E
arlie
r,I s
tate
d th
at w
e w
ould
try
to a
sses
s th
e st
reng
tof
thes
e F
orum
s an
dus
e th
is in
form
atio
n, a
long
with
our
kno
wlc
gc
of th
e ta
lk s
how
folin
at, t
o dr
aw u
p so
nic
guid
elin
es fo
r ad
ult e
duca
tors
in d
esig
ning
'list
enin
g gr
oup
prog
ram
s vi
a ra
dio.
Our
pur
pose
, of c
ours
e,is
topr
omot
e so
cial
act
ion
on c
omm
unity
pro
blem
s.A
maj
or s
tren
gth
of th
e F
arm
For
um la
y in
the
colla
bora
tion,
or
shar
ing
of e
xper
tise,
am
ong
the
thre
e gr
oups
whi
ch s
pons
ored
it -
the
Can
adia
n A
ssoc
iatio
n fo
r A
dult
Lduc
atio
n, th
e C
anad
ian
Fed
erat
ion
ofA
gric
Ultu
re, a
nd th
e C
anad
ian
Bro
adca
stio
g C
orpo
ratio
n. T
he im
plic
a-tio
n fo
r us
is a
lai e
duca
tors
and
brO
adca
ster
s m
ust a
gain
-ge
t tog
ethe
r..
Tod
ay, t
he a
dult
oklu
cato
r C
411
cont
ribut
e a
soph
istic
ated
kno
wle
dge,
base
d on
res
ca'rc
lif th
e ad
ult l
earn
er a
nd o
f the
teac
hing
-lear
-nin
gpr
oces
s. T
he b
road
cast
er o
ften
brin
gs a
bre
ezy,
col
loqu
ial s
tyle
that
puts
list
ener
s at
cas
e an
d pe
rsua
des
them
to ta
ke p
art.
Ile a
lso
brin
gssu
ch s
kills
as
inte
rvie
win
g an
d sc
riptw
ritin
g.
252
<Z
i°
..
A s
econ
d im
plic
atio
n th
at w
e ca
n dr
aw fr
om th
e ex
perie
nce
of th
etw
o F
orum
s is
the
impo
rtan
ce o
f mak
i9g
the
broa
dcas
ts a
nd th
esu
pple
men
tary
mat
eria
/s r
elev
ant
toth
e .in
tere
sts
of th
e lis
teni
nggr
oups
. The
fulfi
lling
of t
his
prin
cipl
e re
quire
s th
e m
ost c
aref
ul s
tudy
of
com
mun
ity p
robl
ems
and
the
mos
t car
efuL
eras
ing
cif q
uest
ions
- an
d,ab
ove
all,
the
invo
lvem
ent o
f the
list
enin
g gr
oups
at t
he p
rogr
ampl
anni
ng s
tage
. We
have
see
n th
at th
e F
arm
-F
orum
dre
w m
uch
of it
sst
reng
th fr
om th
is'p
ract
ice.
A th
ird im
plic
atio
n is
the
need
for
a st
aff o
f fie
ld o
rgan
izer
i to
orga
nize
the
liste
ning
gro
ups
and
to a
ctas
dis
cuss
ion
lead
ers.
As
men
tione
d ea
rlier
, the
Far
m F
orum
pro
fited
gre
atly
from
the
wor
k of
field
org
aniz
ers,
whe
reas
the
Citi
zens
' For
um s
uffe
red
beca
use
ofa
lark
of s
uch
assi
stan
ce.
A fo
urth
imp4
atio
n ar
ises
out
of t
he d
ecis
ion
mad
e by
the
Citi
zens
' For
um to
,ere
rig
idly
to th
e fo
rmat
of t
heFa
rm F
orum
,ev
en to
the'
leng
thof
"sea
son.
" Y
et, c
lear
ly, t
he "
seas
on"
that
was
desi
gned
for
the
conv
enie
nce
of th
e ru
ral l
iste
ner
cam
e in
to c
onfli
ctw
ith th
e lif
e st
yle
of th
e ur
bam
,list
encr
..
The
fifth
and
last
impl
icat
ion
rela
tes
to e
valu
atio
n, th
at m
ost
Nim
port
ant e
lem
ent o
f any
adu
lt ed
ucat
ion
pro'
grar
n. H
ere,
the
per.
.fo
rman
ce o
f the
Nat
iOna
l Far
m R
adio
Fon
ich
and
the
Nat
iona
l Citi
zens
'F
orum
was
exe
mpl
ary;
bot
h so
ught
feed
back
from
the
indi
vidu
allis
teni
ng g
roup
s an
d bo
th g
ave
com
preh
ensi
ve fe
edba
ck to
the
grou
psth
roug
h th
e pr
oVin
cial
sec
reta
ries.
-In
con
clus
ion,
I w
ould
like
to m
ake
a po
int t
hat/i
s by
no
mea
nsne
w o
r or
igin
al. T
he p
robl
ems
we
face
in T
he d
ecad
e of
the
seve
ntie
s al
eam
ong
the
mos
t com
pelli
ng th
at h
ave
ever
pla
gued
man
kind
: pol
lutio
n.,
cons
erva
tion,
pop
ulat
ion
cont
rol.
The
pro
blem
s of
con
sum
ers'
rig
hts
and
tran
siel
lo y
outh
, whi
le s
mal
ler
in s
cope
, loo
m im
port
antly
inE
nany
com
mun
ities
. Man
y of
thes
e is
sues
are
of a
hig
hly
char
ged
natu
re,
tou6
hing
peo
ple'
s liv
es in
tirna
tc19
. Yet
few
opp
ortu
nitie
sex
ist f
orci
tizen
s to
gat
her
for
a ra
tiona
l dis
cuss
ion
of th
e is
sues
. Ins
tead
, the
reis
an u
nfor
tuna
te te
nden
cy fo
r op
inio
ns to
pol
ariz
e, fo
r at
titud
esto
hard
en r
athe
r th
an to
mel
low
- an
d th
e re
sult
is o
ftegt
viol
enee
. Wha
t is
our
resp
onsi
bilit
y as
adu
lt ed
ucat
ors?
Alth
ough
rad
ilis
teni
ng g
roup
sof
fer
no p
anac
ea, w
e ha
ve c
oncl
usiv
e pr
oof o
f the
ir ef
fect
iven
ess
on th
eC
anad
ian
scen
e as
cat
alys
ts fo
r so
cial
act
ion.
Sho
uldn
'tw
e gi
ve th
eman
othe
r tr
y?
RE
FER
EN
CE
S1.
Ter
renc
e R
ober
t Mor
rison
"T
he D
evel
opm
ent o
f Nat
iona
l Rad
io E
duca
tion
in C
anad
a 1'
929-
1949
.- U
npub
lishe
d /4
A. t
hesi
s, T
he U
nive
rsity
of B
ritis
hC
olum
bia.
196
7, p
. 191
.
253
2. Proceedings of the House o on Special Cana 'Wee on RadioBroadcasting. Ottawa: Kin nter fpr Canada, 1951, p'. 178.
3 Report of the Special Senate Committee on Mass Media: Mass Media: Good.Bad, or Simply Inevitable' Ottawa: Queen's Printer for Canada, 1970,111, p.
4. Ibid. p. 17. '5. /bid, p. 45.6. Ibid. p. SI.7.. Harry L. Miller. Teaching and Learning in Adult Education. Toronto:
CollierNlacmillan Canada, Ltd., 1967, p. 270.8. Marshall McLuhan. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Toionto:
McGrawHill Book Co., 1964, p. 299. .\
9. J. Mitford. "Hello There! You're on the Air" Harpers Magazine, Vol. 232(May 1966), p. 53.
10. Ibid, p. 48.11. Report of the Committee on Broadcasting. Ottawa: Queen's Printer and
Controller of Stationery, 1965, pp. 280.81.12. Neil M. Morrison. "Farmers Air Their Ptoblems." Food for Thought, No. 16,
June 1941, p. 7.13. R. A. Sim, Farm Radio Forum. Paris: UNESCO. 1954, p. 73.14. T. Morrison, op. cit.. pp. 194-199.IS. John Ohilger. Listening Groups: Mass Media in Adult Education. Boston:
CSLEA, 1967, p. 40.16. Ruth 1. McKenzie. "Forum Findings on Eddiation." Food for Thought, Vol.
5, No. 7 (April 1945), p. 37.17. Mid18. Ohliger, op. cit., p. 42.19. Ruth I. McKenzie, "Action - Farnt Forum Style." Food for Thought. Vol. 5,
No. 1 (October 1944), p. 32.20. "The Future of Farm Forum," Food for Thought, Vol. 6, No. 8 (April,
1946), p.'35.21. George Grant. "Report on Citizen's Forum," Food for Thought, Vol. 5, No.
9, (June-July, 1945), p. 25.22. T. Morrison, op. cit., p. 228.
John Nienti is Associate Professor of Adult Education at the Universityof British Columbia.
29
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The Indians of the Pacific Northwest coast have many leg-ends to tell about Raven. Some tell of how Raven created theworld. Some tell of how he brought light to the world. Acontemporary version of Raven's mythological abilities tocommunicate exists today, as the philosophy of a British Co-lumbia society called the Radio and Audio-Visual EducationNetwork (RAVEN). RAVEN intends to establish in this prov-ince an Indian communications network that will operate be-yond the boundaries of the various Indian Bands and the bu-reaucratic communication channels of governments.'
The rugged, heavily forested, fjord coastline British Co-lumbia has ensured the geographic isolation of its residents..With few mail deliveries, no daily newspapers, no telephonesand poor, if any, radio and television reception, `most smallcoastal communities stifle/ a severe communications gap. Ad-ditionally, the Indian people have suffered social, economicand cultural isolation, as a consequence of legislative restric-tions under the Indian Act and an imposed social system. It isnow widely known that the majority of Indian people are
0 1971 by Acolyte Publications Corp. All rights reserved. ReproductionM whole or part without written permission is strictly prohibited.
1971
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JOHN A. NIEMI AND ADRIAN BLUNT
enduring all the miseries of poverty and deprivation character.ized by isolation, low standards of living, a high infant mortal-ity rate, a low life expectancy, and inadequate education foremployment and self-sufficiency. This state of affairs is onethat RAVEN wishes to see changed. Recognizing that commu-nication among these isolated and disadvantaged Indian groupsis essential for social change, RAVEN is presently establishinga radio network to link coastalindian communities. RAVEN isalso providing visual media, such as videotapes, to enable thepeople to Study their problems and to cooperate actively insolving them.'
The concept of RAVEN was formed in 1969by the Societyfor a Coastal Area Network (SCAN), a non-Indian organizationestablished to improve communications and to promote socialchange among rural people along the British Columbia coast.Inifall y, SCAN was supported by grants from Le Centre desR6cherches Sociates of Montreal, the Catholic Archdiocese ofVictoria, and Simon Fraser University.' In its study of- theneeds of rural people, SCAN discovered that the greatest need
A
. George Clutesi. Potlatch. Sidney, .C.: Gray's Publishing Ltd.
15
for communicati existed among t e coastal Indian commun-ities. Hence, on receiving promise of -a grant of ;60,000from the Don er Foundation, SCAN worked to establish RA-VIN. Members of SCAN visited the coastal Indian communi-ties to try to gauge the people's reactions to the idea. After
me initial difficulties, a meeting was arranged with someoutstanding Indian leaders to discuss RAVEN and its imple-mentation. Finally in May 1969, RAVEN was registered as anonprofit society. Since that time, in addition to the DonnerFoundation grant, RAVEN has received a grant of ;30,000from the Government of British Columbia's First Citizens'Fund and $1,000 from the Leon and Thea Koerner Founda-tion to establish a library of cultural films.
Today, RAVEN's board of directors, consisting of sevenIndians and two non-Indians, operates independently of theparent society SCAN. RAVEN's President is George Clutesi,author and artist from the Tseshaht Band. Its Chairman of the,.Board is Guy Williams, a member of the Kitimat Band, Presi-dent of the Native Brotherhood and Publisher of the NativeVoice, a monthly B.C. Indian newspaper. And its Execulilie,Director is Chief Arnold Recalma of the Qualicum Band.* Inplanning its development, RAVEN has sought and obtained,advice from consultants at the University of British Columbia,Simon Fraser University, Canadian Marconi and from privateindividuals.
The pr'ogram objectives of' RAVEN- were stated as follows:1. To promote communications among Indian communities
and between Indians and the larger communities of Brit-ish Columbia.
2.* To use modern technological means to achieve the edu-cational and cultural goals of the Indian people of (Brit-ish Columbia.
3. To promote community programs such as health edution and career preparation 'through the use of media.
4. To sponsor public lectures and meetings, and to publishsuch journals, papers or articles that serve the objectivesof the society.
5. To increase the effective participation of the Indianpeople in the mainstream of Canadian life.2
RAVEN believes that through the media, ircan bring news,cultural programs and educational programs specially designedfor Indians into Indian communities; inform isolated commun-ities about the goals and values of the dominant society; andhelp to instill in the Indian people a new sense of community,pride and group responsibility. In other words, RAVEN can, asan Indian organization, create a climate for social change inIndian communities by establishing a ammunications net-work among them to fully utilize their resources. At the sametime, this network would offer a means whereby Indian com-munities could tap the resources of governments and otherinstitutions.
It is important to note that these objectives of RAVENfaithfully reflect the concerns and the recommendations of thethree national Indian organizations, as expressed in 1969 in abrief submitted to the Special Senate Committee on Mass Me-
-dia. In their opening statement, the Canadian Metis Soiiety,the National Indian Brotherhood of Canada and the Indian-Eskimo Association of Canada bluntly charged the media withthe responsibility "for social change and truly democratic dia-logue .... The media should present the poor, involve thepoor and program to the poor. Theirs is an oral culture, so filmand the electronic media can play a crucial role in promotion
Dora Cook, Community Leader, Nimpkish Band; Sam Lewis, BandManager, Squamish Band; Ross R. Modeste, Acting Director, Union ofBritish Columbia Chiefs, Cowichan Band; and Ed Newman, Councillorand Magistrate, Bella Bella 'Band.
of democratic dialogue and social change. "3 Earlier, in a briefto the Canadian Radio and Television Commission, the threeIndian organizations quoted approvingly these words of DrDavid McQueen, deputy chairman uI the Economic, Council 01Canada, speaking to the Senate Committee on Poverty.
One of the most important things you can do will be tobring the silent constituency of the poor themselves tolife . . . . The poor, for various reasons which are no faultof their own, are inclined to be inarticulate. They arc'comparatively unacquainted with the process by whichcertain grodps express their interests, and so expi.essthem that those interests in turn are dealt with throughthe medium of government policies. You will have toreach out to the poor, encourage them to be articulateand bring them along to the more fruitful considerationof their own problems., This is most important becausethey have a great deal to teach us about what is wrongwith our present structure of antipoverty programs -whythey are not doing the things we often suppose $em tobe doing.'
In the o nion of the Indian organizations, Dr: McQueen'sstatem t "should serve as !the broadcasters'i guideline in
mg and prodjicing programs fur the Indians, Eskimos andMetis."5. 6 They also recommended that such projects as .
RAVEN ... should be encouraged and supported where theyare technically feasible and financially possible."!'
