A Reflective Model for Teaching Journalism by A/Professor Lynette Sheridan Burns, School of Communication, Design and Media Abstract This article conside als"think by doing"and provides a theoretical rationale for reflective practice as a model for teaching journalism. It presents a model focused on the development of graduate efficacy in the intellectual skills and understanding required of professional practitioners. The model uses critical reflection as a cognitive bridge between journalism theory and professional practice. Through it, students develop self-reliance, confidence problem solving, and adaptability, while simultaneously gaining knowledge and developing a sense of efficacy in their ability to negotiate inherent dilemmas in practice. When pedagogical strategies"block the exits"to escape from the implications and effects of their practice, students are held to high benchmarks of critical and reflective thinking The "lived"experience provided by a problem-based pedagogy also develops confidence and a sense of efficacy in students. Moreover this approach integrates thinking and doing in a way that binds practices with the social and ethical effects produced Introduction Journal ists often describe their thinking as so intrinsic as to defy explanation They say they know a good story when they see one"and"know what to do without thinking"because their thinking processes, once internalised, are used almost without consciousness. But as Adam (1993: 11, 13) found, journalism always involves the conferring of judgement on the shape of things. So it is important that journalists can recognise the influences on their thinking in a context where every decision is a professional decision, a commercial decision and an ethical decision Sheridan Burns 1995: 5) This model uses critical reflection as a cognitive bridge between journalism theory and professional practice. Through it, students develop self-reli nfidence, problem solving, and adaptability, while simultaneously gaining knowledge and developing a sense of efficacy in the ability to negotiate inherent dilemmas in practice. If students are to explore the complexity of practising journalism, educators must give them a real sense of the often-discomforting compromises journal ists may make in their work. Bandura(1986: 394)showed that people with a strong sense of efficacy are spurred by obstacles to greater effort and feel more able to resolv competing loyalties. He described how people who regard themselves as highly efficacious act, think and feel differently to those who perceive themselves as inefficacious. They produce their own future rather than foretelling it. Bandura 1986: 395) Reflection the development of efficacy The model proposed here seeks to expose students to the challenges in a way that still engages their desire to be journalists. Adam(1993: 4)compellingly argues that the role of a journalism educator is multi-faceted- as a journalist you want to celebrate journalism, but as an educator you want to make journalism better. He concludes that in order to do this, we are obliged to"create a
A Reflective Model for Teaching Journalism by A/Professor Lynette Sheridan Burns, School of Communication, Design and Media Abstract This article considers how professionals "think by doing" and provides a theoretical rationale for reflective practice as a model for teaching journalism. It presents a model focused on the development of graduate efficacy in the intellectual skills and understanding required of professional practitioners. The model uses critical reflection as a cognitive bridge between journalism theory and professional practice. Through it, students develop self-reliance, confidence, problem solving, and adaptability, while simultaneously gaining knowledge and developing a sense of efficacy in their ability to negotiate inherent dilemmas in practice. When pedagogical strategies “block the exits” to escape from the implications and effects of their practice, students are held to high benchmarks of critical and reflective thinking. The “lived” experience provided by a problem-based pedagogy also develops confidence and a sense of efficacy in students. Moreover, this approach integrates thinking and doing in a way that binds practices with the social and ethical effects produced. Introduction Journalists often describe their thinking as so intrinsic as to defy explanation. They say they “know a good story when they see one” and “know what to do without thinking" because their thinking processes, once internalised, are used almost without consciousness. But as Adam (1993:11,13) found, journalism always involves the conferring of judgement on the shape of things. So it is important that journalists can recognise the influences on their thinking in a context “where every decision is a professional decision, a commercial decision and an ethical decision” (Sheridan Burns 1995:5). This model uses critical reflection as a cognitive bridge between journalism theory and professional practice. Through it, students develop self-reliance, confidence, problem solving, and adaptability, while simultaneously gaining knowledge and developing a sense of efficacy in their ability to negotiate inherent dilemmas in practice. If students are to explore the complexity of practising journalism, educators must give them a real sense of the often-discomforting compromises journalists may make in their work. Bandura (1986:394) showed that people with a strong sense of efficacy are spurred by obstacles to greater effort and feel more able to resolve competing loyalties. He described how people who regard themselves as highly efficacious act, think and feel differently to those who perceive themselves as inefficacious. They produce their own future rather than foretelling it. (Bandura 1986: 395) Reflection & the development of efficacy The model proposed here seeks to expose students to the challenges in a way that still engages their desire to be journalists. Adam (1993:4) compellingly argues that the role of a journalism educator is multi-faceted – as a journalist you want to celebrate journalism, but as an educator you want to make journalism better. He concludes that in order to do this, we are obliged to "create a
