children's rights and journalism practice - a rights-based perspective

CHILDREN'S RIGHTS AND JOURNALISM

PRACTICE - A RIGHTS-BASED

PERSPECTIVE

Teachers’ Guide

Syllabus commissioned by UNICEF Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe

and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS)

© UNICEF - Dublin Institute of Technology 2007

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION TO MODULE ................................................................................. 3

TEACHING METHODS ........................................................................................... 4

PEDAGOGICAL PRINCIPLES ............................................................................ 5

OUTCOMES AND OBJECTIVES ....................................................................... 9

METHODOLOGIES ........................................................................................... 11

BLENDED LEARNING ..................................................................................... 15

ASSESSMENT .................................................................................................... 18

ORGANISATION OF THE MODULE .................................................................. 24

TEACHERS’ NOTES FOR INDIVIDUAL SECTIONS ........................................ 26

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INTRODUCTION TO MODULE This syllabus document attempts to bring together theory and practice, so that

the journalism students who complete it are not only skilled in covering the

important area of children‘s rights, but are also able to reflect on that practice

and offer a critique of the situation concerning children‘s rights in their own

country and internationally. The authors also hope that the unit offers

transferable knowledge and skills. Students who successfully complete the

syllabus will have a knowledge of the whole area of rights, ethics as well as how

to handle sources, news and write stories with sensitivity, but also with an

awareness of the publics‘ right to know and where boundaries lie. Students

should discuss and analyse issues such as where a journalist might have a right

to publish but a responsibility not to, or where does sensitivity cross a boundary

into self-censorship.

The material included in this package can be used in a number of ways. Lecturers

might wish to give it to students to read before class so as to inform a discussion

and debate, give out an edited version or use as class notes

The syllabus itself is intended to be flexible and adaptable to the appropriate

delivery methods designed by the lecturers who facilitate it in conjunction with

their students. However, successful achievement of the learning outcomes and

objectives is reliant on certain pedagogical principles and methodologies forming

the basis of any adapted delivery method. The next section on teaching methods

should inform and guide the design and approach to delivering this module.

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TEACHING METHODS Children‘s rights and journalism - a rights based perspective is a module

underpinned by two prominent pedagogical principles; Student Centered Learning

(SCL) and Human Rights Education (HRE). Both of these principles entail distinct

but complementary theories, objectives and pedagogical methodologies which are

outlined in the following sections. Lecturers can use these sections as a guide to

inform their own delivery of the material, or they can adapt the examples

provided to design their own approach.

Where SCL develops autonomy and responsibility in the students engaged in

active and deep learning, HRE employs SCL in its participatory methodology and

also encourages the development of values and the taking of action to promote

rights. Thus the methodology of the educative process in the context of children‘s

rights for journalism becomes as important as the content itself.

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PEDAGOGICAL PRINCIPLES

Student centered learning (SCL)

Where teacher-centered learning strategies focus on the teacher transmitting

knowledge from the expert to the novice, student-centered learning focuses on

the students taking action to achieve their own learning. In a student centered

learning environment, knowledge is constructed by the students themselves and

the teacher or lecturer is a facilitator of learning rather than a presenter of

information. In this role, the facilitator is a leader who is perceived as an

authority figure in the situation, is sufficiently secure within herself (himself) and

in her (his) relationship to others that she (he) experiences an essential trust in

the capacity of others to think for themselves, to learn for themselves.

Student centred learning (SCL) increases the responsibility of the learners for

their own learning. It involves students in the decision-making processes, and

they learn by doing, rather than just by listening and performing tasks which are

often not in context and therefore ‗unreal‘ to them. Because learning becomes

more active (rather than passively listening to the teacher), it becomes more

memorable: because it is personalized, and relevant to the students‘ own lives

and experiences, it brings content ‗alive‘, and makes it relevant to the real world.

SCL is characterized by the following features:

o The reliance on active rather than passive learning,

o An emphasis on deep learning and understanding,

o Increased responsibility and accountability on the part of the student,

o An increased sense of autonomy in the learner

o An interdependence between teacher and learner,

o Mutual respect within the learner teacher relationship,

o And a reflexive approach to the teaching and learning process on the part

of both teacher and learner.

The main principles of student-centered learning can be summarized in the

following points:

o The learner has full responsibility for her/his learning

o Involvement and participation are necessary for learning

o The relationship between learners is more equal, promoting growth,

development

o The teacher becomes a facilitator and resource person

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o The learner experiences confluence in his education (affective and

cognitive domains flow together)

(O‘Neill & McMahon, 2005)

Human Rights Education (HRE)

Human rights education can be defined as education, training and information

aiming at building a universal culture of human rights through the sharing of

knowledge, imparting of skills and moulding of attitudes directed to:

o The strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;

o The full development of the human personality and the sense of its

dignity;

o The promotion of understanding, tolerance, gender equality and friendship

among all nations, indigenous peoples and racial, national, ethnic,

religious and linguistic groups;

o The enabling of all persons to participate effectively in a free and

democratic society governed by the rule of law;

o The building and maintenance of peace;

o The promotion of people-centred sustainable development and social

justice.

Human rights education encompasses:

o Knowledge and skills — learning about human rights and mechanisms for

their protection, as well as acquiring skills to apply them in daily life;

o Values, attitudes and behaviour — developing values and reinforcing

attitudes and behaviour which uphold human rights;

o Action — taking action to defend and promote human rights.