This emphasis on 'Problems of communication amQng thepoor also appears in a study by Anderson and Nicmi:
The disadvantaged often limit themselves to a distinctstyle of communication, and most under-educated adultsprefer to communicate on the nonverbal level because oflimited vocabulary and limited articulation. The style oflearning is not set to respond to oral or written stimuli,and the disadvantaged tend to respond more readily .tovisual or tactile-kinesthetic signals and to 'make Judg-ments more on actions than words.?
In developing its program, RAVEN had to deal with compli-cations arising from the distances separating tie various IndianBands, and from differences in language and culture. Accord-ingly, RAVEN hit on the idea of using videotapes initially, tobring the Indians of the West Coast closer to each other and toput them in mor direct touch with governments and otherinstitutions. How as this feat accomplished? Firstly, RAVENdecided to tape all the important meetings in which the Indianpeople took part, e.g., their interview with the kt. Hon. JeanChretien, minister of the Department of Indian Affairs andNorthern Development, about the Federal Government's pro-posed Indian policy; and the annual convention of the Unionof British Columbia Indian Chiefs.
Results
What were the esuits? Through these videotapes, RAVENestablished a co munication cycle.. The Indians on their -re-serves saw and eard the exchange between the Minister andtheir own representatives. The Indians also watched their dele-gates at work at the annual convention of the Union of British
. Columbia Indian Chiefs. Later, some Indians reported theirreactionS tat RAVEN and to the individuals who had participa-ted in th meetings. The seeds of such Community involvementare taki g root in the form of dialogues among the Bands, andalso 69 ween them and the dominant Canadian society. Here,RA /VIN adopts a neutral stance, so that both sides of an issuecad hie debated and the people can feel free to draw their ownconclUsions.
.31, E/19-April 1971
Recently, RAVEN has been offered the opportunity to vid-eotape the special lectures given by George Clutesi, whoseknowledge of the history and culture of the West Coast Indianpeople is recognized by Indians and non-Indians alike. Duringthe past year, he has talked to groups at the University ofBritish Columbia, Simon Fraser University and. the Universityof Victoria. Another educational project greW out of the Na-tional, Indian Education Conference at the University of British Columbia in May 1970. At that time, RAVEN accepted ashare of the responsibility for increasing the Indian culturalcontent of education for Indians and non-Indians in theschools of British Columbia.
The next stage in RAVEN's development was the licensitiAby the Federal Government Department of Communicationsof a two-way radio communication network on three frequen-cies. Indian communities interested in the single - sidebar dradio to be used in the system were encouraged to contactRAVEN. Today RAVEN holds licenses for six Indian villages.As shown in Figure 1, the four stations and the base station atQualicum represent the beginning of an extensive network.The sixth station licenc granted for North Vancouver is notneeded by the urban Band located there, and so will be usedlater to transmit network information. As the range of thetransmitter is 350 miles, it will be possible for the base stationQualicum, which will have three channels, to be reached byany station of the network on one of those channels. Hopeful-ly, dialogue will start up among the Bands, to dispel 'somepersistent misunderstandings arisingOut of Band and languagediff fences; Future plans call for 32 stations tiOe added to'the etwork.
he third stage in RAVEN's development is the setting upof an cultural and historical library. One purpose of the library
ill be to record on film as much as possible of the "old"Indian life, so that future generations of Canadians; Indiansand non-Indians alike, can appreciate this important part $fCanada's history. It is hoped that the library will also "dub"
videotapes and generally operate as a distribution center foreducational materials of all kinds.
Personnel
The Executive Director of RAVEN, Chief Recalma, drewinitially upon the radio experience he had gained while work-ing as a commercial fisherman. Then, through trials and errors,illuminated by technical advice from hardware salesmen, ChiefRecalma learned to use video -tape cquipment to good effect.Presently hei is assisted by his wife Diane and Greg Williams,working as a team. The latter is a young Indian who has takena media course through the Vancouver School Board.
Plans have been laid for on-the-job training for a secondteam. It will travel around the province to tape and film hap-penings and, at the same time, to carry tape and film to com-munities requesting specific information. This on-the-job train-ing, aimed at capturing the action, will not follow a rigid pat-tern, but will leave the technician free to ursue his creativeimpulses.
The training of native operators forthe adio communica-tion network mentioned earlier is being handled by Chief Re-calma himself. Each of the operators instructed by him willtrain-others, so that, eventually, every village in the netWorkwill boast someone capable of operating the equipment at any
" time of the day or night.
Equipment
The, decision to split the RAVEN project into three phasesvideo, radio and film held implications for the purchase ofequipment. For the first phase, video, RAVEN chose ShibadenV2-inch equipment. Now, RAVEN possesses two video cameras,two videotape recorders, a monitor, a mike, lights, etc. Futureplans call for the purchase of one-inch videotape equipment.
For the second phase, radio, RAVEN has chosen Marconisingle- sideband transmitter and receiver sets. The cost of each
2
(
Figure 1: RAVEN stations (1-7) and major citiesof British Columbia.
1. New Aiyansh3. Bella BellaS. Qualicum (Base Station)7. Cloverdale (Future Station)9. Victoria
2. Skidegate4. Albert Bay6. North Vancouver8. Vancouver
10. Prince Rupert
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(complete with towers and pretuned antennas) is slightly unc,der $2,000. Every village will be expected to purchase its own.,sets. GRAVEN will give advice about obtaining funds from gov-ernments and foundations. For the third phase, film, both35mm. cameras and 16-mm. movie cameras have been ac-quired.
RAVEN's Future
RAVEN has interesting plans for the future. The first is toinvestigate the possibilities of training health workers. Fromeach village one person would be selected to work closely withdoctors and other health professionals. He would then returnto his village to share his new-found knowledge with his peo-ple. Through the use of radio, such paramedical personnelwould be able to converse intelligently with doctors, especiallyin emergencies when medical advice is urgently needed. In-deed, radio would make it possible for all thtbpeople in thevillage to enjoy a continuous on-going program of health care.
Another future project is the acquisition of a station ownedby the Canadian Overseas Telecommunications Corporation inCloverdale, British-Columbia (Figure I). Using those facilities,RAVEN could disseminate information throughout the YukonTerritory and the province of British Columbia. And, over thisarea-wide radio communication netw,ork, programs like thebroadcasting of an important conference could be transmittedto all the villages contained in this vast area. In turn, eachvillage having a transmitter could broadcast to the entire prov-ince. Finally, the network would also serve as an emergencycommunication system.
In closing, Raven Of old was to the Indians a mystical poweror force that brought them good tidings. The old symbolism isvery much alive today, but a new dimension has been added.RAVEN now symbolizes another kind of power, this one cre-ated by modern technology. This power is breaking downancient barriers that have for generations separated Band fromBand across great distances. Through RAVEN, the Indians arebccorfiing aware of common bonds and common problems,and they are seeking common solutions to those problems.And RAVEN is not only a bringer of information to Indians,but to non-Indians as well. They, in their turn, are becomingaware of common bonds with the Indians and learning to valueIndian traditions and lore.
References
1. The National Indian Brotherhood of Canada; The Canadian MetisSociety of Canada; The Indian-Eskimo Association of Canada. Radioand Television Service for Ind n, Eskimo and Meth Communities. Ajoint brief to the Canadian Ra and Television Commission, 1969,p. 12.
2. Constitution of the Raven Society.3. Canadian Metis Society; National Indian Brotherhood of Canada;
Indian-Eskimo Association of Canada. Presentation to Special Sen-ate Committee on Mass Media, Dec., 1969, p.3.
4. The National Indian Brotherhood of Canada, op. cit., pp. 16-17.5. Ibid., p. 17.6. Ibid., p. 27.7. Darrell Anderspn and John A. Niemi. Adult Education and the Dis-
advantaged Adult. Syracuse, New York: Syractife University, 1970,p. 27.
rforrAkiblicmi is Associate Professor of Adult Education, andAdrian Blunt is Research Assistant, Center for Cortrirruing Education,University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
E/19April 1971
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DR. lOHN A. NIEMI
When we survey the Canadian scene today with respect tomass media and adult education, the most important develop-ment has undoubtedly been the birth of Anik (pronouncedAh-neek). Anik is not an Eskimo baby, though the namemeans "brother," but the name of Canada's new domesticsatellite communications system. A prodUct of Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau's administration, the satellite is under the con-trol of Telecast Canada, a government corporation which isplanning to launch the satellite from Cape Kennedy in early1972.
The satellite will make Canada the first nation to have itsown domestic satellite communicationSsystem and the resultwill be a great boost in telephone, telegraph and televisiontransmission to all parts of Canada. The development alsopromises certain by-products which will have important impli-cations for national unity. It represents a major step toward
CPJ 1970 by Acolyte Pubbcabons Inc All rights reserved. Reproductionin whole or part without written permission is strictly prohibited.
Cilia--flrfnh loin 34
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reaching 10 percent of the'population who live, not in a beltwithin 200 miles othe United States border, but in the vastremote northern regions. It is interesting to note that openingthe northland, so to speak, coincides with the interest of theTrudeau administration..in furthering the economic growth ofthat region. As stated in the government's White Paper (March,1968) describing the satellite system:
The reduced sense of isolation that this would achievecould have a marked beneficial influence In attractingperson-nel to government and industrial projects in remote areas.'
In addition, events of national concern can be_simultane-ously televised to all six time zones. Also the problem ofbilingualism may be eased, because it will be possible to beamprograms in both English and French across the country. Toquote The Christian Science Monitor:
The satellite is supposed to be as much i7 political symbol asa technical achievement in the effect it has in reducing internaltensions that threaten common purpose and national unity. 2
From the point of view of adult educators, the most excit-ing feature of the satellite is, the promise it holds for nationalPTV at economic cost. Unfortunately, the Canadian govern-
1 5
MOM has backed away frog its earlier interest in PTV, asmanifested by a bill presented to Parliament in early 1969 forthe creation of a Canadian Educational Broadcasting,Agencyto establish and operate for the provinces a series of UHFstations. One reason for this retreat wos the perennial problemof fed41-provincial relations in the fi eld of education. Sincethis responsibility is vested historically in the proving, andsometimes guarded jealously by them, it is difficult to receiveagreement on the related matters of financing and control.Another possible reason was the concern expressed by theCanadian Association for Adult Education over the narrow"credit" definition of educational programs.3 In effect, thisdefinition would preclude the development of noncredit adulteducation programs designed to assist members of a corn -munity to solve their problems; for example, it would not berpossible to have a short series on the ah of drugs. In addi-tion,
stion, the corning of CATV has made the' oreore expensive UHFless attractive. The upshot is that the federal govern ent hasrequired all CAN operators to reserve at leaSt one ch nnel foreducational programs. The impact of CATV ion Can ian sod-ety was summarized recently by Pierre Juneau, 'chairman orthe Canadian Radio-Television Commission (CRTC):
... penetration into large sections of thiS,country is higherthan anywhere elle In the world. Overall saturation In Canadaappears. to be around 13 percent of the nation's televisionhoseholds, compared to less than five percent in the UnitedStates. Five systems in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbiaare larger than any In the United States.4
Among the CATV guidelines laid down by the CanadianRadio-Television Commission is provision for educational pro-grams having to do with matters of local interest. The usualConcept of a national network will not be permitted, thoughthe commission may approve the Hiking ,of two adjacentCATV systems for the distribution of locally produced pro-grams. Financing will come from subscriber revenue, since thecommission will not pqrmit commercials t6 be presented onthe channel reserved fir local educational programs. As an
'Frankly, George, when you invited me to an evening ofwatching public television, I hardly suspected . ."
35
illustration of what is being done, CATVo)ersonnel in Van-touver are currently working closely. with *he University ofBritis Columbia, Simon Fraser University;vBritish ColumbiaInstitu of Tec nology, Vancouver City College, the Van-couver Sc oard and other community agencies to planand produce local public service programsfor example, atincome tax time last year, the Federal Departmentof Revenuepresented a pilot program on Vancouver's Channel 10 designedto help people complete their income tax returns. The advan-tages of CATV are that it provides the people in a particulararea with programs based on their needs. To the adult edu-cator, the system affords an opportunity to design programsfor a primetime and at a minimum cost.
Mass Media/Adult Education
Recently; through the Canadian Association for Adult Edu-cation, I acquired time on the same channel for the studentsenrolled in my graduate course called Mass Media and Adult'Education. In order to p pa these students to prodtice pro-grams for hannel 10, I h ad them view educational pro-grams, o fered over Vanc ver and Seattle stations, and toevaluate t the programs according to an 1 strument developed inmy mass media class last year: divided *nto two sections, theinstrument (first) involves Objective E luatlon which listssuch vital elements of program design as objectives, content,technique and studio techniques, and (second) SubjectiveEvaluation which calls upon students to act as judges, to assessthe impact,of the program on the viewer with reference to theinstructor's appearance, personality, knowledge of subject,etc., and studio Jechniques, ideas presented and supportingdevices ...
To return to the project with this year's students, they havereported similar findings with respect to deficiencies in ETVprograms. Now they are dividing themselves into task groupsto produce four programs on CATV, under the umbrella ofadult education, beginning early this month. The programs willdeal with such varied topics as the derelict on Skid Row, thedynamics of group interaction and an overview of the many'institutions which provide educational opportunities for adultsin the Vancouver area. This live on-air experience represents avaluable opportunity for these future adult educators. Presentplans are to videotape the programs ih\the CCTV studio in theFaculty of Education of the Universit9 of British Columbia.When the program is aired, students will be at the studio toanswer questions directed/to them over the telephone by view-ers.
Provide Insights
Through public service programming similar to these adulteducation offerings, Channel 10 will be able to meet the vari-ous needs of the community and to provide insights into massmedia broadcasting. At present, the federal government is con-\'cerned about the extent and nature of the impact of massmedia on the Canadian public. Recently a special committeeof the Senate on Mass Media was appointed to investigate theproblem.
Another significant development' in mass media and adulieducation is the design of communication systems for specificgroups which might be classified as subcultures. In BritishColumbia, the Radio and Visual Education Network(RAVEN) is attempting to develop better communicationamong the 40,000 native Indians of the province. Through theuse of videotape, the staff of RAVEN records events of inter-est to the Indian people. The tapes are available at the bandcouncil meetings throughout the province, to provide Indians
EBBOctober 1970
ith accurate information when they face critical issues whichequire decisions. RAVEN has received funds from the Firstititen's Fund of the British Columbia Government and from
he Dormer Foundation.Through programs like RAVEN, it again becomes possible
o reach those Canadians who live outside the mainstream ofational life. One estimate made in a survey of the "un-cached," as they are sometimes called, scts;the figure at 11ercents Of course the figure includes not o'hly Indians andskimos, but the urban poor, including dropouts and ethnic
:roups: 2.2 million of Canada's population of 20miflion knowirti4ally nothing about federal-provincial involvement, theuestion which was the focus of the survey. Some notablettempts to reach these people have been made by the Na-tonal Film Board through their Challenge for Change series.ith locally produced films, the NFB has involved the people
n community action by making them aware of the problemshich do exist. The purpose of the program was to help eradi,to the ciuses of poverty by acting as a catalyst for self-
venerated social change. A characteristic of the program is thathe people themselves are involved in the production of theilms.
Turning now to radio, I find that it is also being used to-'cal with problems in the Northern regions. Here the Indian-Eskimo Association selects field workers who put togetherprograms on local issues in isolated communities. The pro-grams are then broadcast in the native language to the peopleof those communities. Likewise, radio is reaching dut412 theCanadian Radio Television Commission, the philosophy be-hind the use of radio has been outlined as follows:
Clearly, the first need Is for information. Indian peoplemust know what. are their opportunities, their rights. This is
not an easy need to meet. Schools, pamphlets and other editetional efforts have failed miserably as statistics wik Uhow. 7peproblems, rules and programs are usually t crcomplex that theiruse can be explained only through test cases carefully studied.Indian people on the edge of subsistence do not have theresources to experiment with the meanings of words, and bur-eaucratic form's.