deeper understanding of what journalism is If an understanding is a pedagogical goal, it becomes apparent that lectures are limited in their ential to encourage learning beyond the accumulation of facts(Abercrombie 1979: 551) Equally, Ryan(1993: 60)showed that experiential learning alone is inadequate when it comes to the development of understanding. Kolb(1984: 38)argued that critical reflection is a prerequisite for understanding because it "is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience The rhetoric used by journalists to describe what they do may be built around notions of intrinsic behaviour, but it also values critical reflection, albeit not in so many words. In the vernacular of journalism, being able to"think on your feet"and"keep your wits about you"are highly valued as intellectual abilities, as these are the qualities that lead to "scoops and other forms of commercial success. Both these phrases also describe critical reflection in practice, suggesting that journalists do think about what they are doing while they are doing it. Recent research(Smith 2002)indicates that Bandura's position on the development of efficacy is still valid, almost 20 years after it was first Among the types of thoughts that affect action, none is more central or pervasive than peoples judgements of their capabilities to deal effectively with different realities. People not only gain understanding through reflection, they evaluate and alter their own thinking. What people think believe, and feel affects how they behave. The nature of extraneous effects of their actions, in turn partly determines their thought patterns and effective reactions. (Bandura 1986: 21, 25) Bandura(1986: 27)argued that an individual's perceptions about themselves and the nature of things are developed and verified through four processes These are direct experience of effects produced by their actions, vicarious experiences of effects produced by anothers actions, judgment voiced by others and future knowledge inferred from what they alread The model described here seeks to integrate theory and practice by embedding theoretical considerations in the completion of journalistic tasks and to provide opportunities for Banduras four stages to occur. It has been used in teaching journalism programs at two Australian universities and its success has been measured, over 10 years, through formal student evaluations and statistical evaluation of changes in knowledge, attitudes and efficacy(Sheridan Burns and Hazell 1998)and graduate employment success Background to the model When the author started university teaching in 1989, the emphasis in journal ism units was on technical mastery, delivered via workshops used to practise writing skills. This model suited a practitioner who teaches", because it was something like a practitioners experience of mentoring, but problems arose with the emphasis on face-to-face contact as the students' primary means of gaining knowledge. The original concerns were
deeper understanding of what journalism is." If an understanding is a pedagogical goal, it becomes apparent that lectures are limited in their potential to encourage learning beyond the accumulation of facts (Abercrombie 1979:551). Equally, Ryan (1993:60) showed that experiential learning alone is inadequate when it comes to the development of understanding. Kolb (1984:38) argued that critical reflection is a prerequisite for understanding because it "is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience". The rhetoric used by journalists to describe what they do may be built around notions of intrinsic behaviour, but it also values critical reflection, albeit not in so many words. In the vernacular of journalism, being able to "think on your feet" and "keep your wits about you" are highly valued as intellectual abilities, as these are the qualities that lead to “scoops” and other forms of commercial success. Both these phrases also describe critical reflection in practice, suggesting that journalists do think about what they are doing while they are doing it. Recent research (Smith 2002) indicates that Bandura’s position on the development of efficacy is still valid, almost 20 years after it was first posited. Among the types of thoughts that affect action, none is more central or pervasive than people’s judgements of their capabilities to deal effectively with different realities... People not only gain understanding through reflection, they evaluate and alter their own thinking. What people think, believe, and feel affects how they behave. The nature of extraneous effects of their actions, in turn, partly determines their thought patterns and effective reactions. (Bandura 1986:21,25) Bandura (1986: 27) argued that an individual’s perceptions about themselves and the nature of things are developed and verified through four processes. These are direct experience of effects produced by their actions, vicarious experiences of effects produced by another’s actions, judgment voiced by others and future knowledge inferred from what they already know. The model described here seeks to integrate theory and practice by embedding theoretical considerations in the completion of journalistic tasks and to provide opportunities for Bandura’s four stages to occur. It has been used in teaching journalism programs at two Australian universities and its success has been measured, over 10 years, through formal student evaluations and statistical evaluation of changes in knowledge, attitudes and efficacy (Sheridan Burns and Hazell 1998) and graduate employment success. Background to the model When the author started university teaching in 1989, the emphasis in journalism units was on technical mastery, delivered via workshops used to practise writing skills. This model suited a “practitioner who teaches”, because it was something like a practitioner’s experience of mentoring, but problems arose with the emphasis on face-to-face contact as the students’ primary means of gaining knowledge. The original concerns were:
