rhodes university media training: triumphs or travesties? experience from southern africa by guy...
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Rhodes University
Media training: triumphs or travesties?Experience from Southern Africa
by Guy Berger,presentation to seminar:“Impact indicators: making a difference”
Independent Journalism Centre, Chisinau, Moldova15 May 2003
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Preview points
• Stakeholders• Complexities• Principles• Priorities• Case study• Conclusion
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Introduction: ideal logic
• Constructing new societies • Media’s role in democracy • Strengthen through training
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Get close up to stakeholders
Ideal vs reality• Journalists are
not saints• Donors & media
are industries • Training impact
is unclear
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Close up 1: Trainers’ interests
True or false?
“Trainers are pure altruists”
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Who earns & who learns?Choose the right answer -
Who gets the most benefit from training:
(a) trainer?
(b) trainee?
(c) employer?
(d) donor?
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Close up 2: Donor drivers
• King of the network• An industry as well• Has its own market fashions, flirtations & fluctuations• Needs hard results = deliverables req’d
• But hard to measure.
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Close up 3: employers• Some employers don’t want better journalists
• Most don’t want to pay for training; some can’t
• Fewer have a training strategy
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Close up 4: TraineesTrue or false?
Many are professional trainees in search of per diems
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Once they’re trained, we pray they’ll stay
• Hand-up = hand-out into PR industry/govt?
• Does training lead to draining of talent?
• Do we really make enough sustained impact from our training?
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Close up: summing upSo, creating effective training is a hard-nosed business!
And there are different interests in impact assessment (IA):
• trainers, • funders, • trainees,• employers
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A complex business:
Creativity & chaos complicate cause-effect
Yet what works best -• Train on-site or not?• Centre vs periphery?• Language & culture?• Skill, talks & texts?• Journos as trainers?
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More complexity:
• Skills transfer, or is it growth?
• Go for breadth, with many trained, or
• Go for depth: train fewer, but better?
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Is there a multiplier effect?
Do trainees bomb out back at the newsroom?
Or is it:“each one, teach one”?
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For training to fly ...• We need core principles about what makes for effective training.
• We need to evaluate training in their light … if we want to assess impact (for stakeholders).
Training
principles ...
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PRINCIPLE 1: Trainee-
Focus point: Learner-centred
So: set objectives in relation to:• needs analysis• baseline data
Note: objectives do not always = changes
Then: measure success in terms of:
• objectives, and
• baseline data or trend analysis
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PRINCIPLE 1: Trainer-trainee-employer
So: a triangle of participants “As the strength of
a chain is determined by its weakest link, so the least contribution of any one partner becomes the maximum level of effectiveness possible”
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PRINCIPLE 2: Ladder of learning
One-off and fragmented training experiences = resource waste
Develop an ongoing culture of learning
Give certificates for competence, not attendance
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PRINCIPLE 3: proactivity
Serving the sector a servant of the sector.
Providers should offer:• Needs-driven AND needs-
arousing training.• Demand- AND supply-
driven courses.
“Put the gain into train”
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In one SA needs analysis of 14 radio stations, 13 failed to identify any need for:
• journalism training, • skills in covering poverty• reporting local govt.
Only 3 said gender training.
None said training in media convergence.
Trainers must be leaders
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PRINCIPLE 4: ProcessTraining is a journey- you can trace problems backwards
No application within the newsroom Maybe: trainee didn’t learn much Cos poor delivery or good, but …
Poor course design Or: reason is - course wasn’t based on needs …
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Process stagesIf course did meet needs
Maybe the wrong people went on itOr: the workplace blocks all
Or: training not in fact the solution
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Process lessons
Front-end workis critical:
you can’t salvage a wrong course or wrong trainees.
Secrets of success can also be traced through preceding phases
In short, evaluate at all stages!Pre-training, during, afterwards
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PRINCIPLE 5: Holism Training target A: Head
Train the brain:
• information• knowledge• intellectual skills
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Training target B: HandsPractice:
• Skills to implement
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Target C: Heart of the matter
If you forget about attitude, your training won’t fly.
(You can train for media freedom & ethics, for anti-sexism, diversity, anti-racism, etc.)
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Target D: The Wallet The point is:
• What’s the pay-off?• Financial• Organisational• Job-related
Challenge: make a difference to the fulfillment of the clients’ missions
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Holistic trainingSo, training should be planned and assessed in terms of:
K nowledge
A ttitude
P ractice
P ay-off
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PRINCIPLE 6: RLAP
Reaction: do they like it?
Learning: are they learning it?
Application: are they using it?
Pay-off: does it make a difference?
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Remember ...Good reaction learning
Learning application
Application effective pay-off
It’s a package.