Canada's new domestic satellite communications systemand the other developments in television, film and radio allhold important implications for adult educators in Canada.For this spanning of vast distances to reach adult with yearn-ings as yet scarcely defined will demand of us a high degree ofingenuity and compassion in planning programs for them. Tothe extent that we are able to meet their needs, we will trulyhelp to fulfill the promise of Anik, the Eskimo word meaningt'brother."
References
1. White Paper on A Domestic Satellite Communication. System forCanada. Ottawa: The Queen's/Piinter, 1968, p. 34.,
2. The Christian Science Monitor, Thursday, October 23,,1969.3, Knowles, A. F., Canadian EducationAnd Television, Continuous-
Learning," Vol. 8, No. 3, May-June, 1969, p. 118.4. Electron, June, 1969, p. 24.5. To Know and Be Known: The Report of the Task Force on Govern-
ment Information Ottawa: The Queen's Printer, 1969, p. 284.6. !bid, pp. 291-292.
Dr. John A. Niemi Is Associate Professor of Adult Educatlversify of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Urii-
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TEVEC & PROJECT
MulTi-MEdiAWhen one studies the social history of
the U.S. and Canada, he is immediatelystruck by the many- cultures and lan-guages that present themselves. A majordifference is that the U.S. uses English asits official language, whereas Canada wasfounded as a bi-cultural and bilingual na-tion. As a result, in the Province of Que-bec, where French-Canadians make up amajority of the population, two separateeducational systems grew up, one Frenchand one English. Prior . to 1964, theFrench-Canadians participated in a
church-dominated educational systemaimed primarily at providing a "classical"education. Since then, significant changeshave occur-tied. For example; as an alter-native to the traditional church-run col-lege classique, the Province has estab-lished the tuition-free junior collegeknown as "College d'Enseignement Gen-eral et Professionel" (CEGEP). TheProvince has also called upon the re-sources of TV for educating adults. Twoinnovative projects are worthy of atten-tion.
One, known as TEVEC (TelevisionEducative du Quebec), was planned to
promote social advancement in the inter-ests of 59,000 adults residing in theSaguenay-Lac St. lean region. This areawas beset by the two-fold problem of ahigh unemployment rate and a low educa-tional standard. But therewas also a ven-turesome spirit, an open-mindedness onthe part of the population about partici-pating in a pilot project. The content ofthe TV programs included traditionalschool topics such as French, mathemat-ics and English. All were integrated withsociocultural topics to enable adults tocope more efficiently with the demandsof everyday living.
Ttiii pilot project transmitted TV pro-grams daily for one - and - one - fourth hours,with the programs for Monday tkroughThursday devoted to one socioeconomicsubject. The Friday programs, which last-ed one hour, were used for summary pur-poses, to check responses to questionsand to promote other activities of theProject. In addition to these programs,the Project sponsored discussion groups(Tele-clubs) and correspondence courses.
The lessons learned from the pilotproject (1966-69) culminated in the es-tablishment of Project Multi-Media in1970. The objective is to develop the un-tapped resources of the disadvantaged'adult by preparing far him twice daily TVprograms. These concentrate on teachinghim how to think rather than to memo-rize facts. The content of the course cen-
ters on practical topics such as sex educa-tion, budgeting and housing problems. Aswith TEVEC, specific concepts of lan-guage and mathematics are taught whenthe need arises. Although individuals maylearn on their own, the "listening group"approach taken by the Project is especial-ly fruitful for adults who lack confidenceor have difficulty formulating ideas. Thestimulation and support offered by thegroups can be a crucial factor in definingand solving problems.
An exciting aspect of Project Multi-Media is the involvement in the program-planning process of delegates from citi-zens' committees organized at the locallevel. These delegates join others fromRadio Canada and from the QuebecMinistries of Education, Labour andSocial Affairs. While this central commis-sion determines policy, the everydayoperations of Project Multi-Media comeunder the supervision of eight projectteams: field staff training and supervision,curriculum development, program pro-duction, documentation, information andfeedback, administration, research andextension o' the Project to other areas.
With its 859,000 registrants and itswide-ranging program, Project , Multi-Media is certainly ambitious in scope andpurpose. It will pay us to watch closelythe progress of this Quebec experiment inadult education.
by John A. Nlomi
3'7
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Public TV: EdUCATiONAl GA
Everywhere, the need is urgent forpublic affairs programming to awakenand inform citizens about public issues,whether they involve religious strife as inNorthern Ireland or social-political prob-lems like the expulsion of the UgandaAsians. In the United States, public af-fairs, programming is desperately neededto deal with issues that are racking the
I
coup y, especially Vietnam, which 'hasbecome an international issue, too. Yetthe situation is being exacerbated by thedministration's attempt to limit thevistas of viewers by suggesting to Con-gress legislation that would hold stationmanagers accountable for their programsat licens al time. The January 1,1973, sue of wsweek sees this move
38
as a strategy to force stations to suppressreporting and documentary programming.Obviously, the Administration believesthat the stations are biased.
Perhaps part of the troul5cresides insome broadcasters' meager understandingof the educational process. Eugene John-son, in a recant ERIC publication, des-.cribes this problem as follows:
The concept of education that most 'broadcasters of public affairs programsseem to have is that of one-directionalflow of inforMation, ideas and stimuli.The hope is that somehow this will in-form and .enlighten people and bringabout a betrer world. One television pro-ducer of programs in the public affairsfield ... said "I see my job as puttinginteresting personalities on the air. Peri-od!".
This example is an extreme yet not un-common, one of a philosophy that leaveslearning to chance. Jo on asserts thatso long as such thin ng dominates publicaffairs programmi g, litany attempt tofocus on educatio al objectives will beshort-circuited." W need not worry thatthe setting of educ tion objectives willimpose a mechanistic and sterile designon public affairs programming. On thecontrary, it could be made more exciting,more compelling, if materills and serviceswere added so that viewers would be ac-tively involved in mucph the same man-ner as the old Canadian National FarmRadio Fcirum. An example of-materials isa study or discussion guide that could beused by individuals or groups to stimulatefurther inquiry. By services, I have inmind the selection of group discussiOrt.leaders who would spur the variousgrows to discuss the material presentedin the telecast; and, secondly, the use oftelephone' "hot lines" to the TV studios, c cc,
where experts could handle questions frontindividuals on their own account Or asrepresentatives of their discussion groups.
This whole area of public affairs pro-gramming has been a long-negtected as-pect or adult educaticir`l. Back Tr 1962,istfI nstone and Rivera found in a nation-
ide study of participants (Volunteersfor Learning published in 1965) in adulteducation programs, that only three per-cent of such offerings were in pub Ii af-
. fairs and current events More than adecade h4 passed since. Johnstone addRivera study. Durihg that time, we havelearned much about the potential of TVto create an enlightened citizenry. We al-so know thatjn this epoch of tension andchange, the citizens must be educated tograsp the substance of vital issues, to the
- end that people will make rational deci-sions, But are we putting our knowledgeinto practice? Are we producing publicaffairs programs soundly based upon edu-cational principles, programs in which thepeople themselves take an active part?How far do we still have to go? 11
by John A. Nieml0
... On SesameStreet for Adults
Widely hailed as the best children'sshow in tv history, Sesame Street has wonplaudits from the Educational TestingService (P.rinceton, KJ.). They reportthat the cognitive skills of poor children -ave improved by as much as 62 percent,
as a result of their involvement withesame Street. Is there a lesson here fordult educators and media specialists?
Undoubtedly part of the answer lies in an ,
nalysis of the process, not the content.nstead of a conventional classroom les-on presented in sequence, the
cially the disadvantaged. And, so thesimplistic thinking that culminated in theuse of children's materials with suchadults has finally been dispersed., Therealization has dawned that televisionprograms must be designed specially forthem. Tole sure, efforts hive been madesporadically over the past TS years br so.tit educating adults in the poverty groupsvia television. Many' of these early pro-grams, e.g. Streatnfineti English II handOperation Alphabet, focus*secl on literacyskills, but the teacher-centered, or lec-ture -type, presentation had limited suc-cess. Probably the timing of the programs ,(sometimes very early in the morning)-\_,and their extension over a period of many.monttis contributed to the problem. ,
Another 'problem has been that al-though co cientious efforts were made.to emplo words borfowed from every-day situat ns, such words were Often
multisensory nature of television has been treated in isolation, insteadof beingully exploited in Sesame Street. The applied dir ctly-to life situations facingewer has been enticed into. taking part,' the adutt. In other words, the basicnecessary condition if the objective of education skills of reading, writing andffecting some well-defined changein the computation must be integrated with lifeearner is to be met. skills that will help the _learner to copeAnother part of the answer to ours/ with hit environment.uestion can be found in the attent One significant new program, juSibe-aid to the needs of the learner, the chtaiN ginning, that observes these principles isho tvatcties Sesame Street. hopefully, Rutaijamily Development (RFD), ema-
"adison, Wis. Theiented to the
rural farm fam-
hrough their research and their publica-ions, adult 'educators have emphasizedt specific needs of adult learners, espe-
,
nating from WHA-TV,content is specificallyproblems and needs of4
O
39
Hies. Hence, the traditional scope andseqUence of previous programs have beenlargely aband9ned. The expectations ofthe RFD planners is that their prograrhwill encourage a "drop-in" instead of a"drop-out" 'rate. Their expectations seem
-justified, because they have involved theiraudience: the planners have designed pro-grams tailored to the needs of thesesrui aladults, and have exploited the uniquepotential of teleViisi9p. An "Action Line"(telephone) and episodic "flashes" like aninterview with Johnny Cash, and hints onhammering nails, repairing rubber gasketsand making a meal in one pot supplantlinear presentations of material and ,soeducate while appearing to entertain.Here is a program that may do for 'disadvantaged adults what Sesame Streethas done for disadvantaged children,
liyJohn A. Niemi
114
JThE S Ap 00-RA -A 'WNE FORMAT
-rFOR AdUIT EdUCATION VIA I V
The suggestion that the soap opera of-fers a viable fprmat for adult education,programs via TV might raise some eye-
rws among Ty- specialists and edu-c tors. But cane reject the soap opeas passe? When dealing with' the needs fan adult population, woshould not nlyseek new formats; we Shald reex kgolder ones, looking, as McLuha ouldsay, into the "rear-view mirror
The soap opera originated-as a daytimeserial during the golden eraof radio, anddrew its name from the soap manufac-turers who sponsored such odysseys as"Ma Perkins," an entertitnment hit for27 years. And, of course, this format hasbeen transferred to the TV medium forentertainment purposes. The most notable recent triumph was the highly sophis-ticated "Forsyte Saga."
But what is the potential of the soapopera for adult education programs? Twosuch programs were specifically designedfor adult audiences4whose needs could
.'not be met through regular educationalprogramming. In both cases, the dramatic
Nt-
,
*"t
isoap opera format was selected to presentmessages of social adjustments (copingskills) ithin 'the context of the daily
barrier iron) the dominant society.activi Of groups isolated by language ,
The first example was a 13 -week seriesin 1968-69 of daily half-hour dramas fo-cussing on problems of social adjustmentaffecting the lives Of a Mexican-Americanbirrio family. \KCET (Los Angeles) re-ceived- a Ford Foundation Grant for."Cancion de la Raza." This progratnt, on- ,
cehtrated on major themes that emeledfrom field inteLviews about the needs of
, the majority of Mexicin:Americans (e.g.,they need not fear standing up for theirrights when dealing with public agencies,and that it is important for them to take`an active interest i politics.) Through
'such themes, and by selecting local actingtalent, the programs appeared credible tothe viewers. This venture also included anopen:line telephone link to the station. Inthe evaluatiop of the program, The mostsignificant finding was that some viewers.were contemplatinvactions which they
6
.t? .6)
ordinarily would not take (e.g., joiningcommunity, social and political org4niza-lions).
.- N ',
Our second example-of an ethnic soap,opera appeared first in 1970 on Toronto's
.-C,kannel 19 and 1-familam's. Channel 11under the auspices of the Ontario Educa-tional Communications' Aut rity.
,"Castle -Zaremba," designed to teat theEngliih language and Canadian cuss msto the flood of new immigrants, consistedof 16 _e(iiocles set in a Torontorroinninghduse. ike "Cancion de la Raza," theprogram centered around everydaysitua-tions that, most people take for grantedbut often prove- baffling to nsw immi-grints (e.g., how to find a job and whatto do when questioned by-the police)..TOhelp them further, the Scripts themselvesare available in paperback and on tape.Evaluation of the impact of this soapoper41,is currently under way.
My discussion of 'two ethnically mitented programs based on the soap opera
rrhat44oes not-imply that it should becf--extltvely for such groups. My
oint is, simply that it should not be itnored, tar` the soa opera gives the adulteducator '-an 'alto Live to more strut-tured approaches as .th Oct tu re, VIM,its emphavis on dispensing information.The soap Okra represents an additionaltool, to use 'when ,planning programs withTV specialists. by John A. Mend
.c.
0
6
Cablecasting:Involving the
CommunityDR. JOHN A. NIEMI
With fhe initial allocation of channelsin the U.S. in 1945, television emergedfrom the laboratory. Since then, it hasbecome the most pervasive means formass communication. In the areas ofnewscasting, prodigt promotion and en-tertainment, the success of tv is well
-documented It has also enjOyed limitedsuccess in educational broadcasting, e.g.Sunrise Semester, the Canadian CTV net-work's University of the Alr Series andChicago's TV College, programs focussedchiefly on specific individual needs. Therehave been few programs designed to makemembers of a community-more aware ofits potential, its problems, etc, Two excel-lent examples are the St. Louis MetroplexAssembly (1956.63)vand the 1969 LosAngeles Cana& de la Raze, which dealtwith the .plight of 'the Mexican-Americans. These programs were madepossible,through Foundation money. Theproblem to date -ith PTV has been a lackof funds. Yet we areeurrently-in a criticalperiod in rhich, ironically, many NorthAmericans receive expert briefings on
a 1.
O
41
world problems, while remaining ignorantof problems clamoring for attention' intheir own communities. What is needed isa local channel to permit all sides of anissue to be aired..
One pcissible approach is the utiliza-tion of closed-circuit cable companies foreducational broadcasting (oblecasting).Canada molted in this direction in.May,
. 4969, when the Radio And TelevisionCommission required all existing and fu-ture CATV licensees to set aside onechannel for educatibnal programming.
The possibilities of ca'blecasting wereillustrated in a recent issue of the Toron-to Globe and Mail. One cable company isplanning publiVairs programs, originat-ing at major ho s,. University of Toron-
to, Royal Ontario MuS'eum, etc. Another_company plans to telecast half its pro-grams in Italian, Greek, East Indian,Portuguese and Yiddish.
What are the -alivantages, of a closed-circuit system? There is no need Tor thehigh quality, slick productions required ,for entertainment. In fact, he rough-hewn nature of cablecast offesi gives,it anappealing authenticity. Since less ecluip:ment is called for, costs remain low. The
. absence of advertising makes more timeavailable, and programs can be easilypromoted. In addition, cablecasting couldboth provide training for future educa-tional broadcasters and offer unique op-portunities for educators and people inthe community to work together.