Are they learning anything or just being taught? Why do they sit and wait for me to tell them what to do next? How I can ensure I get across all course content in this environment? Why do students need a break in the middle of class? How can the time be better spent? Lectures were introduced as way of ensuring content was covered while still allowing for professional experience to be included in a meaningful way. This ensured consistent delivery of content to large cohorts, but raised new pedagogical questions centred on the passivity of lecture These were How do I know if they are listening? Are they engaging with the content, or simply writing down the overheads? Is note taking is an accurate measure of engagement? Is attendance guaranteed? Could they miss important conte In the next stage of development, some workshops were replaced with tutorials to discuss lecture material, allow students to raise learning issues and provide an opportunity to assess student grasp of the lecture material. In practice the directed reading/tutorial discussion model was deeply flawed. The major problems were Students didnt do the readings unless they were presenting to the class Presentations tend to regurgitate readings Students passive in discussion of readings, offer little new ide There is no opportunity to learn this way after graduation The last of these concerns prompted the research that ended with this model. Research begun in journalism education moved into professional education generally, pedagogical theory, learning heory and problem-based learning pedagogy, guided by the following questions How do I know if they are learning anything? Why do they have to know this? Why am I teaching this way? Is there a way to get them more involved in their education? How can I make this more like practice? Several theoretical positions on education became significant to this research. Canadian academic G. Stuart Adam's compelling defence of journalism as an intellectual activity, Notes Toward New Definition of Journalism as Art published in 1993, was a seminal influence. So too was the work of Donald Schon, whose two books The Reflective Practitioner(1983)and Educating The Reflective Practitioner(1986), were landmark texts addressing the particular needs of professional education. While Schon looked at the professional education of architects, town planners accountants and designers, the concept of how professionals"think in action"was profoundly
· Are they learning anything or just being taught? · Why do they sit and wait for me to tell them what to do next? · How I can ensure I get across all course content in this environment? · Why do students need a break in the middle of class? · How can the time be better spent? Lectures were introduced as way of ensuring content was covered while still allowing for professional experience to be included in a meaningful way. This ensured consistent delivery of content to large cohorts, but raised new pedagogical questions centred on the passivity of lectures. These were: · How do I know if they are listening? · Are they engaging with the content, or simply writing down the overheads? · Is note taking is an accurate measure of engagement? · Is attendance guaranteed? Could they miss important content? In the next stage of development, some workshops were replaced with tutorials to discuss lecture material, allow students to raise learning issues and provide an opportunity to assess student grasp of the lecture material. In practice the directed reading/tutorial discussion model was deeply flawed. The major problems were: · Students didn’t do the readings unless they were presenting to the class; · Presentations tend to regurgitate readings; · Students passive in discussion of readings, offer little new ideas; · There is no opportunity to learn this way after graduation. The last of these concerns prompted the research that ended with this model. Research begun in journalism education moved into professional education generally, pedagogical theory, learning theory and problem-based learning pedagogy, guided by the following questions: · How do I know if they are learning anything? · Why do they have to know this? · Why am I teaching this way? · Is there a way to get them more involved in their education? · How can I make this more like practice? Several theoretical positions on education became significant to this research. Canadian academic G. Stuart Adam’s compelling defence of journalism as an intellectual activity, Notes Toward a New Definition of Journalism as Art, published in 1993, was a seminal influence. So too was the work of Donald Schon, whose two books The Reflective Practitioner (1983) and Educating The Reflective Practitioner (1986), were landmark texts addressing the particular needs of professional education. While Schon looked at the professional education of architects, town planners, accountants and designers, the concept of how professionals “think in action” was profoundly