(UNESCO, 2005)

How children’s rights relate to human rights

The special circumstance that childhood brings to every child necessitates special

attention, care and assistance to children. In the area of human rights protection,

this can be translated by interpreting and applying human rights in the light of

the characteristics and needs of children and not of adults. These translations

constitute what is considered as children‘s rights. This means that children‘s

rights are in reality human rights contextualized within the realities that children

experience. (Yeban, 1999)

A rights-based education whether children‘s rights education or human rights

education, has to develop an appropriate methodology where the process

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becomes the message itself. The thread that links these different forms of

transformative education is the belief in the dignity and well being of each person.

As such, the individual be it a child or an adult, is put at the centre of an

educative process. (Yeban, 1999)

The method recommended for HRE and indeed for children‘s rights education

(CRE), is a participatory pedagogy which is based on the principles outlined below

and advocated by the OHCHR. Participatory methodology incorporates student

centred learning principles and addresses the additional dimensions involved in

rights education of developing values and taking action:

1. Experiential and Activity-Centered: It should be made clear that the object

of study is the critical understanding of the learner 's objective condition and how

human rights operate within such a condition. Learners' prior knowledge must be

elicited to serve as basis for further discussion. Learner-centered activities may

be designed to draw this out of the participants. This means that the activities

should provide the learners with a venue to share and express their experiences

and knowledge.

2. Problem-posing: The facilitator should try to challenge the learners' prior

knowledge by asking questions which try to draw-out inconsistencies or

incoherence in the learners' responses. Such a process encourages learners to

think through their thoughts and forces them to rearrange their thought patterns

to make them more logically consistent and empirically coherent.

3. Participative: The techniques should encourage collective efforts in clarifying

concepts, analyzing themes, and doing the activities. Exposing the learners to the

experiences of others is one way by which one's experience and knowledge may

be expanded, validated, or disproved.

4. Dialectical: It is not enough to just draw-out learners' prior knowledge

(thesis). It is equally important to have them compare it with knowledge from

other sources such as facts, data, statistics, etc. (anti-thesis), and synthesize the

resulting idea(s). Although it is suggested here that participants' interpretation of

their experiences are valid sources of knowledge, it does not mean, however, that

everything is subjectively correct. Their knowledge/experiences as it is, is equally

limited as "fossilized" erudite knowledge. It must compare itself with other

people's interpretations and understandings of their own respective contexts.

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5. Analytical: It is important that themes emerging from the learner's responses

and the underlying principles which link these themes be identified by the

facilitator and the learners themselves. The facilitator should ask the "why" and

the "how" questions. Such questions make learners think about why things are

and how things come to be. Learners should also be asked how things relate to

one another and how they affect each other. These are the questions which help

learners see what is beyond the apparent.

6. Healing: We cannot promote human rights unless we own it ourselves; unless

we live the principles in our day-to-day experiences. To be consistent in both our

private and public selves might be difficult but not impossible. The intra-personal,

inter-personal and the structural spheres of our lived experiences are inter-

connected and mutually affecting each other. We cannot afford to lose sight of

this wisdom. Liberating human rights pedagogy, makes us see, feel, reflect and

act and inspire ourselves and others. We are personally accountable to our well-

being, a liberating human rights pedagogy provides us the opportunity to

promote our own well-being.

7. Strategic Thinking-Oriented: To be critical and analytical is not enough to

transform society. Human rights pedagogy should also direct people to set their

own goals and to constantly think of creative and strategic ways how goals can be

achieved. There is a need to experiment on new methods in making human rights

a reality. While situations of extreme difficulty abound which disempower even

the best of us, human rights education must convince people that possibilities are

aplenty. People need new ways of thinking to successfully exercise their rights.

8. Goal and Action Oriented Human rights is praxis. It requires the cycle of

action, reflection, action, reflection and so on. Human rights cannot be achieved

overnight but over time. We take little steps at a time. A liberating human rights

pedagogy should teach people how to make their goals more concrete and

achievable. It should also allow people to plan and organize their actions based

on the goals they identified for themselves. Patience, positive thinking and

perseverance are values that are embedded in a liberating human rights

pedagogy.

(Yeban, 2002)

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OUTCOMES AND OBJECTIVES

The SCL approach to curriculum design employed in this module, and increasingly

practiced in course design internationally, is the writing of learning outcomes or

objectives focusing on what the student will be able to do, rather than on the

content being covered by the teacher. This practice helps to shift the emphasis on

to the learner as opposed to a coverage model by the teacher. It is an emphasis

on the process and competence, rather than content.