1970
L
4
e Davey Report:
ither Cablecasting?
DR. JOHN A. NIEMI
In my Dece:mber column "Cablecast-ig: Involving The Community," I ex-
111
bored the edutfational broadcasting pp-ontial of a closedcircuit system. Now,he release of a Canadian report on thelass Media has made available some valu-
IIble data on' this system in Canada. Theeport is the outcome of a study under-aken by a special Committee of the Ca-,adian Senate, under the chairmanship ofIen. Keith Davey.
Of particular interest is the COmmit-ee's view that "the development of com-munity programmes on cable televisionItrikes us as a most welcome addition tonass media in Canada, a pew dimensionhat can dramatically improve the qualityif' life in our country.1 Undoubtedly,able systems will continue to pandheir community programs. hese aremaginatively conceived, i s likely thatersons who were hithert satisfied with
IIIommercial programs, and who felt no!cod for cablecasting, would become subcribers. Thus, the cable operator wouldeceive theviditional revenue he needs tobroaden the scope and the variety of hisfferings, without having to increase hiservicc rates or seek revenue from adver-ising. However, there is a trend toward a
Iecond-s rce of funds for developing loal pro ams. Recently, the Canadiantadio nd Television Commission ap-'roved a request from a Calgary ,systemIo charge customers an additional 50ents per month for this purpose.'
The Davey Report provides detailediformation on cable ownership patternsInd valuable data on cable circulation. Iti interpsting to note that in the cabledreas, '111 percent of all households sub-:Jibe to the service. Estimates were also
Ilade of-the cost of establishing a studio.or lave systems (annual revenue oflore than $400,000), the cost of initialquipment would range from $200,000a $250,000; an additional $200,000 to250,000 would be needed for salaries toover a program and production staff ofpproximately 40 people. For middlesin.ystdms ( revenue from $200,000 to400,000), the cost of initial equipment
fr1
be $90,000; an annual bedget ofSt0,000 would be required for a staff of10 tp#12. The feasibility of local program-ming for smaller systems (revenue of lessthan $200;000) wa\ questioned by theCommittee.
With respect to the content of localprograms, the Committee felt that thereis a need for a policy whereby the cableoperator would not be held responsiblefor every word when he granted access tothe channel. This freer policy might en-courage the development of more modelslike Town Talk in Thunder Bay, Ontario,and Intercom in Toronto. The groups
concerned have suggested that as com-munity-based groupC they should carrypart of the responsibility for program-ming on community channels. .
Whereas the Davey Report does notdeal directly with btiocational broadcast-ing, probably becatise of its minimal de-velopment in Canada, the amount of attention given to the phenomenon ofcablecasting is significant. IA is also encouraging, for as indicated ln my previouscolumn, cablecasting has endless implica-tions for educational programminglocal nature in North American communi-ties.
42
F
AD
VANCOUVER' S ChANNEI 10: CREATING A
CommpNiTy IdENTITyThe expectation of more extensive
rogramming by cable companies was re-rt*d thus by Canada's Special Senate
ommittce on Mass Media:TV can JMIS1 in the development of com-
munity identity through locally .produced pro-grams; they can also assist provincial and local
Itthortties in the development of educationalM tgs. They can participate in the enrichment
the community's cultural life through thedistribution of Canadian-produced films, educe
Ional Information and other films of particularWrest produced for public showing but not'mall§ available in that area. CAT V local pro-
iramming should complement rather than cony-
Ilewith programming already available to the
mmunity through television and commercial.
Z./oyle houses.How does a new cable station withited resources meet this challenge?annel 10 in Vancouver, British Colum
a, could serve as a case study. Known as"Your Community Service Channel," it
t Capproximately 160,000 sugcribers,a possible family audience of 3845000.h figures confirm that the potential of
cablecasting is beyond imagination. Some
iriphets foresee a big Service, with cableng used for selecting programs, shop.
4
ping, banking, and for information retrteval.
The staff did much legwork beforeChannel 10 earned its reputation. News-paper stories and advertisements, andspeeches to service clubs and other contmunits groups, gradually resulted in. pro-gramming for prime TV time (7 p.m. to11 p.m.), Monday through Friday. Manyfacets of the community are explored.Special interest groups, like the CanadianDiabetic Association, tfte Western Insticute of the Deaf, and the British Colum-bia Heart Foundation have sought outChannel 10. So have.institutions of higherlearning, the Vancouver Art Gallery, andrepresentatives of municipal, provincial,and federal' governments. Often the tele-phone has provided two-way communica-tion with viewers. Other participants in-clude agencies like the National FilmBoard and the Alcoholism Foundation ofBritish Columbia. Finally, non-creditadult eduiation courses have appeared,such as Investment World and The Art ofMaking Wine. Commonly, Channel 10 in-vites groups to the studiO for live Or tapedprograms, or groups present their ownfilms or video tapes. Sometimes, Channel
43c
10 interviewers talk with members oflittle -known groups,' to give them accessto a large public audience.
The question naturally arises: How canmembers of the community help in designing programs that emphasize com-munity concerns? Channel 10's answerhas been to solicit advice from establishwlgroups, such as the British ColumbiaBranch of the Consumers' Association ofCanada and Simon Fraser UnisersitsChannel 10 also provides, time and tech-nical help to groups who deselop worth-while programs. These could range from adiscussion of ;the role of cable TV itself tothe actual- use of Channel 10 as a mediaworkshop by students at the Universityof British Columbia and Simon FraserUniversity.
The model developed by Channel 10admirably fulfills the objectives, statedearlier, of the Senate Committee Othercommunities may seek other models suchas a charter board, representing the differ-ent segments of society and responsiblefor ensuring that all citizens hase accessto the cable forum.' Whatever model isAd, it ,seems certain that cablecastingwill remain continuously, and uniquely,responsive to community needs, whetheras purveyor of information or catalyst. Itsimpact on the creation of i communityidentity could be formidable.
byJohn A. hileml
1
Skid Row
'71"RipplEs FROM
A PEbblE"
After reviewing with a class of graduatestudents in adult education some researchon disadvantaged adults, I remarked thatwhen working with them it might bemore economical, in the long run, to es-tablish new programs unrelated to presenteducational institutions than to revampexisting programs. One immediate ripplefrom this pebble was the proposal by agroup of students to undertake, as theirclass assignments, an educational tv pro-gram on disadvantaged adults for thelocal cable station (Vancouver's Channel10). The purpose of this assignmentquickly became two-fold. As interviewsproceeded with male alcoholics. in Van-couver's Skid Row area and personnelfrom social agencies, the students ac-quired insights into an important socialissue; and they perceived the need forspecially designed adult education pro-grams to enable the men to cope withtheir problems.
The ripples from ,the pebble widenedas the students designed a tv program tomake the public aware of this social issue.The tour-long prhram began with an ori-entation, lasting 12 minutes, to Skid Rowvia slides and a, film accompanied byaudio-taped, interviews, a comentary anddubbed-in songs. Following the orienta-tion, 18 minutes of interviews were heldwith two former alcoholics, one who hadhad little formal- education and the otherwho had attended a university.
In the second half of the program, alive "hot line" panel appeared consistingof a student, the former alcoholic whohad attended university and a socialworker assigned to the Skid Row area.The ripples multiplied as the lively audience paiticipation in the "hot line" cameto the attention,of representatives of cer-tain social agencies. For these people re-quested the use of the videotape of the tv
EDUCATIONAL BROADCASTING. June 1971
, program for their in-service institutes.Further requests led to the 'making bfkinescope to be shown by agencies havinga 16-mm. projector.
The' ripples from the original pebblecoinued to multiply, as one student andth mother of a second student volun-teered to teach two illiterates to read atthe Salvation Army's Harbour Light Cen-ter. Also, the former alcoholic with a uni-versity background has been admitted toa Diploma course in Adult Education atthe University of British Columbia. Heplans to become an adult educator him-self, so that he can develop programs to giftassist former alcoholics to resume theirOres in society. Furthermore, the Salva-tion Army's Harbour Light Center has
ency a reqUest fors for upgtading Programs. These
ou114 enable the m to acquire theminimum prerequisi needed to prepeefor a new trade or to cope with the prob-lems of living in society today. Hopefully,this proposal will Ile accepted.
Thus it is that an idea which. grew outof a class discussion ,spread, like the rip-ples of a pebble flung into the water. Theoutcome was not merely a stimulating tvprogrqm over the local cable statiop, buta pattrn of community action. Thoughmodest in scope, the pattern suggests akind of microcosm of social change.
44
by John A. Niemi
IGREENWidi CAMEVISION: A BRITI41 EXPERIMENT IN CANECASTINq
t community,
recent return of 300 coupons toGretme ich Glohe by the citizenscommunity, signals the keen public
of
interest in the for Greemcichles Rion e5petiment. These people
s responding to an article c%hich des.LI cd the innination and incited citiiensto participate in producing 10,a1 prog s
111 this 31. I:S.1'A greys out of a decisionh the fctinister of Posts and lelecornmunications 'to grant-a licence to Green
Cables ision for the transmission ofI all originated telecision programso r the broadcast relay ss stems. The li-cense is a "first" in Britain. Greenwich
levision is orw of six experimentsned between- 'now and 1976.ow did this local television network
develop and why did it develop in theking-class borough of Woolwich, a
c etvtiesinomn
ilceosmfrpoamnceinntra%lvoLoolndiochn:,Tlihkee
companies in other communities, had its.cis in a set rental and service schealescheme began in 1963, when fall
1 iision dealers banded together andIs
made it possible for Woolwich to receiveish television programs. Previously, re-tion had been very poor because of
the borough's location in the shadow of ahill, and no BBC satellite station wasplanned in the,immediate future.
The initial venture, which providedtrouble-free view ing at modest cost, cameunder a consortium of British and Canadi-an interests in 1970. Subsequently, thenumber of cable subscribers in Woolwichrose from 5,000 to 13,000. In keepingwith the progressive Canadian pattern ofoperation, the consortium seeks to enrichthe service with locally produced pro-grams. The intention is is fold: to in-volve the community in sue a way thatdisconnects might be discoura , if andwhen the BBC establishes a sma I trans-mitter, to serve the community; and tokeep pace with the state of the art world-wide. The consortium gained politicalsupport from the local member of Parlia-ment, who believed that Greenwich Ca-blevision would provide a needed publicforum. There will be no advertising on,this service, the full cost of which will beborne by the cable owners, as in Canada.
What reaction can we expect from theusually cautious British to this pilot pro-jet? Certainly, the press will judge it forboth content and technical quality. Thepresent government, which views favora-
5
7
bly the future of cable television, will al sscrutiniie the situation. Greenwi,h le',vision itself is bound to pi oduce so'reteresting data.. If the BBC smell tois ever completed, we may hearr aoouteffects that one or two hours Ot !ocal Nogramming will hose On the numisesubsciiKrs and whether Greens% ich CJblevision will be able to roan itsworking-class support on the bay, 4%!local programming.
What do British siewers expect' Localprograms transmitted via' cable loommore significantly in Britain than inNorth America. They supply a need no:met by BBC 1, BBC 2 and ITV, choseprograms are national in character. Britishviewers, accustomed to high standards.will expect quality and may be unusuallycritical of locally produced cable pro
(grams carrying news, drama, sportingevents, political speeches, educationalprograms etc. The government, for itspart, must realize that whereas the Green.with experiment might serve as a modelfor another working-class community, itcould be inappropriate for future systemsserving a broader spectrum of British society.
by John A. Niemi
I
IV. , EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS
46
I
Dilemma in the
"Cool" Medium:) ETV's Need for Evaluatimi
by JOHN A. NIEMIAssociate Professor and Acting HeadThe University of British Columbia
Since a large proportion df adult education activities takeplace outside the classroom, Miller suggests that the adulteducator has a responsibility to exploit, to the fullest extent,the potentialities of television.' In thinking about them, bemust first of all be alert to the common misconception thattelevision and education are synonymous. They are not.Television simply provides the educator with another channelof communication, to be used well or badly. According toVerner,' television is "a Ream of extending the reach of amethod to. large audiences.2
How can the educator make the best use of television forhis purposes? A necessary first step requires that he take anactive and direct role, in co-operation with the skilled writerand cameraman, in designing programs and, subsequently, inevaluating them. The two processes go hand in hand; it is inthe planning stage of a program, when objectives are beingformulated, that provision must be made for evaluating thoseobjectives at a later stage. Yet I am convinced, from reviewingeducational ograms on ETV, that all too often acommunication "gap" exists between the educator and themedia specialist. Here is the educator working on his own,sometimes planning a conventional lecture instead ofexploiting the unique possibilities of TV for involving theviewer; and there is the media specialist working on his ownand concernad about the technical aspects of the program. Wecan only speculate about the impact of this situation upon theprograms, yet it is hard to escape the conclusion that theirquality must be adversely affected. As Hilton Power haswritten:
0 1969 by Acolyte Publications for All rights reserved Reproduction inwhole or part without written permission is strictly prohibited
47'E/19October 1969
When you have two agencies co-operating educationalinstitsOkms and the mass media 0 a commonendeavor, the project itself is not always of sufficientconcern to either party for them to be able to sustainthe idea for very long. Each has a fear of the other partydetermining its objectives.3
Here, perhaps, lies part of the answer to the question whymany ETV programs fail to attract wide audiences.
Not surprisingly, the communication gap between theeducator and the media specialist may result in a neglect of thecrucial matter of evaluating a course in terms of its worth tothe viewer. Then the matter is left, by default, to the programadministrator who, under the influence of practices followedby commercial television, tends to rely on quantitative means,i.e., the counting of heads. Such statistics have undoubtedvalue. For example, Everly's study "Continuing EducationInstruction Via the Mass Media" (1968) provides much insightinto the number and kinds of ETV courses offered in morethan 40 states to over a million participants. 4 Significantly,he reports that in only 11 of the 1,104 courses offered wasthere any proposal by the participants for evaluation as ameans of improving the courses.5
Obviously, much greater emphasis must be given toqualitative means which seek to answer the question: Howeffective is teaching and learning by television? The answerwill be found through further research among the participants,or viewers, not through the kind of research which compares atelevision lecture with a lecture in the usual college setting.Undoubtedly, such researcili often yields valuable data thatmakes it possible to utilize faculty members maNfectiveNor to help them improve their presentations, for example,byhaving them pre-taped and appraised by the faculty and the
15
'technical staff concerned. ERA a comparison of a televisionlecture with a conventional lecture commonly results in ananalysis of the value of extending a linear type presentationoutsisle of the classroom walls. The problem here is that themulti-sensory nature of television is overlooked. After all, theuniqueness of this "cool" medium, as McLuhan describes it, isthat the viewer is involved and participating .6 He further statesthat "because the low definition of TV insures a high degree ofaudience involvement, the most effective programs are thosethat present situations which consist of some process to becompleted".7
This need to keep the student active, not passive, has beencogently stated by Schramm. TV'should, he asserts,
invite discovery on his part, rather than foreclosediscovery by presenting all the answers. To do this, it has
. to be willing to stop talking And let the viewer ake part;it has to stop telling him and listen to him; stop .trying tofill his mind, and let him exercise his mind.°
Miller goes a step farther by stating flatly that ttie objective ofETV is not merely to involve the viewer but to effect "somewell-defined change" in him.9
How many of our ETV courses can be said to involve theviewer? The research done by Everly on the 'stated objectivesof more than a million such courses suggests that only a
minority of them do so. He found that 68.2 per cent listed astheir instructional objective the dispensing of information,23.5 per cent the teaching of a skill, and 8.3 per cent theapplication of knowledge.' ° Indeed, the scant attention paidto audience,involvement may provide a clue to the reason whyso few adults watch educational programs on television.According to Johnstone and Rivera's study,' I published in1965:
Although 25 million adults were estimated to have beenactive in one or another form of learning during theprevious year, only 290,000 had followed a course ofinstruction on either commercial or non-commercialtelevision, and only 1.5 per cent of all adult educationcourses reported had been studied by television.Since I feel strongly that adult educators must become
aware of the need for qualitative research, I designed a projectfor some of my graduate students in this field at the Universityof British Columbia f interest to note thattwenty-four of them involved in ife entitled "Mass Mediaand Adult Education" included the director of nursing for one.of-the biggest hospitals in the province, the top administratorof a major public health organization, the personnel directorfor a large government agency, two program directors workingwith university extension services, and directors of adulteducation, administrators, and faculty members associatedwith several junior colleges. The twenty-four students wereassigned the task of viewing one of the formal educationalcourses being offered through stations in British Columbia andthe State of Washington. Most students watched commercialTV programs, while a few watched programs on Channel 9, theUniversity of Washington's station. To guide the students inevaluating the courses, I gave them an instrument, or form,divided into two sections. The first section, "ObjectiveEvaluation", involved listing such vital elements of programdesign as objectives, content, technique, supporting devices,supplementary material; and studio techniques. The firstsection also related to the manner in which the program wasadministered, listing such topics as promotion, time ofpresentation, supporting The second section, "SubjectiveEvaluationas the title implies,'called upon the students toact as ju ges They were asked to assess the impact of theprogram on the viewer with reference to the instructor's.appearance, personality, knowledge of his subject, etc., and
16
the supporting levices, studio techniques, supplementarymaterial, ideas presented, and administration.
