New Ways of Utilizing School News Broadcasts

Abstract

TEACHERS should vary the type of classroom utilization of radio news programs. Too often an effective procedure is found, and it becomes the only way of dealing with the supplementary material that comes to the classroom via the radio. Variety is the spice of life is a maxim that is as true in the classroom as it is in the factory or on the farm. Interest is destroyed by monotonous routine whether the unchanging procedure be the continual use of the same teaching methods or the daily performance of the same task in the same way. Moreover, in addition to boring the teacher, monotony in the classroom diminishes the effectiveness of the learning situation. A variety of methods is as necessary in the utilization of news programs as in other teaching activities. When radio news programs are first introduced into the school schedule, they provide a pleasant break in the daily routine. After a short time, however, listening to a news commentator becomes a matter-of-fact procedure. From this point the teacher who is continually introducing new techniques of utilization is, in most cases, the successful teacher. Most teachers realize this fact. For the majority the difficulty is the devising or the discovering of new procedures for using the programs. Invariably the teacher asks himself: What is there to do in addition to conducting a class discussion of the news items dealt with in the program? Are there any other methods of utilization that will meet the needs of my class and promote the attainment of objectives that I deem desirable? The answer to both these questions represents a challenge to the teacher who is willing to attempt new procedures. Perhaps the full range of possibilities for using news programs can best be indicated by brief descriptions of a few of the types of utilization that the writer found in elementary-school classrooms in Rochester, New York.