Student–centered Learning

Outcomes: Some examples

Traditional Learning Outcomes/

Objectives

By the end of this module: you

(the student) will be able to:

The course will cover:

Outline the principle features of

children‘s rights in the UNCRC

The UNCRC

Critically assess the importance of

codes of practice and editorial

guidelines

Editorial guidelines and codes of

practice

Source: Adapted from O‘Neill & McMahon, 2005

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module on Children‘s Rights and Journalism – a rights-

based perspective, the student will be able to:

o Understand and be able to outline the principle features of children‘s rights

as outlined in the UNCRC

o Read, analyze and critically evaluate the reporting of issues affecting

children from a rights-based perspective

o Critically assess the relevance and importance of editorial guidelines and

codes of practice in relation to news reporting affecting children

o Make professional judgments regarding journalism practice from a

perspective of children's rights

o Report fairly, accurately and in keeping with the principles of children‘s

rights

CRE Learning Objectives

Children‘s rights education should be based on the following three learning

objectives:

o Knowledge and skills - To receive information and knowledge of children‘s

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rights and humanitarian standards and acquire skills to apply this

knowledge

o Values, attitudes and behavior – To become sensitized and undergo a

change in negative attitudes or reinforce positive attitudes and behavior in

relation to children‘s rights

o Action - taking action to defend, promote and protect children‘s rights in

the course of their professional duties

(Adapted from UNESCO, 2005)

Facilitating this rights based module and enabling the students to achieve both

the learning outcomes and the children‘s‘ rights education objectives will involve

embracing student centred learning, the participatory methodology and the

necessary transformative nature of rights education. The following changes are to

be expected:

o Behavioural change through self-awareness of formerly unrecognised

assumptions about children and childhood. Change is a process which is

initiated by recognition of conflict with the existing situation and not by

learning a new idea from an ―expert‖. This implies an awareness that

current behaviour is not consistent with the principles of child rights.

o Cultural change through personal change. Personal change does not only

mean behavioural change for it occurs in the context of a culture. It

requires changing one‘s relationship with the larger culture. This may

result in becoming at odds with the way society traditionally view children.

It is necessary that whatever personal change occur in children and adults

alike, it must be supported by the surrounding culture.

o Structural change through creating mechanisms and facilities that

institutionalise personal and cultural changes that are supportive of child

rights.

(Yeban, 2002)

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METHODOLOGIES

Lecturers should employ strategies to encourage the students to take on a more

active role in acquiring knowledge and skills. The below table highlights a sample

of student–centered learning methods and includes some ideas for lecturers both

within (more teacher–centered) and outside of the lecture format. Lecturers

should consider, however, striving to reduce the amount of lecture contact hours

for more student–centered formats, where possible.

Examples of student centered learning methods

Outside of the lecture format In the lecture

Independent projects Buzz groups (short discussion in twos)

Group discussion Pyramids/snowballing (buzz groups

continuing the discussion into larger

groups)

Peer mentoring of other students Cross-overs (mixing students into

groups by letter/number allocations)

Debates Rounds (giving turns to individual

students to talk)

Field trips Quizzes

Practicals Writing reflections on learning (3/4

minutes)

Reflective diaries, learning journals Student class presentations

Computer assisted learning (CAL) Role play

Choice in subjects for study / projects Poster presentations

Writing newspaper article Students producing mind maps in class


Students should be involved and contribute to class. The teaching material offers

huge scope for discussion and debate among students, so that classes resemble

seminars. Lecturers should augment the material with case studies from their

own countries and with current material, so that students are using journalistic

material from radio, TV, newspapers and magazines they are reading themselves.

Students should be encouraged to source material themselves and bring it to the

classes.

Teachers can produce notes for hypothetical stories, based on real ones, that

raise difficulties or issues and get students to write them up. Students should also

be encouraged to produce databases for child rights sources under headings such

as ‗government sources‘ ‗international sources‘, ‗child rights sources‘, similar to

those listed in the teaching material. The extensive material available through

websites such as that for CRIN and UNICEF can act as a good first resource.

The appropriate methodology to teach children’s rights

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Lecturers facilitating this course can produce a method of delivery that

incorporates SCL and HRE principles and objectives and one that fits in with their

institutional circumstances and environments. The following method is an

example of one that reinforces the principles of student centered learning and

utilizes the participatory method. It has been successfully employed

internationally in teaching both human rights and children‘s‘ rights education.

ADIDS method

The ADIDS method is advocated by the Asia-Pacific Regional Resource Centre for

Human Rights Education (ARRC HRE), which started as a joint project of Amnesty

International and the Asian Cultural Forum on Development. It is a non-profit,

non-government, regional organization founded in 1992 to serve as an institute

and a network for human rights education in the Asia-Pacific region providing

human rights training workshops, development and exchange of instructional and

other relevant materials, research and HRE campaigns. In 1995 ARRC published

the HRE Pack, a set of human rights education materials, which included their

ADIDS framework, a translation of Paolo Freire‘s concept of education.

ADIDS

ACTIVITY

Each lesson starts with an activity designed either to elicit participants' prior

knowledge or experience relevant to the objectives of the lessons or to help them

easily understand concepts. At this stage it allows the participants to create and

re-create images and feelings associated with their experiences related to the

objectives of the lesson. The activity makes the participants feel that they are at

the centre of the discussion. The starting point is their experience which is the

context of rights.

DISCUSSION

The discussion is the reflective and observation phase of the lesson. The

questions are intended to encourage the participants to reflect on their

experiences identified in the activity. Participants will think about these

experiences by relating them to the objectives of the lesson. More often, we take

our experiences as given, it is when we purposefully examine them that we gain

insights and see them from a different perspective. The participants' experience

becomes the object and "content" of the discussion.