48
INTRyMENT
1. Objective Evaluation
A. Program Design
1. Objectives of the course:
clarity of objectivesevaluation
2. Content:
atea of specialty.:o peal to adults
4a9izaticinsummary of previous materiallogicalAequence of ideassupporting evidence for generalizationsabsence of irrelevant material, ambiguity,redundancy
pacing (rate of presentation)pacing (rate of presentation)
3. Level for which program is designed
4. Technique (value and variety of presentation):
lectureinterviewpanelother
5. Supporting devices:
audiovisual aids
6. Supplementary material:
viewer's guidessyllabitestspersonal experiencesother
7. Studio techniques:
quality of picturelightingaudiolength of time camera focuses on other visual
material
B. Administration (Decision Making)
1. Promotion of program
2. lime:
-- time of day'length of program
WMOctober 1969
3. Supporting material and experiences
4. Evaluation of program
II. Subjective Evaluation
A. Effect of program on learner1. Instructor:
appearance and mannerismspersonalityknowledge of subjectenthusiasmalertnessdictionvoice (tone, phrasing, pacing)other
2. Supporting devices; studio techniques;supplementary material
3. Ideas new ideas, new relationships between ideas4. Administration of program5. Other
FINDINGS.
In discussing the design of programs which they observed,the students reported that course descriptions were presentedin lieu of course objectives. In other words, the students weretold what the course was about ;they were not told "what thelearner is to be like as a result of some learningexperiences..."" This lack of explidit, behaviorally statedobjectives sometimes resulted in the, learner's becomingconfused. He formed no clear idea about his own expectationsfrom the course or even about whether he was suppdsed to bean active participant or a passive viewer. One explanation forthis lack of specific objectives is that the programs weredesigned as survey courses. Because h courses cover a widerange of material in a relatively short ti e, itkoften difficultto describe them in any but the most ge eral terms. Hence, the j....,promotional material outlines them as her adult educationof an informal nature or as a series at the first year universitylevel. For example, the announced objectives of an
' introductory course on urban planning ran something like this:"to give an overview of the forces which have created cities;the problems arising out of this dense pattern of settlement;the ways in which society has attempted to cope with theseproblemti and the impact of changing technologies."
'The courses and each individual program varied as to theorganization of content from wellstructured presentations ofideas, developed in logical sequence, to presentations in whichtoo many ideas were thrown haphazardly at the viewer andnone of them wereproperly explicated. Most of the television)riteachers gave succinct s maries of material previouslycovered and a short synops s of the program to be presentedthe following week. Pacing, or the rate of presentation, wasconsciously practised by instructors, except in a few caseswhere harried deliveries were made near the end of theprOgram in an attempt to cover a certain amount of material. -0Such presentations resulted in a limited learning experience forthe viewer, who did not have adequate time in which to reflecton tine ideas being transmitted.
The lecture was the teaching technique most widely used inthe programs that the students..viewed. As might be expected,its effectiveness varied considerably from instructor toinstructor. In presentations where he used audiovisual aids, theinstructor was able to condense or to exemplify major ideas
E./I9October 1969
49
from a very broad subject. area. In a few Courses, additional:reinforcement was provided by a viewing guide available for anominal fee. Other teaching teckn'twes und with some degreeof success were the panel and the interview.
Studio techniques in most programs were outstanding. Onestudent reported:
It seemed as if the cameraman sensed that ',Inchdepended upon him. During the dull lecturing, he keptsome action going by shifting from closeup to long :'.a.it,from angle shot of front view, from different views bymany cameras to a sweeping, overall view by onecamera.
In general, the students found that the quality of the picture,the lighting, and the audio were all conducive to pleasantviewing and interesting listening.
The promotion of the programs viewed was rather limited.Aside from the printed TV schedules included in thenewspapers and TV guides, brochures were available uponrequest from the different stations, or, in the case of theUniversity of Washington station, from, an information centerat the University. The promotion of supplemental material,e.g. viewers' guides and syllabi, was made both visually andverbally during station announcements, but they oftenappeared to have been recorded, since they bore little relationto the progress of the course. The first announcement,introducing the course, was repeated many times, so' that aviewer tuning in late would gain the impression that the coursewas just beginning. There were no subsequent "spot"announcementsito bring him up to date, by drawing attentionto relevant pages in the guides or to particUlar assignmentsgiven by the instructor.
Most students were concerned about the restrictions put ontheir viewing of the program by inconvenient time schedules.The commercial TV programs offered at 6:30 a.m. placed apersonal burden on the viewer, in that they interfered with the'lives of other members of the household. With the programsoffered through the ETV channel, this problem did not arise.They could be seen either in the evening or at midday or on acommercial channel at 7:00 arn.
The students reacted favourably to Canadian Television's(CTV's) University of the Air series, because most of theprograms consisted of five or six halhour presentations inother words, material was offered in small "packages" to meetcertain needs of the viewer.
Finally, under "Objective Evaluation", the studentsreported that in none of the courses they watched was thereany kind of evaluative device to measure the achievements ofthe viewer.
As mentioned previously, the purpose of the sectionentitled "Subjective Evaluation" was to try to assess the effectof the program' on the viewer. Most students felt that thelecture technique, so frequently used, drew too muchattention to the facial expressions and gestures of the teacher..One student reported that he often "found it more propi usto listen without looking", and attributed Os attitude." thelecturer's mannerisms, not to the techniqat of present ion".A comment by an another student implied that the mediumand the' technique of presentation magnified the effect of alecturer's mannerisms:
He was constantly concerned during the lecture sessionswith finding a comfortable place for his'hands and arms.The right he managed to keep relatively still by clutchingthe lectern. The left was constantly in and out of hiscoat pocket, except to turn his notes. He appeared to be
Bing alone and very exposed to theconstantly aware oviewer. I found it Ittfficult to concentrate on hismessage, instead of his at ions.
17
Concerning the personality of the teacher, the students'reports that an engaging personality had a positive effect onthe viewers' interest in the subject confirmed McLuhan'sviewthat "even teachers on TV seem to be endowed by the studentaudiences with a charismatic or mystic character that muchexceeds the feelings developed in the classroom or lectureher.' 3
SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS
A glance at the present state of ETV reveals a great need forqualitative evaluation on a continuing basis, if ETV is to fulfilits promise. To be sure, the students taking part in the U.B.C.study found some things to commend. Studio techniquesincluding camera, lighting, visual aids, and audio were judgedexcellent; pacing, or the rate at which material is presented,was considered generally good; and Canadian Television'sUniversity of the Air won praise for its short presentations.But it seems painfully clear that many adult educators arefailing to exploit to the fullest the potentialities of ,Jr TV as amulti-sensory medium with a unique capacity to involve theviewer. Too often, they are looking in McLuhan's rear-viewmirror, when they assume that the kind of presentation which:s appropriate for the classroom or the lecture hall is equallyappropriate for the television screen.
In the first place, the educator requires the expertise of themedia specialist, if he is to present his ideas in the mosteffective manner. Studio techniques can be crucial to thesuccess or failure of the educator in getting his message across.There must be close co-operation then,/between him and themedia specialist, a pooling of knowledge and ;kills, indesigning programs. The designing of programs calls for themto co-ordinate their efforts in determining course objectivesPad stating them in behavioral terms. Such planning not onlygives the viewer a clear idea of what hescan hope to gain fromthe course and a means of evaluating his own progress; it alsorives him some indication of the role he is expected to play. Ifthis role is to be that of an active participant, as prescribed byMcLuhan, not a passive viewer, then the traditional lecturetechnique, which the U.B.C. students reported as the one mostfrequently used, must be drastically modified. Ways must befound to give the viewer an opportunity to ponder the ideaspresent by the instructor, to argue issues with him, and topursue ose issues farther if the viewer wishes.
One. w On which the viewer can be given an opportunityto ponder the ideas presented by the instructor is throughpre-reading suggested in the syllabi and in the viewers' guides.The material should be organized in sequential steps andco-ordinated carefully with the -ETV programs, so that theviewer knows in advance of each, program the specificquestions that will be raised and can prepare himselfaccoidingly. In order that he might react to ideas put forward
-by the instructor, it is-highly desirable to establish some formof communication between them. The viewer could submit hisquestions by mail to the instructor, or by telephone at somepoint in the program, or they could meet at weekly orbi-monthly seminars. Viewers could also form listenigg groups,which would send in questions of common interest. Finally,the viewer whose interest has been caught and who wants tocontinue his education should be supplied with bibliographiesto guide his future study.
Concerning the evaluation of programs by the educator, hewould have to go back to his course objectives and devise aquestionnaire or an interview instrument to determine whetherhe had attained them. Here, he would probably need the helpof a research team to test a random sample of the viewingis
e%la
50
population to find out, in behavioral,. terms, whether theyunderstood certain concepts. For example, the course onurban planning referred to earlier might have included anobjective like thii one: Given a knowledge of the forces thatcreated cities, the student should be able to discussintelligently the factors that produced downtown Vancouver,and the factors perpetuating downtown and causing trafficcongestion, and to suggest ways (e.g., th impact oftechnology) in which -to explore solutions. -
From the administrative point of view, the chief problemsseem to be the timing and promotion of the programs. Asmentioned above, the U.B.C. students reported on t einconvenience of the 6:30 a.m.tschedule of the Vancou erstation. Moreover, few adults would even know about heprograms, since information in the form of a brochure or aflyer from the station was available only upon request. Thestation itself did not advertise the prograni, no noticesappeared regularly in the newspapers, nor was ahy advice sentto educational institutions.
No doubt much more could be said about the changesrequired in order for ETV to best serve the needs of the massaudience. That these needs are real enough is proved by theburgeoning public interest in adult education programs of allkinds. Yet it must be remembered that the audience we aretalking about -is not receptive to the standard lecture techniqueso frequently employed by ETV. Indeed, the technique fallsdismally short of exploiting the rare possibilities of themedium. Most disturbing of all, many educators seem unawarethat they are not reaching this audience, because they havefailed to provide for a systematic evaluation of the programs.Until it is provided, there seems little hope that the programswill show a progressive improvement, and learning willcontinue to take place by chance, not by intent.
REFERENCES
1. Harry L. Miller, Teaching and Learning in Adult Education, (NewYork: MacMillan, 1964, p. 283.
2. Coolie Verner and Alan Booth, Adult Education, (New York:The Center for Applied Research in Education, 1964), p. 85.
3. Letter to John Ohliger, quoted in Listening Groups: Mass Mediain Adult Education, (Boston: Center for the Study of the LiberalEducation for' Adults, 196/1, p. 78.
4. Jack C. Everly, "Continuing Education Instruction is the MassMedia" (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois,19681, p. 233.
5. lbid, p. 261.
6. Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: TheMan, (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1
Ibid, p. 319.
xtensions ofG), p. 311.
8. Wilbur Schramm in a brief filed by the F ation to FCC,quoted in Jack C. Everly, "Continuing Ed Instruction Via
Mass Media", (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,Unive ity of Illinois, 19681, p. 222.
10.
11.
Miller, op. Cit., p. 270.
Everly, op. cit., p. 174.
John W.C. Johnston and Ramon J., Rivera, (Chicago: AldinePublishing Company, 19651, p. 223.
12. Robert F. Mager, Preparing Instructional Objectives, (Palo Alto,California: Fearon Publishers, 1962), p. 6.
13. McLuhan, op. cit., p. 336.
EPSOctober 1969
TELEVISION: A VIABLE CHANNEL FOR EDUCATING
ADULTS IN CULTURALLY DIFFERENT POVERTY GROUPS?--A LITERATURE REVIEW
%John A. Niemi and Darrell V. Andersop
Fv.
In seeking to answer the ghestion whether television is a viable ctianneT for educatingadults in culturally different poverty groups, we must first examine the nature ofi thosegroups. The term "culturally different" is chosen in preference to the more general term"disadvantaged adults." For, as meny writers point out, an actual culture of povertyexists, embracing many sub-cultures. Here, the concept of "culture" is borrowed inits traditional sense_tc mean groups of adults sharing a distinctive design for living(3) (13).* Among them are the urban poor, including ghetto' dwellers like the Negro,the Mexican-American, and the new immigrant; and the so-called rural poor, like thepeople of Appalachia or the Indians on reservations.
Briefly, research in North America on adults inhabiting the poverty groups hasdifferentiated them sharply fro;.1 the dominant middle-class society by certain socio-economic factors and the attitnies which these engender (2). Rodman suggests that thelife styles of many of these groups could be appropriately labelled the "lower-classvalue stretch." He means that they do not always abandon the general values of society,but generate an alternative set of values rationalized to their deprived circumstances. ='Thus, the concept of success as b4sed on high income and educational attainmentstretched, so that a lesser degree of success finds acceptance. In effect, these groupsdisplay a wider range of values than others within society (19). It should be noted.'that some of the alternative values are at variance with those of the dominant mtddlclass society, e.g., the orientation of the middle class to mastery over Nature, vethe tendency of the poverty groups to stress immediate gratification. It was also founin research done by Anderson and Niemi, that families in these groups entertainedrelatively narrow expectations which 'perpetuate the cycle of poverty. Such.attitudeswere often reinforced by discriminatory practices or outright rejection on the part ofmile-class society. One result was that the poverty groups ascribed only limitedvalue to education and showed limited aspirations for it. Moreover, these groups,rejected the institutional structure of middle-class society in favor of intimateprimary groups, often having cl" kinshfp ties (2).16
What are some implications of-the research findings for adult educators? Obviously,they must find ways to communicate with these isolated groups of adults and help them.The question then arises: Is television a viable channel? Certainly, television hasin general proved to he an effective device for instruction (5) (16) (24). However,the value of the medium for reaching the poor cannot be so readily established. Thereason is that research undertaken so far has been chiefly concerned with adults ingeneral_, rather than with illiterate adults (5). Even after surveying several literacyprojects throughout the world, Schramm and his colleagues could find little informationabout the Nalue of some television prigrams associated with those projects (23).