applicable to the particular dilemmas of journalism education. Another important influence was he work of philosopher Ellen Langer and her two books Mindfulness(1991)and The Power of Mindful Learning(1994) The pedagogical mode This model attempts to use a problem-based learning methodology and reflective approach to curriculum, including the explicit development of skills in critical reflection The framework is described in its simplest form below 1. Starts in the real world 2. You are here. what will you do now? 3. Puts this real world in a theoretical context 4. Critically reflects on real world problem 5 Identifies the nature of the problem decisions to be made 6. Identifies processes for resolving problem 7. Critically reflects on processes used on problem Using this model, students encounter the"problem", such as writing news, before they have even considered what"news"is. To complete the task, students draw on a range of knowledge/skills imultaneously. The teacher facilitates analysis of the situation and helps students identify relevant previous experience and potential resources. Students use self-directed or small group learning to form their own ideas about the best courses of action As Barrows(1985: 6)found, when students are not initially provided with, nor do teachers synthesise, all the information needed to solve the problem, it provides greater realism and free inquiry. This approach leads students to take responsibility for their own learning Small group discussion is important to the success of the model because students are required to articulate their address the problems of student passivity, lack of engagement with the issues and a lack of ownership"of problems There are two ways a teacher can make facts or ideas seem personally important. The most common approach is to shape or interpret ideas so that their relation to the lives, interests and curiosities of the majority of students is readily apparent. When critics of education clamour for relevance, they are usually speaking of this kind of relevance. The second approach is to change students'attitudes towards the material, that is, to teach students to make the material meaningful to themselves(langer 1997: 75) Brooks reaffirms that is it is important not to give too much direction to students. Teachers interactions should be at the meta-cognitive level and opinions or information sharing with students must be avoided Student ownership has been shown to be essential to successful learning. If they do not own the
applicable to the particular dilemmas of journalism education. Another important influence was the work of philosopher Ellen Langer and her two books Mindfulness (1991) and The Power of Mindful Learning (1994). The Pedagogical Model This model attempts to use a problem-based learning methodology and reflective approach to curriculum, including the explicit development of skills in critical reflection. The framework is described in its simplest form below. 1. Starts in the real world 2. You are here…what will you do now? 3. Puts this real world in a theoretical context 4. Critically reflects on real world problem 5. Identifies the nature of the problem & decisions to be made. 6. Identifies processes for resolving problem 7. Critically reflects on processes used on problem Using this model, students encounter the “problem”, such as writing news, before they have even considered what “news” is. To complete the task, students draw on a range of knowledge/skills simultaneously. The teacher facilitates analysis of the situation and helps students identify relevant previous experience and potential resources. Students use self-directed or small group learning to form their own ideas about the best courses of action. As Barrows (1985:6) found, when students are not initially provided with, nor do teachers synthesise, all the information needed to solve the problem, it provides greater realism and free inquiry. This approach leads students to take responsibility for their own learning. Small group discussion is important to the success of the model because students are required to articulate their thinking and think things through collaboratively. This focus on active learning also seeks to address the problems of student passivity, lack of engagement with the issues and a lack of “ownership” of problems. There are two ways a teacher can make facts or ideas seem personally important. The most common approach is to shape or interpret ideas so that their relation to the lives, interests and curiosities of the majority of students is readily apparent. When critics of education clamour for relevance, they are usually speaking of this kind of relevance. The second approach is to change students’ attitudes towards the material, that is, to teach students to make the material meaningful to themselves (Langer 1997:75). Brooks reaffirms that is it is important not to give too much direction to students. Teachers' interactions should be at the meta-cognitive level and opinions or information sharing with students must be avoided. Student ownership has been shown to be essential to successful learning. If they do not own the