INPUT / LECTURE

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The input is aimed at expanding the participants' knowledge. The facilitator or the

resource person may present a view that may validate or may challenge the

participants' understanding of the identified experience. The input is designed to

specifically present the "rights" perspective through which the participants'

experiences are viewed. The input could also be viewed as an "organiser" of the

participants' knowledge by putting rights "labels" on their experiences.

DEEPENING

The deepening serves as forum to elicit and address conflict or contradiction

within the participants' views on one hand, and between their views and those of

the resource person's, on the other.

SYNTHESIS

The synthesis is usually designed with specific activities that will help the

participants summarise the insights generated from the discussion from the

activity to deepening segment of the lesson. This will also help the facilitator

determine if the objectives of the lessons are achieved and make the necessary

adjustments for the next lesson.

(ARRC, 1995)

The below table is an example of Unit 1, section 1 of this module taught using the

ADIDS method

ADIDS Methodology Implementation Facilitators Notes

Activity

Or

Discussion

Bring in / make collage of

magazine/newspaper

articles relating to human

rights

The activity or discussion

elicits the participants‘

understanding and prior

knowledge of the key

learning points:

What are human rights?

The Universal Declaration

of Human Rights

Defending human rights

Talk about recent media

coverage of stories

relating to human rights.

Input/Lecture What are the

international human

rights standards?

What is the Universal

Declaration of Human

Rights about?

How did the human rights

standards evolve?

What are the

fundamental principles

underlying the human

rights standards?

What are the specific

rights in the UDHR?

The input builds on what

the participants already

know. The facilitator will

just supplement what is

missed in the

activity/discussion

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What are violations of

human rights?

What countries have or

have not violated human

rights?

Deepening Are human rights

universal or relative to

one‘s culture or situation?

Is there a particular

national view of human

rights?

What are the implications

of human rights for

journalism?

Deepening initiates

discussion of debatable

issues about human

rights.

These are thought

provoking questions to

make the participants

examine some of their

views which they may

hold critically or

uncritically.

Synthesis An illustration or a

scenario where students

can apply their

knowledge.

Synthesis summarizes

the insights of the

session and helps the

facilitator determine if

the learning objectives

were achieved

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BLENDED LEARNING

Computer assisted learning (CAL) has already been recommended as a method of

student centered learning in the methodologies section, and computer aided

assessment (CAA) is also mentioned as a possible assessment method.

Blended learning is simply the terminology used to describe learning and teaching

approaches which contain a mixture of online activities and face-to-face activities.

VLEs are virtual learning environments which support blended learning.

Examples of Blended Learning:

o Blending of course components

A course of study is likely to be made up of a mixture of face-to-face sessions

and online activities. The proportion of each varies tremendously from course

to course. In this form of blending, individual activities are either entirely

face-to-face or entirely online. So there may be a lecture, followed by an

online discussion, followed by a practical, followed by use of online materials.

o Blending of physical and virtual (location blending)

An online activity is traditionally thought to be designed for individual use off-

campus, at home. However, online activities are sometimes used within a

class session with the tutor present. Some online activities are carried out by

groups of students in campus study areas (―learning spaces‖). The educational

activity can therefore itself be a mixture of face-to-face communication and

discussion and use of online materials, information and communication. The

learning activity is in itself blended. It can mix location, both physical and

virtual.

o Blending of resources

E-learning offers unique opportunities to bring together resources from

different sources. Access to external resources and to those created locally by

the tutor can be integrated; course tutors can work as teams and share

resources more readily using learning technologies. Students use each other

as resources, asking for help; this is of course done face-to-face but also

online; probably both.

o The range and variety of learning resources available to students carrying

out study tasks is a mixture of digital, physical and human resources,

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accessed by face-to-face or online methods or a mixture of both.

(UCISA-TLIG, 2004)

VLE (virtual learning environment) refers to the entire collection of e-learning

tools and software available to staff and students.

Examples of VLEs:

Blackboard

WebCT

Questionmark

Content Repositories

Student Centered VLE

Much of the current use of e-learning has been driven and created in a rather

staff-centered way. Indeed the popular packages (Blackboard and WebCT) are

very much staff-centered in the way they operate. Everything is organised by

courses and requires tutor input. There is very little scope for students to work on

their own initiative across course boundaries, and set up discussions or post

materials without having to ask a tutor to set this up for them.

Student needs

If a group of students wish to make use of WebCT or Blackboard, yet their tutor

has not set up a course area for them, is there a way within the university that

(a) their voice can be heard? (b) their needs met? What is the feature they are

really asking for?

If an increasing proportion of learning is online, students might wish to organize

their time better into larger ―chunks‖ of time on and time off campus. Do

university timetabling systems try to deliberately build in fewer days on campus?

There are interesting developments in active learning and group work using e-

learning. What are students‘ views on such teaching methods? And what

educational approaches would they welcome?

What support would a student want in terms of: access from home, academic

versus technical queries, wireless network availability, design of study spaces?

Within the VLE, what if a student wishes to set up an online study group for

conferencing or sharing resources on their own initiative i.e. without asking the

tutor to do it? What if a student finds some interesting online resources and

includes links and/or materials into some kind of course area or web space of

their own? These kind of student-centered tools are not readily available within

conventional course management systems. What might be provided? Again, what

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would students want?

(UCISA-TLIG, 2004)

Ways that lecturers can employ a blended learning approach to this module:

1.