What has emerged quite clearly is that to be effective as an educational medium,television must be combined with techniques like listening groups that have volunteerteachers (4) (10) (18). Such programming calls for close co-operation between adulteducators and media specialists. .A difficulty involved here is described by Power:
*Numbers in part4itheses refer to items in the bibliography beginning on page12.
51
2
When you have two agencies co-opeNng - educational institutions and the maEtmedia - in a common endeavor, the pro ect itself is not always of sufficient
. concern to either party for them to be able.to sustain the idea for very long'.Each has fear of the other party determining its objectives" (17). 2
One successfu: attempt at bringing t 'hese two groups together is represented by theUniversityiof Maryland's Institute on Instructtonal Television and Adult Basic Ed-ucation. Participants include ARE specialists - both teachers' and administrators -and Eelevision specialists. Eath group follows an accelerated course in the other's *specialty. The ABE personnel enjoy a crash course in televisiop, and the television-specialists learn about adults in the poverty groups. Later, Olsoduction groups are formed.The outcome of is Institute was thatABE personnel became 'enthusiastic promoters of.television as a edium both for attracting disadvantaged adults and as a device forteaching them. e television specialists, in turn, became vividly aware of the plightof the poor and 1 ked forward to designing programs for them in concert with the ABEpersonnel" (11).,
Ideally, all television programs for culturally different poverty groups shouldinclude an evaluation design. Clear! explains why, in discussing the Univers'ty ofWisconsin's Rural FaTtily Develop.dene(RFD) Program:
Abu-"A research projertAs a waste of-time without evaluation: a project might onsidefitself coMpleted, yet, without evaluation, there is nothing to say what is go ,
about the project or what parts are bad and could be improved. Without evaluation,a project gives no (Aide-lines to others following in their path, and others willnot be able to make quick, accurate improvements. Evaluation is necessary forprograms"(7).
Without eulpatinn, Niemi wards
-" it seems pairfully clear that many adult educators are failing to exploitto the fullest the potentialities of ETV as a multi-sensory medium with a uniquecapacity to involve the viewer. Too often, they are looking in McLuhan's rear-view mirror, when they assume that the kind of presentation which is appropriatefor the classroom or the lecture hall is equally appropriate for the televisionscreen" (15).
1
A survey of the literature reveals few research studies that fo ally evaluatetelevision as a devicefor educating culturally different poverty a oup Therefore,it was decided to examine a number,of representative programs direct to those groups,to see what could be learned about the viability of televisions as a channel for reachingthem. The,seventeen selected programs are summarized in three Tables: Table I, ProgramIdentification; Table II, Administration of Programs; and Table III, Characteristics of
0 Programs.
...
/Z7
TABLE I - PROGRAM IDENTIFICATION
PROGRAM TYPE OF-PROGRAM LOCATION STATION YEAR1. Streamline,i English I Literacy Memphis, Tenn. (WKNO-TV) Commercial 1956
2. Streamlined English II Literacy Memphis, Tenn. (WKNO-TV) Commercial 1958-59
3. Streamlined Engliih Literacy
4. Learning to Read Literacy
52
Florence, Alabama (State,of Alabama ETV Network)Baltimore, Md. (WBAL-TV)
Educational 1960
Commercial 1960
PROGRAM5. PS # 4
6. Learn For Living
7. Let': Speak English
8. OperationsAlphabet-
9. OperationAlphgbet
10. Operation Alphabet
11. Operation` Alphabet
12. Elementary Englishand Arithmetic
14. VTR St. Jacques
14. Operation Gap -Stop
15. Cancion de la Raza("F..ong of the People") Personal and Social Los Angeles, Calif. Educational 1968
Deyelopment of (KCET) (UHF),.._y Mexican-Americans
(1-6. Life Skills Human and Social Prin&Albert,Development/ Saskatchewan
17. Rural Family Develop- Personliiend Social Madison, Wisc.ment (RFD) Developmentof ral (WHA-TV)
families.t-;
The seventeen programs,appeartno:in chron* re e order in Table I fall into four. .....
categories: Literacy - eleven; English.As A Se ond Language - one; Community Development .*one; and Personal and Social Development - four Table I illustrates a significant trendaway from Literacy Programs toward more comprehensive programs on Persopgl(and SocialDevelopment during the years 1956 to 1971. #
- 3 -
TABLE I - CONTINUED
TYPE OF PROGRAMLiteracy
Literacy and Englishas a second languageEnglish as a secondlanguageLiteracy
Literacy
Literacy
Literacy
Literacy in Englishas ,a secInd Vanguage
Community Development
Personal and Social,Development
LOCATION STATION YEARSt. Louis, Mo.(KMOX -TV) Commercial
(KETC-TV) Educational 1960
Yakima, Wash. (WNDO-TV) Commercial 1961Toronto, Canada (CBCT) CommerciA4
Philadelphia, Pa. Commercial l'961
(WFIL-TV)
New York, N.Y. (WPIX-TV)Commercial 1963(WNDT) Educational 1963(WNYC) Educational 1963
Shreveport, LouisianaIKSLA-TV)tate of Florida
Commercial ;)963
Commercial&11963Educational
Zambia Closed circuit
Montreal, Canada
Denver, Colo. (KRMA)
TV 1963-65Closedcircuit TV 1965Educational 1967
Closed 1968-71circuit TVEdimational 1971
(UHF)
.TABLE II ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAMS
PROGRAM PLANNING'1. Developed by personnel
at WKNO-TV in consults=tion with FranicLaubach.
2. As Abov/e.
PROMOTIONTV station andcommunity agencycenters,.
SCHEDULEDO(S) ,:TIME(S)
M-W-F. 8 p.m.
TV sta ion and M-W-F 8 p.commun ty agencycenters
3. Florence State_Sollege. TV station, peria'al M-W-F 8:30 p.m. 96 half-hour programscontact, radio, news-papers, church an-nouncements, and cm-
.
munity groups.
# andLENGTH OF PROGRAMS
42 half-hour programs
`96 half-hour programs
5 `3
PROGRAM PLANNING ,
4. Reading specialists and -
supervisors of adult ed-ucation.
Sr .5. Curriculum specialists
and TV station personnel
6. TV teacher.
7. CBC and, MetropolitanEducational TV Associa-tion:
8. School District OfPhiladelphia andCommunity organizations.
9. Advisory Committee, con-Osting of union membersand personnel from othercommunity groups.
- 4 -
RATABLE II - CONTINUED *
.SCHEDULE . ',ANDPROMOTION DAY(S) TIMM) LENGTH'OF)PROGRAMSTV station anik Sat & SUN- .8 ,a.p. 100 half-hour prrsupervisors of initiallyadu education. r
TV station & St.' . . 6:3Q a.m.18 months. Louis Board of Ed- - & 7:30
ucation. p.m..
TV station and /rthru F 6.30 a.m. 20 halll-hour programscommunity organ-izations.
Sun 12-12:k1 78 half-hour/ p.m.,411:30 'programs-t -12:00 p.m..
TV station, press Sit &including foreign Wlanguage newspapersand brochures.
Advertising agency M thru F 6:30 a.m. 1\66 half-hourusing posters, leaflets,, i' Programsflyers; als' newspapersradio, TV. ,
visory commitiee usi g M thru F 8:30a.m: 100.halt-'hour_
flyers &-postdrs rib- -6:60p.m. programs \-uted through co nity -Orr 8:30p4
Aganizations;-also, press.
of Scholl Board., M thru F 7 a.m. 100:half-burprOifamsParish
L.te"
10. Louisiana State DeptEducation and CaddoSchool Board. .
11. Directors of adult,tion, state and lo
12. University College of1Rhodesia & Nyasaland.
h
uca- State-wide,using. M thru F: / personnel from var-
. ious organizationsand TV stations.
13. St. Jacques CitizensCommittee & NationalFilm Board of Canada.
14. School of CommunicationArts, University ofDenver.
X15. KCET and community,through Ford Founda-tion grant.
Native employees-ofRhokana Corp. whoparticipated in study.
St. acques'Citizens-''Committee
University and TVn M thru .F 12 p.m.&station. 6'p.m.
1 3
Announcements-- t1' thru
Spanish languaq0 media,various agencies, personto person, & sample
00half)oqr programs
hour progra0,-,.
F 3 p.m. & 13 week series - 657:30 p.m. half-hour episodes *
episodes On video tape./
54r
'PROGRAM' ,PLANNING16. Staff, Saskatchewah
Newstar- TrainingLaboratory.
17. University ofWisconsin RDFstaff.
5
,>TABLE II - CONTINUED
SCHEDULE # ANDPROMOTION DAY(S)' TIME(S) LENGTH OF'PROGRAMSAs for "Planning."
Extensive multimedia( M 8:30 a.m. 52 half-houradvertising in four W 7:00 p.m. programscounties. , Thurs. 3:30 p.m,
1
To adult educators and media specialists, the ,administrative decisions reflected in the.planning, promotion, and scheduling of prograins, as shown in'Table II, are of paramountimportance. The planning WdS of three types: organizational, originating with televisionstations, colleges, school boards', a private corporation, or national or state bodies;individual, originating with television teachers, directors of adult education, and gcurriculum specialists; and community, originating with citizens' committees or volunteeradvisory boards..
Apparently; the most extensive promotion occured in Programs 3, 8,.9, 12, 15, andPrograw 3 (Streamlined English,, Florence, Ala.), used television, personal contact,radio, npwspapers, church announcements, and community groups. 'Program 8 (OperationAlphabet, Philadelphia, Pa.) had newspaper, radio and television coverage and, in/addition, hired an advertising agency to distribute posters, leaflets, and flyers.For Program 9 (Operation Alphabet, New York), an advisory committee directed a similaristribution. Program 12 (VTR-St. Jacques, Montreal), was promoted through a specialtizens Commfttee, and Program.15,(Cancion de Ta Raza; Los Angeles) enlisted.Spanish.--,
language media, various agencies, person to person contact, and sample episodes onvideo-tape. Finally, Program 17 (RFD, Wisconsin)`relied on extensive multimediaadvertising in four counties.
Concerning program/times, several were offered very early in the Morning or at12:00 noon. Such times would undoubtedly discourage many viewers. Others would' react`negatively to a long series, such as programs running for 100 half-hours. Such planningruns counter to the evident preference of individuals in poverty groups for immediateor very quick satisfactior. The need is for programs to be designed in smaller"packages." '
Sun. 4:30 p.m.,.A
.
STABLE III - CHARACTERISTICS OF PROGRAMSCONTENT PROCEDURES COMMUNITY ASSISTANTS -MATERIALS EVALUATIONBased ,on Laubach's Telecast to students Volunteer teacher ProducedStr!amlin.A Eng- at home & in eomman- assistants at om- locally forlishr SeP.es. ity agency centers. ,munity centers. students &
volunteerteacher assis-tants.-
. Vowel sounds andOates approach&veloped byLaubach.
Commonplace adult sit-uations "acted out" ontelecast. Drill pro-vided for viewers.
55
1Workbooks Metropolitanor students.Achieve-
ment'Test, (MAT) 7 61
showed aver-age readingachievement2.6 grades.
-6
TABLE III - CONTINUED
CONTENT PROCEDURES COMMUNITY ASSISTANTS3. Kinescopes of content Telecast to students Volunteer teachers
wder 2, above. , at centers like at centers. .
schools & churches. --,"
4. Short story, withemphasis on word rec-ognition, vocabulary.develo t, reading'comprhens i n.
5. Association of 40-odd basic speech
Telecast to. homeaudience by TVteacher-personal-'ity.
Telecast to home audienceby "host teacher" &
sounds with letters, others.using large drawings& nonsensf lines. In-formal discussion by > .
teacher of timelytopics..
6. Wend recognitionskills, by presen-tation of new words& a short story;also manuscript writ-ing.
7. Basic, everyday sen-tencesp.with empha-sis on the soundqualities, rhythms,& pitch variationsof English Sentenceswere translated in-to mc.4 languages.
8. New words, relatedto a three or four -sentence story basedon everyday situa-tions.
9. See 8 above.
TV teacher used every- Volunteeaday situations famil- trainediar to students, talked viewininformally with them,& sometimes included3 or 4 of them 'as a "class."
4
TV teacher used conver-sational approach, drama-tization, & pictures, &encouraged mimicry byviewers.
TV teacher presentedmaterial in manuscnOrton a large flip chart -for four programs & re-viewed material on fifth.program.
See 8 above.
56
Nee,
MATERIALS EVALUATIOWorkbooks MAT-254& locally showed aver-developed age readingmaterials achievementfor students2.5 grades in
work know-ledge & worddiscrimina-tion.
Mimeographed Based onsupplemental .practicereading & prat- sheet).-1tice sheets forttudents.
Supplementaryself-help charts& practice sheets.
teachers Supplementalmeet with materials avai)-groups- able for practice,
revidw, self- .
help.
Textbook InterviewsLet's Speak with randomEnglish. sample of
1026 respond-ents and 368serious view-ers showedthat program
,reached thosewho need itmost.
Printed supple-mental materialsceuldj:te-purchas d
for $3;$ eravailable as TVHome Study Book, -
with progress testsfrom NAPSAE, for $2.00: -
NAPSEA's TV HOMEStudy Book. Final test
used to
CONTENT
10. See B above.
11. See 8 above.
12. Elementary English& Arithmetic.
- 7 -
TABLE III - CONTINUED
PROCEDURES COMMUNITY ASSISTANTS MATERIALS EVALUATLOWsidentify-wlin.:dividualswho had re-mained withseries &
*achieved min-imal literacy2500 passedtests.
Group I-onlyone studenttook a stan-dardized testGroup II-Standardizedtest showedaverage gradeincrease of ,
1.32. GroupIII-Stan-dardizedtest showedaverage gradeincrease of1.55.
Research study: Group I(19)-TV program as in 8.above; Group II (23) TVprogram plus teacher pre-sentations; Group III (36)regular classroom program
of literacy instruction'.
See 8 above- sup-plemented by adulteducation classes.Research study in-volving 243 adults.
Directors of adulteducation & voyunteer teachers.
Research Study: Group I-TV programs & follow-up byclassrbom teachers;Group 2-TV programs only; Group 3-classroom teaching only, byclassroom teachers of Group 1;Group 4-regular classroomteaching only.
5'7
See'8Abov
See 8above.
Gilmore OialReading tmitrevealed that156 scoredless"that 3.0(109 below .
1.5) & only87 scoredabove 3.0.
New Ship Educationalprimers & Attainmentworkbooks; Gradingmodels, Tests showedpictures, & gains in Eng-puppets. lish & Arith-
meXic in allgroups. Nostatisticallysignificantdifferencesin gains madeby-each group
CONTENT.)3. C =laity problems
raised by citizens.
TABLE III - CONTINUED
PROCEDURES COMMUNITY ASSISTANTS MATERIALS. EVALUATI%Citizens' Committee VTR unit.taped fellow citizens,& then held publicmeetings to view editedtapes on closed circuit& discuss problems.
