Active acquisition of knowledge to solve concrete challenges creates confidence. And that’s something you need when you have to teach journalism to a classroom full of young Laotian twentysomethings, as do the instructors at the National University of Laos (NUOL).

These instructors are currently students themselves: they’re taking part in journalism teachers’ training and coaching, which is organized in partnership with DW-AKADEMIE’s Asia team.

At a workshop in December we reviewed some of the progress made so far. “I have more confidence in teaching these subjects now,” said one of the younger colleagues. Others agreed.

One senior lecturer brought along a revamped version of a project the training participants had created the previous September – a newspaper made from scratch. It was a showcase item at NUOL’s 15th anniversary celebration in November.

The instructors-in-training had put tremendous effort into producing it, and that has really paid off in their daily work. Here’s why:

Getting down to basics

The task we had set ourselves was quite simple: Create a newspaper. From scratch. In three weeks time.

There are several good reasons for choosing such an exercise. Creating a newspaper is low-tech. If necessary (and if you don’t mind creating only one copy), it can be done with paper, pens, a scissor and glue.

It’s also very tangible, easy to talk about, perfect for discussions in dual-language settings (in Vientiane we use Lao and English with translation in our workshops).

Most importantly, it’s a very generic form of journalism – and thus a good foundation for discussing the core elements of journalistic work.

Active participation instead of passive listening

Creating a newspaper from scratch turned learning into active acquisition of knowledge to solve concrete challenges. Much better than hearing lectures on writing, style, research, etc.

Among the many questions discussed during the production of the newspaper were issues like “What will be our editorial guideline?” (As opposed to the more passive “What is an editorial guideline and what is it good for?”) “What should our layout look like?” and  “Are we on track time-wise, quantity-wise, quality-wise?”

As a result of such exercises that produce tangible results, the university teaching staff are not only gaining a new understanding of journalism practice itself, but also experiencing first-hand fresh and viable ways of conveying knowledge to their students.

By Daniel Hirschler

The Asian participants came from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines and Mongolia. Besides visiting DW’s facilities and attending the Deutsche Welle Global Media conference ahead of the workshop, their action-packed schedule included a visit to German public broadcaster WDR in Cologne. A lively exchange with that station’s director of human resources topped off the week.

In this video, project manager Patrick Benning takes us inside the week-long workshop that was taught by DW-AKADEMIE trainer Achim Toennes. Participants Sarmad Palijo of Pakistan and Mat Verano Pareja of the Philippines describe their impressions of the visit to Germany.

Thinley Yangchen Dorji, a producer at the Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation (BBS), takes us on a tour behind the scenes of Bhutan’s first homegrown TV show for kids. Called “My World”, it’s a 30-minute program for youngsters aged eight to twelve that began airing regularly in January. Welcome to “My World”!

Prior to “My World” there were no Bhutanese television programs for children. Foreign programming available via satellite was entertaining but had little educational value. Pema Choden, BBS’s General Director until the end of March 2011, approached DW-AKADEMIE for support. Her aim was to have a quality program tailored to children in Bhutan.

DW-AKADEMIE trainers Dani Leese and Thomas Rehermann initially flew to Bhutan in May 2010. There they worked together with the group of local television editors to develop the “My World” concept. The first episode was an immediate success. 

Is there a proper definition of journalism in the Lao language? Since DW-AKADEMIE’s first workshop on journalism at the National University of Laos in Vientiane, there is. It was conceived by 15 staff teachers of the Department of Mass Communication at the Faculty of Letters – after long discussions revolving around somewhat abstract terms like “media”, “the public”, “society” and “information”. 

Lao is not a language that lends itself to describing abstract ideas. Yet the 15 teachers feel it was worth the effort to lay a foundation they now can build upon. They are learning the mindset, tools and skills that in combination make a journalist. The reasoning behind this is that they are the ones training a new generation of Lao students who are eager to take on the profession.

Redefining public and professional understanding of journalism

Laos is opening up its state-controlled media market. The new economic era, started in the late 1980’s, only recently reached the media.

Today, more and more print publications and privately funded but state-controlled television and radio channels are starting up.

In this era of transition there is a dire need for new concepts. This involves exploring the very definition of journalism and the role of journalists.

Previously, a journalist served the government, “explaining the party’s policy to the people”. This is a concept that a growing number of people reject by simply switching off. The ruling People’s Revolutionary Party now officially wants to swap this premise for one that includes two-way communication between politicians and the people.

Uniting practice and theory

Still, the old mental models are deeply rooted – and so discussions about changing them are lively.

The idea is for the university to become the focal point for dialogue about the concept of journalism in the making of a new Laos.

Until then, practical training is interwoven with more theoretical exploration. “Types of questions and how to use them” was the main focus of a workshop in March. 

The trainees are trainers themselves, so DW-AKADEMIE trainers put emphasis on creating a learning situation that conveys not only knowledge but also methods.

Here’s one training method that was both fun and effective. It’s called “Human Bingo” and is quite helpful for training the mechanics of open and closed questions:

Each participant tells the trainer something special about himself that the other participants don’t know or expect. It can be a talent, dream, wishes, plans. The trainer collects the statements individually (and hidden from the rest of the group), writes them down on individual cards that are then redistributed. Each participant gets one card and has to find out which statements belong to whom. Their first questions have to be general and open questions. If the interviewer thinks that the statement he’s holding in his hands fits the interviewee, he can ask directly about his assumption. But he should choose carefully when to guess because this is only allowed twice per person.

Try it yourself – it also works well as a warm up for all kind of group activities.

Contributed and photographed by Daniel Hirschler and Michael Karhausen