2.

3.

Benefits of adopting a blended learning approach:

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ASSESSMENT

Assessment is vitally important in that it indicates to the lecturer that the

students have internalized the concepts involved and are able to work in a

professional way as journalists. It is important that the assessment tests all

aspects of the syllabus and assesses the five (5) identified learning outcomes for

the full module.

Lecturers can choose how to assess, depending on the students, how advanced

they are or based on what they are used to. We would discourage relying simply

on traditional examinations only, as it does not test the full range of what the

syllabus is endeavoring to address. The difficulties arising from traditional

assessment practices are, for example, that the giving of marks and grades are

over emphasized, while the giving of advice and the learning function are under

emphasized and that pupils are compared with one another which highlights

competition rather than personal improvement.

Lecturers should ideally employ both summative and formative assessments to

test the students. Summative assessments should be used to signify competence

and contribute to a student‘s grade in the module. Formative assessment should

be used to provide feedback to the student on their learning. It provides the

student with advice on how to maintain and improve their progress, but should

not form part of their summative grade or mark.

By developing more formative assessment in your courses you can provide a

focus for the student by highlighting their learning gaps and areas that they can

develop. Examples of formative assessment include feedback on essays, written

comments on assignments, grades during the year that do not add to end of year

mark and multiple-choice questions/answers for feedback only. The addition of

more formative assessment encourages a more student–centered approach.

The most important principle of summative assessment is that it should

determine whether, and to what extent, the student has attained the learning

outcomes specified for that module, and should lead to a grade or mark that will

affect the student‘s progression, result, or both. What students learn, how much

effort they put into it, and the nature if their learning is often determined by the

extent and nature of the summative assessment they expect to receive.

However, formative assessment is essential to learning, and ideally curricula

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should be designed to maximize the amount of formative feedback students can

receive on their work.

Summative Assessment

Below are some examples of summative assessments, which lecturers can either

use or adapt. The following is recommended as an example of summative

assessment for the module as a whole:

Students will submit a proposal for a 1,000 word article concerning some area of

children’s’ rights and welfare. The article will be original work and produced to a

high professional level and publishable. Students will also submit a journal which

will outline the process of research and writing the article. Where it is possible

students can produce a news package for radio.

Students might, for example, make a pitch to a commissioning editor of a media

outlet and produce an article or package for publication or broadcast. The student

should also write a weekly journal outlining the process, detailing issues raised,

including the interest, or lack of interest in the issues surrounding children‘s

rights. This sort of assessment can realistically be included only where there is a

large media market. A variant of this is for students to submit work to an editor,

who will give his or her views on a piece, but might not necessarily publish it. The

student is marked on the issues raised in the journal, the fact of publication and

the issues raised in the published piece.

Formative Assessment

Below are some examples of formative assessments which lecturers can again

use or adapt as they determine appropriate:

Students will be given an assignment after every class, to be submitted before

the next class. This means students will be tested in every aspect of the unit. The

assignments can range from short news items, to undertaking a vox pop with

children on a given topic, to multiple-choice tests. It is important that the

assignments are appropriate to the level of the students but not too difficult or

detailed to be difficult to complete in the time allotted. These class-linked

assignments can be used as formative assessment and do not all need to be

graded. Rather they provide a rich basis for future classes and assist in

identifying key issues for discussion and further elaboration. Any of the following

formative assessment techniques can be employed depending on the assignment:

o Peer assessment

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o Self assessment

o Computer assisted assessment (CAA)

o Learning contracts / negotiated contracts

Peer/Self Assessment

Peer and self-assessment both give some control and responsibility back to the

student, emphasizing an increased sense of autonomy in the learner. Self-

assessment is an essential activity to help students to take responsibility for their

own learning.

Peer Assessment

Peer assessment is the assessment of the work of others of equal status and

power. Peer assessment should benefit both those giving the feedback as well as

those receiving it. Giving constructive feedback is a valuable skill. To acquire

this skill the student will learn how to study marking/grading schemes or

assessment criteria, construct sentences that impart effective comments, and be

able to defend their feedback. Critical reflection, a key skill involved in giving

feedback, is an academically valuable one. Students also learn diplomacy, how to

receive and act on constructive criticism, as well as the more obvious skills of

making explicit and criterion-referencing judgments. Peer assessment can deepen

the student learning experience as students can learn a great deal about their

own work from assessing other students‘ attempts at a similar task.

(DIT, 2008)

Self-assessment

With self assessment, students check their work, revisit assignment drafts and

texts, and research and reflect upon their past practice. Care is needed to teach

the student to make judgments on what was actually achieved rather than what

was ‗meant‘. But once mastered, in addition to judging one‘s own work, the

concept of self-assessment develops skills in self-awareness and critical

reflection. Many of the benefits of peer assessment apply to self- assessment.

(DIT, 2008)

Computer-Assisted Assessment (CAA)

Computer-Assisted Assessment is a fast and efficient way to provide immediate

feedback to the learner, and to save time on tutor marking. Computer Assisted

Assessment is typically formative, in that it helps students to discover whether

they have learned what the educator intended.