problem, they spend their time figuring out what the teacher wants(Brooks 1993: 60) Anderson and Biddle (1975: 130)argue that this approach also "offers students an obvious answer to the questions Why do we need to learn his information? and what does what I am doing in school have to do with the real world? students learn to use critical reflection to find an individual answer that can be supported professionally, commercially and ethically. As Bandura (1986: 5) noted: Gaining insight into one's underlying motives is more like a belief conversion than a self-discovery process Blocking the exits As well as enabling students to become more adaptable in applying skills, the model incorporates contextual issues in a structured way. For example, a journalist student may be faced with a scenario where they must decide whether to pursue a story and how much of what they find they hould report. In the process, the student must make decisions and judgements about the veracity of their sources. Faced with the potential harm the reporting could do, the student finds that loyalties can compete. Journalists demonstrate their expertise through their actions, which are informed by critical reflection on prior experience. Langer described how"process orientation not only enables more reliable professional decisions but also adds a dimension of self-efficacy Awareness of the process of making real choices along the way makes it less likely that we will feel guilty in retrospect.. On occasion, after learning the consequences of a choice, we may wish we had chosen differently, but we still tend not to be quite as hard on ourselves when we know why we did what we did True process orientation also means being aware that every outcome is preceded by a process. ( Langer 1989: 75) This model makes explicit the ethical context of the decision-making, requiring students to incorporate this context into their thinking Students are inclined to shrink from such complexities when reflecting on professional practice and opt to avoid ethical decisions by arguing there is ne one answer. "(Sheridan Burns 1995: 3)This"exit "from reflecting on the implications of their actions is blocked when the curriculum calls for this to be done explicitly. Thinking about choices gives students clues to their tacit understanding, and by doing so their understanding is changed By requiring students to justify a course of action that can be defended professionally, commercially and ethically, they must accept a role in defining a solution. They go beyond experiencing the discomfort of the colliding loyalties to the point of choosing actions that reflect their thinking. Bandura argues that a self-efficacious employee is better able to deal with contradictions found in the workplace. he satisfactions people derive from what they do are determined to a large degree by their self-evaluation standards. A sure way of inducing self-discouragement and a sense of personal quacy is to judge one's ongoing performance against lofty global or distant goals. When experience contradicts firmly held judgements or self-efficacy, people may not change their beliefs about themselves if the conditions of performance are such as to lead them to discount the import of the experience. (Bandura 1986: 359
problem, they spend their time figuring out what the teacher wants (Brooks 1993:60) Anderson and Biddle (1975:130) argue that this approach also “offers students an obvious answer to the questions ‘Why do we need to learn his information?’ and ‘what does what I am doing in school have to do with the real world?’” Students learn to use critical reflection to find an individual answer that can be supported professionally, commercially and ethically. As Bandura (1986:5) noted: “Gaining insight into one’s underlying motives is more like a belief conversion than a self-discovery process.” Blocking the exits As well as enabling students to become more adaptable in applying skills, the model incorporates contextual issues in a structured way. For example, a journalist student may be faced with a scenario where they must decide whether to pursue a story and how much of what they find they should report. In the process, the student must make decisions and judgements about the veracity of their sources. Faced with the potential harm the reporting could do, the student finds that loyalties can compete. Journalists demonstrate their expertise through their actions, which are informed by critical reflection on prior experience. Langer described how "process orientation" not only enables more reliable professional decisions but also adds a dimension of self-efficacy. Awareness of the process of making real choices along the way makes it less likely that we will feel guilty in retrospect… On occasion, after learning the consequences of a choice, we may wish we had chosen differently, but we still tend not to be quite as hard on ourselves when we know why we did what we did. True process orientation also means being aware that every outcome is preceded by a process. (Langer 1989:75) This model makes explicit the ethical context of the decision-making, requiring students to incorporate this context into their thinking. Students are inclined to shrink from such complexities when reflecting on professional practice and opt to avoid ethical decisions by arguing, “there is no one answer.” (Sheridan Burns 1995:3) This “exit” from reflecting on the implications of their actions is blocked when the curriculum calls for this to be done explicitly. Thinking about choices gives students clues to their tacit understanding, and by doing so their understanding is changed. By requiring students to justify a course of action that can be defended professionally, commercially and ethically, they must accept a role in defining a solution. They go beyond experiencing the discomfort of the colliding loyalties to the point of choosing actions that reflect their thinking. Bandura argues that a self-efficacious employee is better able to deal with contradictions found in the workplace. The satisfactions people derive from what they do are determined to a large degree by their self-evaluation standards...A sure way of inducing self-discouragement and a sense of personal inadequacy is to judge one’s ongoing performance against lofty global or distant goals. When experience contradicts firmly held judgements or self-efficacy, people may not change their beliefs about themselves if the conditions of performance are such as to lead them to discount the import of the experience. (Bandura 1986: 359)