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RLAP = indicators of kapp:
Reaction≡ Attitude
Learning ≡ Knowledge
Application≡ Practice
Combination affects Pay-off
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Recapping principles• Golden triangle: trainer,
trainee, employer
• Ladder of learning
• Proactive
• Process
• Holistic (kapp)
• RLAP
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At last: Impact Assessment
Pre-course During Post-course
Reaction Reaction Reaction
Learning Learning Learning
Application Application Application
Pay-off Pay-off Pay-off
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Priorities: what to select?
Pre-course During Post-course
Reaction *
Reaction **
Reaction *
Learning **
Learning ****
Learning *
Application *
Application **
Application ***
Pay-off *
Pay-off *
Pay-off *
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Evaluation:• Begin before the beginning of a course;• Continue after the end.• Remember reaction, learning, application, pay-off … at every stage.• Prioritise what to focus upon
• Results: you’ll find out:• what works, • what needs work.
“It’s the training that did it”
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Fly in the ointment…
How? • Evaluation & impact assessment takes
time, money (10%?), skill, follow-up • Needs to be against training objectives & baseline/trend analyis – BUT be open to unexpected findings• Don’t be dominated by findings• Beware being too training-centred.
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• Questionnaires• Focus groups• Observation• Testing
• Other: Output, awards,promotions,public opinion.
Get to grips with HOW
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Case study: Southern Africa
Stakeholders: • NSJ• Funders• Me• Other trainers
A range of interests.
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Principles @ work: Research done .5 to 2.5 years after courses:
• 12 courses 1996-97• 374 individuals • 29% responses
Considerations: • Triangle• KAPP-RLAP• Proactivity• Process• Objectives & baseline
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Case study: Southern AfricaScoping:
• Individual• Newsroom• Medium• Society
Method: • Questionnaires – 58 qtns
(incl asking for evidence)• Quantitative & qualitative
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IndicatorsIndividual
• Skills (LA), confidence (R), motivation (R)
• Remuneration (A), position (A)
• Perceptions of limitations (A)
Newsroom• Sharing of information (L)
• Learning culture (R)
Society• Media freedom & independence (A)
• Provoked ire (R)
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Sampling needed: Structured & representative:
• Training rich/poor countries
• Media free/restricted countries
• NSJ activity concentrated
• Potential markets & donor dependent
• State and private media
• Broadcast and print media
• Male and female
Total: 25 journalists (7%), 6 editors
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Matrix of countries: Swazilnd Zimbab Mozamb Malawi Zambia
Train poor Y Y
Train rich Y
High NSJ Y Y Y
Low NSJ Y Y
Market? Y
Donor case? Y
High control Y Y Y
Low control Y Y
Private ppr Y Y Y Y Y
State ppr Y Y
Private bdcst Y Y
State bdcst
Y Y Y Y Y
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RLAP across scope:
RLAP Individual Medium Society
Reaction Y Y Y (raised ire)
Learning N Y N
Application Y Y Y (SADC)
Pay-off Y (Cost) Y (Cost) N
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Interesting findings:77% said performance increased from average to above-average
90% more motivated & confident
Time elapse: longer = gtr impact
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Pay-off findings:Asked for value of training received: $25 – $500 a day!
30% promoted or pay increase – attributed to course(40% of men, 9% women)
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“Triangle” findings:
Trainees rated improvement higher than their bosses did.
Trainees say they circulate training materials, bosses differ.
60% bosses value certificate;20% of trainees value it.
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Gender findings:Guess who shares course materials – men
Significance: •To make impact, train more women.•To get more women, change duration of course.
… or women?
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Macro-findings:
More impact on: • training-poor
countries, • public media. Newsroom conservatism
as obstacle to application: • 75% public• 20% private
Raised ire:• 40% private media• 25% of public
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Unintended impactA community of southern
African journalists with a growing regional identity
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Since: a strategy to earn our stripes
Pre-course• Needs analysis & establish baseline (R, L, A)• 360 degree survey (triangle)
During course • Joint SMART kapp objectives • Personal plan• Daily & final eval & some tests (RL)
Post-course• Postcards & email (R)• 3 month report on plan (P)
Utility• Data analysis, communication, application
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Warning:
Without impact assessment, and acting on it, training will be discredited and rotten media will result.
Get going!
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Re-cap: context for IA• Accept diverse interests and major complexities.• Recognise principles:
• Triangle• Ladder of learning• Proactivity• Head, hands, heart, purse• Process stages• RLAP.
• Then, evaluate!• And, initiate!
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Lots of work needed ...
In Africa, cicada insects make a racket, but when you look, you can’t find them!
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If training is a good thing,then let’s make it even better with serious IA
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It’s rainingtraining… let’s be sure the crops will grow
http://journ.ru.ac.za/staff/guy/