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(DIT, 2008)

Learning contracts/negotiated contracts

These contracts are goals set by the student, depending on their learning gaps,

which are in turn negotiated with the lecturer. The contract can also highlight the

manner in which the student would like to be assessed in order to demonstrate

that they have reached the goals. This can add choice in what to study and, in

addition, choice in how the student will be assessed. Choice is one of the key

terms in relation to student–centered learning.

The concept of negotiation of learning also addresses the unique change in

relationship between lecturer and student. In practice, how do we give students

some autonomy and decision-making in an area such as assessment? The below

table highlights a range of suggestions on how lecturers can involve students in

the assessment process.

Involving students at the stage when

the task is set

Choosing the assessment task

Setting the assessment task

Discussion on the assessment criteria

Setting the assessment criteria

Involving students at the stage after

the task is completed

Making self assessment comments

Making peer assessment feedback

Suggesting self-assessment

grades/marks

Negotiating self assessment grades /

marks

Assigning self assessment grades or

marks

Assigning peer assessment grades or

marks


Feedback

The most important feature of formative (and indeed of summative) assessment

is the feedback provided either by the students, peers, or the facilitator.

Good quality, comprehensive, timely feedback is a very important factor in

driving student learning. Assessment should provide feedback to students on

their progress towards the achievement of learning outcomes. Feedback will

enable students to realise where they have done well and indicate what they

could improve on, as well as justifying the grade/mark of summative

assessments.

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To ensure that your feedback as a facilitator is has maximum impact on student

learning, it is important that feedback is timely. If you provide feedback too

soon, it may disrupt the student‘s reflective process. However, it is far more

common that feedback is provided too late when it is no longer salient to the

student. Feedback should not be held off until the end of a year/semester, as the

student is unlikely to benefit from it once the task is complete and they have

moved on to a new one.

The benefits of successful feedback set in the context of learning outcomes are

many. For example, successful feedback will:

o Build confidence in the students,

o Motivate students to improve their learning;

o Provide students with performance improvement information,

o Correct errors, identify strengths and weaknesses

Making feedback more effective

As an educator, there are many ways to improve the quality of your feedback to

make it more effective for the learner. Simple things like not always using ticks

to indicate a good point are recommended as students will be more motivated by

short words or phrases such as ―good work‖ or ―true‖. Feedback should be

specific – don‘t just say ‗good‘, explain why, in what respects. It should also be

constructive, encouraging, honest, and supportive; and where possible it should

be frequent and substantial. Successful feedback should clearly indicate to the

student:

o What aspects of their assessed work are successful, and why

o What aspects of their assessed work are less successful, and why

o How the student could improve this particular piece of work

o How the student could do more successful work in future.

Making feedback more efficient

Feedback can be time-consuming, but there are ways to make it more efficient.

o Consider the nature of the feedback students will need to master the

concepts and skills for each assignment. How detailed does it have to be?

Should it be individual or can it be group feedback? Can it be oral or does

it have to be written?

o Use the track and edit tool in Word to speed up feedback and comments

on student essays and reports.

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o Consider using or creating generic feedback forms.

o Consider audiotaping feedback for learners.

o Provide more detailed solution sets to reveal the appropriate underlying

reasoning, to identify potentially misunderstood concepts or principles, and

to elaborate how common student errors followed from these

misunderstandings.

(DIT, 2008)

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ORGANISATION OF THE MODULE

Module Structure

Children's Rights And Journalism Practice - A Rights-Based Perspective is

organised into two Units: Unit 1 ‗Introducing Children‘s Rights‘ and Unit 2

‗Children‘s Rights and Professional Journalism Practice‘. Unit 1 introduces central

guiding principles designed to give students a conceptual appreciation and

understanding. This is then applied to practical examples and professional

contexts in Unit 2. It is intended that students take the complete module though

for organisational purposes, it is possible to deliver each Unit separately.

Aims and Objectives

The aim of the module is to provide the trainee or student journalist with an

understanding of children‘s rights as articulated in the UN Convention of the

Rights of the Child, and to develop responsible news reporting skills that

encompass and respect children's rights in all matters relating to children‘s

participation and representation in the media.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module, the student will be able to:

1. Understand and be able to outline the principle features of children‘s

rights as outlined in the UNCRC

2. Read, analyze and critically evaluate the reporting of issues affecting

children from a rights-based perspective

3. Critically assess the relevance and importance of editorial guidelines and

codes of practice in relation to news reporting affecting children

4. Make professional judgments regarding journalism practice from a

perspective of children's rights

5. Report fairly, accurately and in keeping with the principles of children‘s

rights

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Module Structure – Contact Hours & Student Effort

The module is presented as one 10 ECTS module and is based on a total of 200

hours individual learning effort on the part of the student. Each unit may be

presented separately as two 5 ECTS Units.

Total recommended contact hours for the module: 60

Student Effort Breakdown (Non – contact hours)

It is expected that 140 hours private study will be required.

Learning hours in total: 200.

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TEACHERS’ NOTES FOR INDIVIDUAL SECTIONS

UNIT 1: INTRODUCING CHILDREN’S RIGHTS

1. Introducing The Concept Of Human Rights

Key learning points for this section are:

What are human rights?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Defending human rights

Recommended topic for discussion: Discuss the concept of human rights in the

context of a selected, contemporary topic of relevance.