14. inf,:wation,about Daytime serial format.where to go for legalaid, howilip buaget,
-) what to die:in easeof medical emergencies,etc.
15. Thi-spen major themes- Soap operas prepared byproblem. relating to Mexican-Americans; also
h.?nt & jolt "open Line" service,trin:ng, welfare,family roles, etc."Open line" (telephone)questions of most in-'terest were recordedfor discussion onTV by experts.
16. Information-giving, Pre-taped lessons discussede.g., teaching of in class, role-playing &Yeadlng & arithmetic; simulated experiences.personality develop-ment; social skills;job skills; communitydevelopment.
17. Practica, skills reg-ularly needed by ruraladult, e.g. orderingfrom commercial cat-alogues, registeringror Medicare; concomitantcomputation & communi-ation
Follow-up in-terviews indi-cated thatviewers likedprogramslearned fromthem.
Personal inter-views of 397;of 211 whoviewed program,68% watched ingroups & 21%thought the pro.grams helpedthem.
Prepared In process.video-tapes.
Telecasts to homes, sup- Home visitors, Home study In process.plemented by non-graded whose function materialshome study materials. is to help -nongraded.
students becomeindependentlearners.
4,
1. literacy Programs
On the b0sis of previous experience, early television programs prepared for adultsin the povErty groups emphasized basic skills in language, reading, and simple arithmeticas a focflaation for furtheOlNocational or social education. For example,. Program 1(Memphis, )enn., 195b), the first American literacy campaign linked to television, drewon J.e cunsultative services of Laubach (4), and used his streamlined English I series.A unique characteristic of this early Programjs the use of volunteer teacher assistants(some of them former illiterates) at',31 community centers. Program 2, a follow-upto 1, stressed vowel sounds and the phonics approach to reading developed by,Laubach.In the situations that were'"acted out," no one personality dominated, but several,:achers took part. The drill provided for viewers consisted largely of work repetition.
58
Fvaluation by means of the Metropolitan Achievement Test, administered to a group of61 students, revealed average reading achievement of 2.-6 grades (10). An average of2.5 grades was reported by Peerson for the 254 individuals who completed Program 3(Florence, Alabama, 1960), after viewing kinescopeS of Program 2 (18). It is ofinterest to note that 608 enrolled in the Alabama program at the start, out of 105,310functional illiterates in the broadcast area. This same series was also-telecast inNorth Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia (2) (5) (10).
Two other literacy programs developed in the early 1960's were reported by Cass(5). Program 4 (Learning to Read, Baltimore, Md., 1960) had a potential audience in fourstates and in Washington, D.C. Completed practice sheets returned by persons, who,received certificates, constituted the only feedback. For Program 5 (PS #4, St. Louis,Mo., 1960), some feedback was probably provided by viewers who mere invited to a partyto meet their television teachers. The 60 viewers who, attended subsequently helped topubiicize the series for others who mid t benefit from it.
.Literacy Programs 8, 9, 10, and 11 are studies of four attempts to utilize thematerial known as Operation Alphabet. This project, Program 8, was begun by the Div-ision of School Extens:on of the.School District-of Philadelphia in 1959, with thehelp of many community organizations, and telecast for the first time in 1961. It wasexpected that a conscientious adult learner could reach approximately third grade levelin reading and writing after completing 100 lessons. An estimated 50-75,000 peoplebenefited from the Program, judging from letters expressing appreciation and requestinga re-run of the series; from the number of sets of materials delivered; from 2,500test letters corrected and returned; and from an increase of 25% in adult enrollmentsin basic education classes in the public schools. The apparent interest shown in thePhiladelphia venture caused NAPSAE to obtain the copyright for both the televisionseries and the supplementary materials. NAPSAE also developed a guide specifying stepsto be taken by communities to promote the series.
For Program 9 (New York, 1963), the advisory committee which planned the program,used the NAPSAE guidelines for Operation Alphabet. Completed tests returned by persons,who received certificates, provided the only feedback (5). Program 10 (Shreveport, La.,1963) involved a research study conducted by the Caddo Parish School Board, in co-operation with the Adult Education Section of the State Department of Education. Par-ticipants were evaluated by standardized tests (1). Program 11 (Florida, 1963) wasalso a research study, in which 243 a6lts were evaluated by the Gilmore Oral ReadingTest. One eilolanation why so few of them reached the third grade reading level, asanticipated, is explained by [sunder; she points out that most students stopped watchingthe program regularly after the twentieth lesson. She also discovered that adultswho had studied in groups achieved sigpificantly higher scores than those who hadstudied individually. Contrary to th6'Philadelphia venture, Bunger found that thetelecast did not seem to affect enrollments. of adults in public school adult literacyclasses (4)
In concluding thi; Tscussioo !of (ineration Alphabet, it must be said that althoughnany cities repeated the series sevrai times, little accurate assessment was made ofits impact, because of a lack of fundi for record-keeping and research. In Short, theconsiderable claims advanced for thesuccess.of the series in the United States havebeen rased chiefly upon television station ratings, not on any kind of formal evaluation(4) (5).
Two literaCy programs remain-to be discussed; One of them, 6 (Learn for Living,Nakima, 1961), addressed two audcences, the adult illiterate and the foreign-bornadult. Thus, it combined a literacy program with instruction in English as a second
-1,0-
language (5). The second program, 12 (Elementary English and Arithmetic) was conductedin Zambia irr- 1963-65. It is included because it is a research study aimed at judgingthe efficacy of telftvision for teaching literacy in English as a second language to adult.The individuals in the four groups, drawn from all over Central Africa, were matched onEnciish and Arithmetic attainment, non-verbal ability, and formal education. The tele-vision tTocrams, beamed to Groups 1 and 2, emphasized a visual approach whenever newmaterial appeared. along with miming and dramatization by actors. As dialogue betweenteacher and stude:it was considered the key, to learning a second language, a uniqueapproa o was used with Group 2. The television teacher would pose questions to theviewers, each une teing identified by a number from 1 through 20. As the televisionteacher could not hear the answers, they were checked out by. the classroom teacherand the students themselves. The classroom teacher then advised the television teacherof any difficulties. Although Group.3 had classroom teaching only, their instructioncame from the same teachers oho had followed up the television programs with Group )and who had access to all the television materials. As Table III indicates, Group 4had structibm from regular classroom teacheri' withou reference to television.
Although the results showed no statistically significant differences in the gainsmade by each 01 the four groups, it appeared that Group 3 experienced one of the mosteffective me,nods of teachinc-tnglish as a second language. However, it must be addedthat this same. Group was considered to be more highly motivated than the other Groups,because their attendance in this class formed part of their training as mechanics (8).
2. Eitlish As A Second Language Program
Program 7 (Let's Speak English, Toronto, Canada, 1961-62) relied for feedbackpartly on 1026 respondents randomly selected from a telephone-ksurvey of some 10,000households, and partly. on 368 "serious" viewers who had sought more information fromPC-about the program. From the 1026 respondents, descriptive data were gathered aboutaudience characteristics such as language background, proficiency in. English, and levelof education. It was found that those adults with the lowest proficiency in Englishpersisted with the program; in other wordsit reached those who needed it most. Ahigh proportion of the persistent viewers were immigrants who had come since 1956. Itwas also found that lack of formal eduction was not a deterrent to viewing the firstplace, or a crucial factor in determining whether a person stayed with the course orwatched only casually. The t68 "serious" viewers had the highest degree of involvementin the program. Analysis of the data gathered during interviewes indicated littleresistance on their part to the mimicry approach. Of this group, 334 gave information'about their viewing habits. It revealed that those who watched the program in groupstended to be more regular viewers than those who watched it alone (12).
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3. Community Development Program
Program 13 (VTR St. Jacques, Montreal, 1965) involved the use of closed circuittelevision by a Citizens Committee to,stimulate social action in the poor districtof downtown vontreal. The Committee was given the use ofi-1/2'-viden tape recording(VTR) unit I)( the National Film Board of Canada. Through this medium, peo0Te wereencouraged voice .,heir problems. Later, when viewing the tapes on closed-circuittelevision at public meetioos, neighbours recognized- common problems and began toseek solutiOns. One project attributed to the efforts of the Citizens Committee was theestablishment of a Citizens Community Health Centre, which is still operating (27).
4. Personal and Social Development Programs
Programs 14, 15, 16, and 17 all relate to personal and social development`. Program
,6011
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74 (,Op( ition Go-stop, Denver, 1967) emerged in response.to the needs of 649 heads ofnousehold ince-viewed in an urban housing development. To interest people in watchingthe program, four motivational conditions were set up: no contact, the interviewcontac-, phets, and money. It was found that the paid viewers watched the largestni or cviluation was based on follow-up interviews, which revealed fay-
,le A titudes on the part of viewers (25).
Pr an 15 (Cancior de Raza, Los Angeles, 1968) catered to the needs ofA;n-Ar s tiva grant of $625,000 from the Ford Foundation, Through the
"..odp mes'a of socill -,tdjustment were presented in the context of a barriofamil- she telephone "open line" (Linea Abierta) to the television station not onlycave feedbag to individual viewers, but provided actual content for a panel of communityexperts, who discussedthe most re.evant questions submitted. Further feedback was
programs. it w s eassuring to find that the objective of making the programs seem
sought througPOphohe surveys to determine viewer reactions during the airing of
credibie was apparently achievtd. In two telephone surveys, over 60 per cent believedtoat most of what they saw was`true, and 30 per cent believed in part of it. Overtwo-'..hirds of the viewers thought they had learned something about the problems presented.But the mos, sic. if.cant fir.ing)Was that many viewers were taking actions which theywould not ordiotrily have taken. The major purpose of the Program - to assess theel sects. of infprmion input via Lie soap opera upon attitudes and behaviours - wasevaloatei in interviews m(ntit),;ed the emphasis placed upon education. An 'increasedknowledge of community and a modification of complacent attitudes was thought to bereflected in the claim of 4 out of 10 viewers that they were considering joiningcommunity, social and political Organizations (25).
Program 16 (Life Skills, NewStart, Saskatchewan, 1968-71) presently emphasizesapplied problem-solving4 Evaluation of the Program has been an 'on-going process. Thevalue of the_video-tape recording unit (VTR) has been recognized as affording students andcoaches opportunities to practise life skills and to receive immediate feedback. In theirprogress through the course, the students engage in more complex case studies and roleplays which are designed to,test the skills they are learning; again, the VTR permitsthem to observe their progress to date. So far, Saskatchewan NeWStart has used VTRcontinuously for more than two years with over 200 students (20) (21).
The most significant characteristic of Program 17 (RFD, Wisconsin, 1971) is theinnovative home visit, added to the well-established combination of television and sup-plementary home study materials. The content, oriented to the problems and needs ofthl rural farm families, is unique in the sense that the wide variety of needs hasr. cossitaxd abandoning tle traditional scope and sequence of such programs. The valueof this approach is that the Wisconsin Program is geared to a "drop-in" rate, insteadof a "dr)p-out" rate. As PFD is a field study, its evaluation will dim at producing
for :ion related to ;wiled decision - making... It is hoped that the home visitoroptai data, trough special achievement tests, concerning an individual's ability
to . 'pc 'th the problems. Att:tude measures will be used to evaluate his self-concept,. ettilAloe tJwa.-d le:,rnihg, and his
psense of control over his environment (7) (14).
Summa,
IL;,' the mot; significant finding in the analysis of the seventeen programshas been the dearth of adequate instruments for gathering data. Instead of developingresearch instr)ents specifically for evaluating the unique contribution of television
. toe AuLaLioo of adults in poverty groups, some program planners have relied on testsdesigned ,or use in formal classroom situations. As a result, few program& hard adequateresearch designs for collecting data about behavioural chepge. However, in the literacypr(Trams, there is some evidence-that television alone is less effective in its resultsthvi instrvcti)n. by a conventional classroom teacher. It may well be that the impersonal'nd mass .aura of televisions runs counter to many basic values of the poverty groups.
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ls yet, this crucial matter has received scant attention from the programmers. Anothernii;o1kcolem oas been thedualattempt to obtain data, simultaneously, on the appropri-atsnc of ..w? programs as a whole and on the achievements of individuals. The first tas
o, 11.g audiences, is one in which the media specialists have expertise; theother, t4 Ooral change, is the province of the educa .- Finally, the importance
-st be taken into account, as they relate to both days and times, and sot.ist t,c r'ea to package programs into smaller units.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(1; Lomparative Study in Basic Adult Education Conducted by Television Teacher - TVComUinocion and Teacher Alone without TV." Baton Rouge: Adult Education Section;Louisiana State Depa ent of Education and the Caddo Parish School Board, July 6,1964.
(2) Anderson, O.V., and J.A. Niemi. Adult Education and the Disadvantaged Adult. Syracuse,New York: Syracuse University, November 1970.
11,(11 [1:01..un. B.H. In The MOs*. of Plenty: A New Report On The Poor In America.
daltimore, 1966.
(4) Bunge , M. "A Descriptive Study of Operation Alphabet in Florida and an Evaluationertain Procedures Employed." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Florida State
University, 1964.
A.W. "The Pole of Television in Reaching Illiterate Adults With A LiteracyProcleaM Series." Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, Teachers' College, ColumbiaUniversiLy, 1969.
(6) Cass, A.'d. "The Use of Television in Literacy Programmes in the U.S.A." in LiteracyDi,cussion, 1:19, Spring 1970.
(7) Cleary, A.T. "The Evaluation Design For RFD" in RFD Newsletter. Madison,: Universityof Wisconsin. February, 1971.
(R) Cripwell, K.R. 'Teaching-Adults By Television. A Report Of An E4eriment In Theakhiorj Of Elementary English And Arithmetic To Adult Africans On The Cooper Belt,
aMbia. 1963-1965. Salisbury: University College of Rhodesia,,1966.
(9, c!iucational Television For Farmers: A Study of Audience Reactions To A Te evisedCourse of Instruction For Farmers in Manitoba. Ottawa: Research Departme t,Canadian Broaacasting Corporation, September, 1962.
J summary Of The Literacy Project: _WKNO-TV. Memphis: Memphis StateUniversity, 1959.
(11) Ki,'Kley, 0.P. "ITV: Approach To Basic Adult Education." Educational/InstructionalBroadcaF,Ang, January, 19704pp.13-19.
(12) "Let's Speak English," An Experiment In Adult Educational TV Designed To TeachEnglish To Beginners, With A Report On The Audience Reached and Its Reactions To-
ioe Program. Ottawa: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, June,-1967.
(13) Lewis, Oscar. "The Culture of 'Poverty," The Scientific American. October, 1966.
(i4) "New Rural Adult Basic Education Project Underway At University of Wisconsin," inRFD Newsletter. Madison: University of Wisconsin, July, 1969.
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(15) Niemi, John. A. "Dilemma In The 'Cool' Medium: ETV's Need For Evaluation",Educational/Instructional Broadcasting, October 1969, pp. 15-18.
(16) Ohliger. J. The Mass Media In Adult Education: A Review of Recent Literature.Syracuse, N.Y.: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult Education, Noveniber, 1968.
(17) 0'11iger. J. Listening Groups: Mass Media in Adult Education. "Boston: CSLEA, 1967
(18) Pearson, N. An Experiment With Evaluation In The Erad/ication of Adult. Illiteracyby Use Of Television Instruction Over A State Educational TeTevision NetworkSupplemented by Supervised Group Viewing and by Related Use of Project - SuppliedMaterials of Instruction. Florence, Alabama: Florence State College, 1961.
