Many beginning and advanced journalism students often struggle with doing interviews. In seven years of teaching journalism, I have often seen students squirm like puppies on the way to the pound when they are on their way to go do interviews. Today, when Professor Steve Elliott led the high school teachers through an activity where we had to chase down a story under the pressure of a deadline, the teachers got a taste of what students may feel.
I was surprised to note how I stumbled over words, questioned the legitimacy of my questions and hoped that someone else would ask a good question so that I would not have to take a risk. At the same time, it was a euphoric experience, feeling like I was uncovering the story.
The importance of empathy in teaching was clear in that activity. While many of the teachers do have a background in journalism, those of us who do not may not have ever had the experience of doing what it is that we teach.
I am embarrassed to admit that I have never tried to do the reporting aspect of journalism. I have practiced writing opinions pieces, feature stories, sports stories and news stories, but all of my sources have always been my imagination, observations or research. How much of the process can I share with my students when I have no experience doing what they are doing? I simply write to show my students what kinds of quotes and leads I want to see and what kinds I do not want to see. Yes, I have interviewed friends and grandparents for assignments for school and I have conducted many a fake interview in class to show students what not to do in an interview, but today was the first time when I experienced the emotions, both nervous and thrilling, of chasing a story.
I am excited to embrace teaching of reporting in the future as much as I have embraced the teaching of writing in the past.
Jill Bhowmik
Granite Hills High School
El Cajon, Calif.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I agree that this simulation helped me better identify with my students, especially the shy ones who are reluctant to go out and interview. In my mind, everyone on campus that they are going to interview is friendly and supportive, so in the past I've just pushed them out the door saying "You'll be fine." Now, I see how hard it is to just go up to someone and start talking, especially if you don't know them. That's where I think the pre-planning and individual coaching comes in. As a shy person myself, I would liked to have time with my group to plan out some questions and make a game plan for tackling the story rather than just rushing out and starting. I think that we can support reluctant reporters by helping them identify (and steering them towards) helpful sources and coaching them (at least in the beginning) with how to introduce themselves, what questions they might want to ask, what to listen for, etc. I think strategic scaffolding is a must. I also sometimes send them out in pairs just so they have a buddy to act as a security blanket.
ReplyDelete