The intention behind this task is to generate discussion between students and the

lecturer on the topic of human rights in general. The topic chosen can be directed

by the lecturer or selected by students themselves. Using the discussion as a

starting point the class can consider some of the points raised in the section such

as the concept and import of the inalienable, inidivisble and interdependent

nature of rights. Specifically, the discussion can interrogate the influence of

human rights and the implications for journalism practice.

2. Children’s Rights


Why children‘s rights?

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Committee on the Rights of the Child

Recommended topic for discussion: Drawing on your country‘s national reports to

the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and its review of those reports,

discuss the monitoring mechanism for the UNCRC and its impact locally.

Each country, upon ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, is

required to present a National Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the

Child on a regular basis. This report is often accompanied by a 'Shadow' report

from the non-governmental sector. It is helpful for students to review these

reports and see what key points are raised by governments as important and how

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this is reflected in the NGO report. In addition the UN Committee on the Rights of

the Child provides concluding comments on the country reports and these

highlight the actions to be taken to improve the situation. Both the national

reports and the concluding comments can provide a useful context within which

to consider what exactly is meant by children's rights. Students might be asked

to consider their own experiences as children and how they believe this might

influence their views on the issue of children's rights.

3. Children’s Rights & The Media


The effects of media on young people

Portrayal of children in the media

Participation of children in the media

Recommended topic for discussion: Select a current media item involving children

and reflect on it in the context of children's rights.

This section is designed to help students think through the implications of

children's rights and how they might 'look' in reality. Taking the issues that arise

in discussion it would be helpful to look at the balance of rights between children,

parents and adults in society. The discussion could then be moved on to

considering how children can become more engaged in participating in matters

that affect them. Such matters would include education, day-care, play and

recreation. Research has found that adults often provide tokenistic opportunities

for participation rather than really allowing children to participate in a meaningful

way and taking account of the outcome of that participation. A look at some

examples of good practice will allow students broaden their understanding of a

rights-based approach for children's policy, practices and research.

4. Barriers To Realization Of Children’s Rights


Protecting human rights

Upholding children‘s rights

Problems in realizing children‘s rights

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Recommended topic for discussion and further research: Identify those groups

within your country that advocate on behalf of children. Are they rights-based?

Do they facilitate the voice of the child in their work?

Following on from the discussions and classes to date students should - at this

stage in the programme - have a greater grasp of what a 'rights-based' approach

would or could mean in reality. Looking at the agencies involved in advocacy

[national and international] and the government departments with responsibilities

for children it might be useful to discuss the language of rights and the rhetoric of

rights. Students should now be able to consider the barriers to realising rights, if

any, in their own contexts.

5. Media Representation, Children's Rights And Professional

Responsibility


Media representation of children

Media stereotyping

Violation of children‘s rights

Protecting children

Recommended topic for discussion and further research: Review the CRIN ethical

guidelines and identify some key implications for your own practice. How, if at all,

do these guidelines inform current practice?

This module is concerned with children's rights in journalism practice. A constant

challenge is to move student thinking from the idea of the protection of children

towards the idea of children as active, participating citizens and the protection of

their rights. This section is intended to assist students move beyond the

superficial view of children in terms of the standard dichotomies - good/bad;

angels/devils and so forth - to reviewing the minor and more serious forms of

stereotyping, and the risks therein, of undermining children's rights.

6. Good Practice In Presenting Information From Children’s Perspectives

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‗A World Fit for Children‘

National plans of action for children

Children‘s participation

Principles of best practice

Getting children‘s perspectives: examples

Recommended topic for discussion and further research: Review the status of

your National Plan of Action for Children and discuss the participation of children

and young people in its development.

Some countries are more proactive than others in working towards the realisation

of children's rights and including children as participants in the process. The task

is designed to encourage students to think about this in relation to their

immediate environment. Overall, this section of the module lends itself to

engaging the student directly in considering how they might work with and on

behalf of children within an international framework and from a rights-based

perspective.

The intention behind this unit of the overall module is to generate critical

discussion among the students of what it means to be right-based and how this

would impact on journalistic practice, particularly in relation to children and

children's issues. It is to be anticipated that there will be disagreement and

debate - all of which will enrich the learning for the students and encourage a

reflective approach to this complex area.

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UNIT 2: CHILDREN’S RIGHTS AND PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM

PRACTICE

1. Codes Of Conduct And Editorial Guidelines

The key Learning Points in this section are:

Why codes of conduct?

Should codes be detailed and prescriptive or contain broad principles?

Codes of conduct and duty

Codes of conduct and press freedom

Responsibility v freedom

Note for Teachers: Ask class to discuss what they believe should be in a good

code of conduct and what values should be highlighted in a code. Make list on a

board and then compare the list created following class discussion with real

codes.

It is always important to allow students time to question the material offered. Is it

always necessary to obey codes? Are codes guidelines or regulations?

2. CHILD PROTECTION POLICIES

Key learning points in this section include:

Child-protection polices. What are they and what have they to do with

journalists?

Policing child-protection policies

Adhering to child-protection policies

Child-protection policies and press freedom

This unit covers a journalist‘s own behaviour in terms of adhering to child

protection policies in their own workplace and looking to organisations which are

not ensuring child protection. It builds on the previous lecture on codes of ethics.