(19) Rodman, H. "The Lower-Class Value Stretch," in Social Forces, 42: 205, December, 1963.
(20.) Saskatchewan Newstart. Video Tape Play Back in Programs of Human And SocialDevelopment. Prince Albert, Saskatchewan: Saskatchewan Newstart, 1970.
(21) Saskatchewan Newstart. Life Skills: A Course in Applie(t Problem Solving. PrinceAlbert, Saskatchewan: Saskatc-hewan Newstart, 1971.
(22) Schenkkan, R.F. and W.J. Millard, Jr. Television_As An Instrument For TheContinuing Education of Spanish Speaking Families. Austin: University ofTexas Radio/TV/Film, 1965.
(23) Schramm, W. and others. The New Media: Memo To Educational Planners. Paris:UNESCO, 1967.
(24) Schramm, W. "What We Know About Learning From Instructional Television," inEducational Television: The Next Ten Years. Stanford: Stanford University,The -Institute For Communication Research, 1962.
(25) Scott, R.S. and C.R. Allen. "Cancion de La Raza: An ETV Soap Opera" in TVQuarterly, Fall, 1969.
(26) Torkelson, G.M. Educational Media. Washington, D.C.: National EducationAssociation, 1968.
(27) "VTR St. Jacques: Challenge For Change Program" Montreal: National Film Boardof Canada.
IF YOU NEED HELP IT LOCATING ANY OF THE AVETZ ilENTIONEQ ITEMS WRITE TO
DR. JOHN NIErI , ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ADULT EDUCATION, FACULTY OF
FOIdCATION, UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUDOIA , VANCOUVER 8, BRITISH
COLIT7113IA , CANADA.
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V. NEW VISTAS
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TILE OPEN UNiVERSiTy:
INRUENCE ON NORA AMERiCA?
As recently as 1967, Great Britain'sOpen University was a mere idea whichhad appeared in a government white pa-per entitled, "University of the Air." Sub-sequently, a planning committee met towork out a comprehensive scheme. InMay 1969, this.plan became a reality withthe granting of a Roval Charter. The firststudents began working on their degreesin January 1971. Now, in lune 1973, theOpen University has had its first gradua-tion ceremony (involving more than 800
(graduates), and some of the early criti-cisms directed at education via the"telly" have subsided.
The Open University is a phenomenonof the media age. To be sure, its compo-nents include the established elements ofindividualized learning, correspondence.
'texts, auxiliary materials and required as-signments. In addition, study centers andresidential summer schools provide helpand guidance to the home learner: Butthe new feature of the Open University isthe combining of those elements with TVand radio broadcasts. Programs via thesemedia are transmitted twice once dur-
ing the week and again at the weekend.The TV programs are 25 min in length,while the radio programs last for 20 min.The policy of the Open University is touse the broadcasts as supplements to cer-tain courses. The wide range of these pro-grams results in an unusual learning ex-perience not only for students of theOpen University, but also for others whoare not enrolled in it. Although there isno way of determining this spin-off audi-ence, the high sale of Open Universitymaterials to nonstudents is one factorsupporting its role as a catalyst in society.
To academics, the Open University hasdemonstrated the possibilities of radioand TV for educating large audiences.How was all this accomplished? Appar-ently one of my real concerns (expressedin previous columns) has been overcome,namely the seeming inability of the aca-demic and broadcaster to cooperate indesigning educational programs. In theUnited Kingdom, the Open Universityfurnishes us with a striking model of sucha partnership. It has enabled BBC produc-tiop teams to develop the TV and radio
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components of the courses with thecourse teams, which include the academ-ics along with other individuals responsi-ble for the non-broadcast media materi-als. This team approach has broughtabout a greater appreciation of eachother's expertise and has resulted in thetranslation of educational ideas .intomedia programs.
Is there anything which we in NorthAmerica might gain from this experience?All over the continent, supporters of analternative type of higher education arehailing the concept of the Open Universi-ty. In order to determine the effective-ness of the materials and the efficiency ofthe procedures for using them, fourAmerican universities agreed in Septem-ber 1972 to participate in a one-year trialof using the Open University materials.The participating universities are Rutgers,the University of Maryland, the Universi-ty of Houston and California State Uni-versity (San Diego). These programs willbe evaluated for the College Entrance Ex-amination Board by the Education Test-ing Service of Princeton, N.J. While it istoo early to predict the impact of theinfant Open University on North Ameri-can education, we can speculate that theideas so fruitfully explored and practicedin Great Britain will gain increasing atten-tion here as time goes on.
by John A. Niemi
...On "Hot Line"
Today, tOe governments of both theUnited States and Canada face complexsocial issues which, if they remain unre-solved, could lead to revolution. The situ-.ation could perhaps be helped by devisingeducational programs for radio broadcast-ill& It may sound strange to turn to ra-dio, which, in the dazzling light of the fscreen, has often been shoved aside as an
vw
anachronism. Yet there are signs of re-newed audience interest in such programsas "Talk Shows," where listeners are en-couraged to telephone their "Hot Line"host. On radio, these talk shows have theadvantage of being available to anyoneanywhere', even while driving his car. Al-so, they are "local," and they appeal toindividuals in all conditions and all walksof life: the shut-in, the professor, mem-bers of minority groups, etc. To theirhost, they can unburden their hopes,their frustrations and their opinions oncurrent issues. In sbort, the talk sho; isunstructured, and, to many people, ' en-tertainment."
While this unstructured approach. hasmerit, there is a danger that superficialexchanges of views on complex issuescould further polarize individuals in an al-ready polarized society. If these,issues areto be fairly dealt with, they need an edu-cational emphasis, and it is here that wecould exploit the full potential of the talkshow in this decadeTOne immediate stepcould be the joining of forces by the edu-cator and the broadcaster. The educatorwould benefit from the experience of thetalk show host, who provides a public for-urn for alienated people and others, andwhose "style" encourages them to re-spond. And the talk show h6st couldbenefit from the educator's knowledge ofthe adult learner, the educatiohal processand the availability of both human and
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material resources. Together, the educa-tor and the broadcaster could tormulate- apurpose for locally designed radio pro.grams, to guide the adult who -mightotherwise become confused by a heasNinput of opinion and misinlowiation.-
Foi example, if a vote is pePlaing manimporiant schoorbond issue, a purpose ofthe talk show .would., be to present thearguments pro and con. The talk showhost could go beyond the question-answer technique to use the -panel, theSocio-,drama and the.tecture, thus makingthe program an actual learning experi-ence, instead of merely a "beef ;box."And the educator might find it easier torecruit other community personnel fotthe program, e.g., agencies might supplybooklets on drug addiction or parent edu-cation, libraries might suggest boolts andperiodicals which present both sides of anissue, the local college or high schoolmight contribute staff or facilities.
Now is the time for the educator to"opt in" and rediscover the potential ofradio in the current decade. A union be-tween him and the broadcaster couldbring responsible local prbgramming, en-abhng adults in their turn to rediscover analmost forgotten concept of "commun-ity"that of a town meeting, conductedin this case via the radio arrd the tele-phone. s
by John
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SASkATCliEWAN NEW START-LIFE Skills ANd VTRt
IThe Life Skills Course at Saskatche-wan NewStart (a joint venture of thatProvince and the Federal Government of
rainingrelier'heavily on VTR for the
raining or retraining of unemployedadults. These adults, who are frequently:haracterized as "under-educated," "dis-dvantaged," or "illiterate," belong toany culturally different poverty groups.ten, they have, been rendered unem-
ployable by the demands of a technolog-I age. _
The basic philosophy of Saskatchewan':4 ewStart, located at Prince Albert, is that
the task of educating these adults encom-
tiasses much more than a minimal pro -ram of reading, writing and computa-on. Instead, these skills are viewed as a
foundation for life skills considered vi-Ily necessary if- inclitti duals are to func-lag ion effectively in that _jobs and, in gener-
1, to live equably with their fellows.In the Life Skills Course, students fol-
low a planned sequence of experiences infive basic areas: self, family, leisure, com-munity and job. For example, they learnthe social skills required for satisfactoryfamily living, for constructive interactionwith community agents such as police,and for success on the job or when working as a team with friends. In all these.activities, VTR plays a crucial role. Ob-serving himself on video tape, the individ-ual analyzes how he functions in a group,including the impact he makes on it, andhe begini to understand his relationshipswith others. Hopefully, he gaini" insightsinto his own attitudes that inhibit com-munication and co-operation. The contin-'uous nature of the feedback allows himto study his behavior at various stages andto chart his progress. No doubt some ofthese adult students will react strongly tonon -vet al cues, a familiar form of com-municaiion because of the students' re-stricted verbal facility.
As he progresses through the Course, ,
the student encounters more complexrole plays and case studies designed totest the skills he is acquiring. Always,VTR gives him feedback. In addition,VTR helps the staff to evaluate their per-formance and to upgrade it.
VTR is also useful for appliedproblem-solving as it relates to personalbusiness. Video tapes, followed by discus-sion, demonstrate how to open a bankaccount and how to buy a travel ticket ora money order.
. In the Life Skills Course, as in anyteaching-learning situation, there are po-tential problems. One might be the in-clination of the staff to proceed tooquickly or to expect the students, over-night, to surrender deeply rooted habitsof thinking and acting. Another problemis providing professional help for the oc-.casional student who finds the new exper-iences' traumatic. The SaskatchewanNewStart people are keenly aware ofthese problems, as they carry out theirimaginative program, one that has at-tracted wide attention in other parts ofCanada and in the United States. It is tooearly to assess the full impact. i, hay; nodoubt that in taking maximum advantageof VTR as a training tool, SaskatchewanNewStart has made a distinctive 'contri-bution to adult education..
by John A. Nleml .
V)
Eskimos.ANd film.ThE MAKING of A posiTio
How can rural Alaskans participate inthe process of decisionmaktng which afTeets their well-being? With the awaken-ing of the north, this is a key_ questionthat cannot be dismised lightly. The twofactors, cultbre and geography, whichhave -formed the basis of operating as-sumptions in the past, now must be re-viewed.
An exciting approach to this processhas been developed by the Skyriver Proj.ect, a federally funded project that relicson film and video tape to present a earn-munity's view of an important issue. Indeciding to use these media as tools forCommunity involvement, the SkyriverProject drew its inspiration from Chal-lenge for Change, a program of the Na-tional Film Board of Canada.
Initially, Skyriver has undertaken themajor part of its work in the Eskimo vil-lage of Emmonak, heated on the lowerYukon, a scant six miles from the BeringSea. To the 500 residents of this remotevillage, the media have meant the attain- .
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ment of two objectives, First, the mediahave given thctipeople of the community atool to use in approaching the difficulttask of problem-solving. To discover whatissues arc close to the hearts of the vil-lagers, a community developer chosenbythem leads discussions, conducts inter-views on fillins and disseminates the afor-mation to the people. When the issueshave been identified, selected individualsor groups voice their opinions and offersolutions, and the sessions are filmed ortaped. Later, the people involved in theinterviewing edit the film in private, untilthey feel that it fairly represents theirideas.
The edited film or tape is then viewedby the genefal community, so as to Pro-voke discussion. Here is the crucial pointin the process, the moment when thecommunity learns where individuals standor vital issues. When a consensus has beenarrived at, a film or video tape is made torecord the official position of the village.
The second objective of the,"positiorr
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film" is to communicate the need. ,of .rural Alaskans to government agencies -who formulate. polKies. In the pao.. thesepolicies were frequently made in'an auto
tic manner'and based on incomplete ormis ding information. Gas crnment oft i.cials, t elr turn, are giscn the opor-tunity td pr nt their side' on side.o tapeto the villagers, esulting in further dia.logue among then Hoy...0er, the Usualresponse by go. rnmnst officials is 'to godirectly to.theopli and talk with them.
-What have- een me--of Atte -resul-rsatEmmonak? First t has its own localcommunity Bevel icr and its own cameraand film. Th-c vii gers have experiencedthe process of Ft in-making and now ap-preciate its jmp rtance as a means of.identifying issue and getting communityopinion and su port. Some of the issueson which the community developed a"..position film" are, the boardirfg schoolprogram, the food stamp program, hous-ing projects and land claims. As anexample of the kind of social action thatensued, one`film caused the Departmentof Education to review its policy of sup---.1-porting boarding- schools over regionalhigh schdolsr As the use of media in thisfashion spreads, it is certain that more'-"position filmi" will be_ forthcOmingfrom native peoples in Alaska and else-where.
byi.hn A. NlenroAl
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VidE6 CASSETTES ANC. SOFTWARE: TWO STRATEGIESSo-called futurists have pointed to
numerous implications arising out of thevideo cassette revolUti9n. This phenome-non, which lets the viewer select pro-grams from a _"bank" at a flick of hiswrist, will grow and change with the con-tinued refinements of technology. Amajor problem that plagues our futuristsis how to develop "software" to'meet theexpectations of both Viewer and educator.
Without appropriate software,, thedanger exists that the hardware will domi-nate the scene, becoming an end in itselfinstead of a means. What strategies couldbe employed to prevent this happening?Here, I would like to explore two thatfocus attention on training more peoplein the intelligent planning of learning ex-periences for the visual medium. Bothstrategies involve a systems approach de-signed to give professionals and para-professionals certain insights into theknowledge, skills and attitudes essentialfor the task.
The professionals referred to may beeducators or producers (media special-ists), and the task is to provide the settingand the experiences which will enableeach group to become better acquaintedwith problems besetting the other. Edu-cators would come teoppreciate the diffi-culties involved in designing and produc-ing programs, e.g., scripting, lighting, cast-ing and studio techniques; while produc-ers would realize the complexities of theteacher-learner transaction, e.g., settingmeaningful objectives, selecting appropri."ate 'techniques, pacing material, etc. Successful attempts to foster such mutual un-derstanding and cooperation have 'beenmade at Summer Institutes on Instruc-tional Television and Adult Education atthe University of Maryland..There,tdulteducators have learned much about TV asa teaching device, and TV experts havebecome awake of issues affecting stu-dews, administrators and teachers inadult basic education programs. Bothgroups have put their new insights towork in a systems approach to designingprograms. Such collaboration whichcould happen through workshop ilk insti-tutes and short courses, is injtaluable as afirst step toward bringing ogether thetwo groupgimost vjtally concerned withthe video cassette Inedium.. But much re-mains to be done. We must organize, atboth graduate and undergraduate levels,courses .which would have the avowedaim of stimulating educators and produc-.ers to develop jointly, a rationale andmodus operand! based upon the expecta-tions anteeeds of the learners.
The seond strategy I have in mindthat of involving para-professionalspossibilities yet to be clarified and ampli-fied. I refer, of course, to training laymento/use the VTR. Such training could takeplace in community development pro-EDUCATIONAL MaY/Juna 1913
grams, with the community as a work-shop for para-professionals. Should any-one doubt the potential of such training,he has only to examine the National FilmBoard of Canada's Challenge for Changeprograms.
Upon acquiring sath experience, para-professionals would unite with communi-ty groups to put together programs withand for local cable operators or even PTV
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stations programs that are not availablethrough national networks. The emphasiswhich many stations are placing on com-munity programs, featuring local issues,demands services of trained personnel.
My plan is, then, that we match ourenthusiasm for the hardware called videocassettes with an equally vital interest inthe software. Is something wrong withour priorities when we train people metic-ulously to, use.a machine, but neglect totrain others to design effective programs?
by John A. Nleml
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