Channel
13: Watch
and Learn
by
Tom Kertes
Consider
these two facts: 1) the quality of parenting one receives in early
childhood has the greatest impact upon a person’s growth and quality
of life, and 2) parenting is the only skill that isn’t—and has
never been—taught in schools.
Taken together, these facts contradict each other, and obviously,
there is a problem. And the absence of sufficient parenting concern
and skills is now openly recognized as one of the most prominent
problems that educators face.
WNET (Channel 13), a New York public television station profoundly
concerned with education, along with the New York City Board of
Education decided to stop just “talking the talk.” The two teamed
up to do something about the increasingly serious situation, and
the result has been WNET’s Ready To Learn (RTL), “a new intergenerational
approach to engaging children and their families in using the
best television has to offer in an interactive way to prepare
children for formal schooling,” explained Macenje Mazoka, WNET’s
Director of Youth Outreach.
Led by Mazoka, WNET recently ran a series of workshops called
the “Train the Trainer” series to prepare pre-kindergarten family
assistants from community school districts around the city to
train parents how to be more effectively involved with their children.
Family Assistants, who occupy a relatively novel position in public
education, “basically teach new parents parenting skills,” said
District 22 representative, Scharlene Yee. “This is an essential
and extremely satisfying job. So naturally, we’re vastly underpaid,
especially when you consider that, more often than not, we must
work with parents from different countries, cultures, customs
and languages.”
Sarah Zaken, a mother and grandmother herself, holds literacy
workshops in District 22. “I teach parents not just to read, but
how to read to their children: how to modulate the voices and
how to do it in brief bits to aid the child’s comprehension.”
“Train
the Trainer” focussed in on the use of television, specifically
WNET’s own programming, to channel preschoolers’ viewing into
effective learning experiences. “This workshop was all about how
to use Channel 13 as an essential tool in the learning experience,”
said District 32’s bubbly Jeannette Sanchez, affectionately known
as Mazoka’s ‘teacher’s pet’. “It was four days, and over 40 hours,
of our lives. And it was well worth it, every second of it,” she
said of the workshops.
“The
basic concept we teach is ‘View-Read-Do,’” Mazoka explained. “We
direct parents and trainers toward the highest quality programs
put together by our prominent group of expert educators. Then
we provide pertinent books and other materials parents can read
with the children to enhance the viewing experience.”
She added, “We also teach parents and trainers how to improve
upon the kids’ television viewing habits.”
As the 31 workshop attendees concurred, RTL works. The respected
Institute for Communication Research (ICR) at the University of
Alabama found a 35 percent increase (an additional 46 minutes
a week) in the number of times parents read to their children
among those parents who participated in an RTL workshop. The ICR
also found a 40 percent reduction in the amount of television
children in the research group watched per day and a 76 percent
increase in the amount of time parents spent watching TV with
their children. The ICR study concluded, “by becoming critical
television gatekeepers and by maximizing educational television
viewing, RTL parents are more effectively preparing their children
for a lifetime of learning.”
Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001. Tel:
(212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
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the publisher. © 2001.
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