An important news story of recent years was the coverage of child abuse by

priests of the Catholic Church in the US, Australia and Ireland. Students could see

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what policies are in place to protect children in any organisations in their own

areas. They might also see what changes the Catholic Church has implemented

and what policies relating to child protection it has put in place since the child

abuse stories.

Students might interview local journalists to see how aware they are of policies or

regulations to protect children.

Students should talk to local NGOs involved in child rights about media coverage.

Such talks can be made into a report to be shared with the rest of the class.

3. CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW


Child-protection polices. What are they and what have they to do with

journalists?

Policing child-protection policies

Adhering to child-protection policies

Child-protection policies and press freedom

This can be a very difficult area for journalists. Often there is a public demand for

some children to be treated harshly if they are involved in serious crimes. At

times children, because of the nature of the crime, are identified even in countries

that usually respect the anonymity of children who are before the courts.

It is vitally important to ensure all students are familiar with the legal position

regarding children before courts or dealing with the judicial system and police in

their own country.

Any journalist interesting in specialising in the area of children and their rights

should ensure they are familiar with the whole range of law as it relates to

children.

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4. GETTING STORIES & SOURCES


What are sources?

Can children be sources?

The importance of sources to journalists

Anonymous sources

Where do stories come from?

Get students to choose a story and list the sources they would use, including how

they would contact people, give phone numbers, or email addresses. Students

should also say why they have selected the particular story. One of the issues

concerning sources is that journalists rely on too small a group of people who

tend to be establishment, encourage them to think differently and

unconventionally when selecting sources.

This module should incorporate what students have studied in other modules

about news values.

Students should practice writing stories and work out how to incorporate a child

rights agenda.

Incorporating a child rights agenda does not always mean the UN Convention of

the Rights of the Child. The Convention no doubt gives journalists an agenda

within which to seek stories. It also allows journalists to be ‗watch-dogs‘ in

relation to the Convention, by investigating the government‘s actions in relation

to its responsibilities under the convention, for instance.

Lecturers might give students the outline of hypothetical stories, in note form,

and see how students write up stories, ensuring reader interest.

The teaching material lists sources of information and organisations. Students

should see if such a list can be drawn up for their own country.

It might be useful for the class to produce a database of organisations and

individuals who would be good sources in each country. Such a list can be given

to each student and so improve their professionalism as working journalists.

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5. INTERVIEWING CHILDREN


How should children be interviewed?

Should children be interviewed only with a responsible adult present?

When can a child be interviewed without a parent or guardian present?

Does interviewing children require different skills from those used in

interviewing adults?

Ask a local journalist and a person from a child rights NGO to take part in a class.

Get both to address the issues of children as sources, interviewing children and

consent. In this class it might be worth exploring the public interest role of the

journalist and compare it to the role of the NGO which will probably articulate

only the interest of the child.

The class should discuss how children might have stories themselves and how to

sources them.

Get the class to discuss the guidelines for interviewing children and discuss if they

would help or hinder journalists. Are there times when journalists might be forced

to work outside the guidelines?

This is an opportunity to reinforce important issues such as on and off the

record, using anonymous sources and accessing stories, which should have

been covered in previous modules,

6. CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT


Child soldiers as a story

Context, war, civil disruption, collapse of civil society

Sensationalism of the issue of child soldiers

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Transferring skills to other stories

This is a major and ongoing story that highlights many of the problems journalists

face when covering major stories that have children at the centre. It might be

useful to broaden discussion and take in other stories, especially stories, such as

children as sex workers, trafficking in children or any other that might have a

local interest. Again, it might be useful to get students to list sources that might

be used if looking at any of these stories.

Two issues raised: How to keep an ongoing story in the public eye; How to cover

this story without sensationalism and keeping the welfare of children at its centre.

7. GIVING CHILDREN A VOICE AND CHILD-CENTRED MEDIA


Giving children access to the media

How to ensure a child‘s right to a voice in the media

Children‘s media

Get students to find an example somewhere that tries to address children and

write about it. If students have access to the WWW they might be able to find a

radio station somewhere in the world.

Interview children about a big story in the news to see if they have a different

perspective and what that is.

8. BEST PRACTICE IN JOURNALISM CONCERNING CHILDREN

The key learning points for this final section are:

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Good practice in news reporting concerning children

Monitoring and evaluation children‘s media: press, radio, television

36

Bibliography

ARRC (1995) The Human Rights Pack. ARRC.

DIT (2008) Enhancing Student Learning through Assessment. Dublin Institute of

Technology (DIT).

O‘Neill, G. and McMahon, T. (2005) Student-centred Learning: What does it mean

for Students and Lecturers?, in G. O‘Neill, S. Moore and B. McMullin (eds.)

Emerging Issues in the Practice of University Learning and Teaching, Dubin: All

Ireland Society for Higher Education (AISHE)

UCISA-TLIG (2004) VLEs and Blended Learning, A discussion paper based on

TLIG meetings held during 2004, UCISA.

UNESCO (2005) Revised draft plan of action for the first phase (2005-2007) of

the World Programme for Human Rights Education. UNESCO, 2005

Yeban, Felice (2002) Building a Culture of Human Rights: Challenge to Human

Rights Education in 21st Century, ARRC.

Yeban, Felice (1999) The Children‘s Rights Training Package, UNICEF HANOI.

children's rights and journalism practice - a rights-based perspective

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