In order to make sure our feature was followed through properly, we thoroughly researched guidelines, our topic, production, and listenership via respectful websites.
Ethical Guidelines: BBC / Ofcom
“Broadcasters should take due care to protect any participants aged under-eighteen. The level of care required will depend on all of the relevant circumstances, including the nature of the appearance and level of participation of each under-eighteen. This applies whether the material is originally produced or is acquired from another source. Consideration of the child’s welfare should be at the heart of the production” (Ofcom, 2015).
When we decided to base our feature on a subject that involves children, and with plans to talk to children and involve this in the output, we knew we had extra research to do in terms of the BBC guidelines and the Ofcom code. Working with children in broadcasts can lead to many potential ethical issues arising, it is important to be extremely careful and sensitive when working with and questioning children as part of a broadcast. We knew once dedicating ourselves to a feature in this context, seeking guidance through the material available online by the BBC and Ofcom was important.
By doing so we were able to be confident and stay assured that we were complying with some of the following key issues;
Due Care
we had a responsibility to take the appropriate level of care considered ethical when working with the children e.g. we spoke to them in groups informally, within their own School environment. Before talking to the children it was important for us to receive informed consent from their parent(s), with the children and parents feeling satisfied and briefed, consent forms with briefs attached were distributed. “1.28 and 1.29 apply irrespective of consent given by parents, guardians or anyone in loco parentis”. (Ofcom, 2015, p. 6)
Appropriate questions
as part of the planning for our questions, we took into consideration the nature of our output as well as the vulnerability of children. We decided to use a focus group structure when carrying out talks with the children, the children were put into two small groups where we had an informal chat. With known planned questions we had made notes of where we wanted the conversation to take us with the children, but being strict with ourselves and fully aware not ask inappropriate questions and steer clear from distress. Causing distress towards children during their involvement in the output would be highly unethical.
Identity
“We must take care that the information we disclose about children and young people does not put them at any risk. How they are identified in our content requires careful consideration and will vary according to context” (BBC Editorial Guidelines, 2015). As the feature was focusing particularly on the primary school education within Lincolnshire, the school that contributed towards the output was based in the county. To help protect children contributing to the output, we decided that at the most we would introduce the name and location of the school, but in no circumstances introduce the children by name.
Understanding our Topic
Click to access DFES0110200MIG2122.pdf
SEAL
SEAL (Social And Emotional Aspects of Learning), is a government run programme that has been and still is incorporated within the UK’s education system. It was encouraged by the government as an attempt to include social skills/behaviour into structured teaching within schools.
“This curriculum resource aims to develop the underpinning qualities and skills that help promote positive behaviour and effective learning. It focuses on five social and emotional aspects of learning: self-awareness, managing feelings, motivation, empathy and social” (SureStart, 2005).
The programme is designed for schools who have determined social and emotional aspects of learning, a key to the success of their children’s education. Schools will include those of which their children’s poor abilities to control there behaviour in socially acceptable manner are a negative impact on theirs and others education (SureStart, 2005).
“The Primary National Strategy model of three circles of inclusion illustrates these three principles
in practice, and has been used to ensure that this publication will support the learning of
children with diverse needs” (SureStart, 2005).
Radio Programmes. Internet Research, Books
What interested our idea for this topic in the beginning was a radio programme we came across on BBC Radio 4, Testing the Emotions. The narrator, who openly says she is skeptic, delves into professional ideas as well as children’s input as to what it means to “teach emotional skills” and how children are able to benefit from it. Problem solving, how to get along with others, understanding emotions and why we feel the way we do is something that schools are testing out, but the main issue is that it can be a massive challenge for schools to grasp this idea. People are even concerned that teachers are taking over the role of the parent.
National Public Radio, NPR, with a Ted Talks feature, was able to provide a bit of radio material about happiness in general that I found useful. Simply Happy was able to provide current ideas on the secret behind happiness (there isn’t one!) and even how to measure our happiness through mobile applications. How we are able to find happiness and how powerful of our mind is, is a new age phenomenon that many people are trying to find the meaning of. I truly enjoyed the emphasis they had on the human mind and how when we project our thoughts to the future, when we let our mind wander, we are less happy. Although this didn’t necessarily correlate with education, I still found it to be beneficial to our feature.
Internet sources played an important role as well, with BBC and the Guardian predominant sources. A few articles that linked towards our topic and provided further research and more depth to our thought process include BBC’s article, Pupils ‘need happiness lessons’. An interesting quote from this article, “Schools are test and exam factories these days.” The Guardian explores in the article, Emotional health in childhood ‘is the key to future happiness’. This perspective from an economist, Lord Richard Layard, tells us, “By far the most important predictor of adult life-satisfaction is emotional health, both in childhood and subsequently. We find that the intellectual performance of a child is the least important childhood predictor of life-satisfaction as an adult.”
A book that was found useful, which we were able to find parts of online, was Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. He brings to light how this is something that young children are dealing with and was even mentioned in the BBC programme, Testing the Emotions. His book outlined the importance of emotional intelligence and how it affects our life from when we’re young to our adult life.
Listenership
We decided BBC Radio Lincolnshire was the best fit for our program. Teaching Kids to be Happy provides an inside look at those who live within the Lincolnshire community. Listeners can relate to our interviewees and hopefully feel a connection with their input on primary education and how schools are working on mental well being with their students.
The time frame we would like to have our feature played at would ideally be when children are let off from school. It would be convenient to have our feature played when parents are picking up their kids from school (around 3pm), or even when they are bringing them to school (early morning, around 7-8am.) Either one would work well, as having both of them listening would be beneficial. However, realistically, we stuck to the idea of having our niche audience be young adults to older adults around age 21-45 years old. Parents, those who work with children (nursing, counseling, etc.), teachers, those working in government, and many others may be interested in hearing about our piece, not just primary school parents, as this topic can pertain to a large audience.
Technical Production
In the editing process we will constantly refer to our original and new ideas, and intentions we have had in regards to the treatment of the output. We intend on sticking to agreed ideas and bringing all location recordings to their full potential in the output. Our aim is to uphold a professional factual feature suitable for BBC Radio Lincolnshire, we will be sure to keep an eye on all levels and stay as creative as possible e.g. choosing the correct music (no lazy or obvious choices) etc…
The equipment we use will be a major contribution to the quality of sound the output will represent. equipment we will be using will be;
ZOOM H4N RECORDER– This will be booked out from the Media Loans Department at The University of Lincoln, and be operated to record most of our raw audio such as location sounds, interviews, and to record the Narrator.
Adobe Audition– This is the software programme we decided to use for bringing all of the raw audio files onto one big multi-track session, and to edit. We chose Adobe Audition as we were most familiar with this programme, we had an ideal amount of knowledge of keyboard shortcuts and general navigation within the editing software.
When exporting the multi-track session we must ensure no tracks are muted or set to solo, and be sure to select the correct audio settings e.g. 44.1 KHz, 32 Bit-Depth.
References
BBC Editorial Guidelines, 2015. Informed Consent for Children and Young People. [Online]
Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/page/guidelines-children-practices/
[Accessed 14 04 2015].
Ofcom, 2015. Rule 1.28 to 1.29: The involvement of people under eighteen in programmes. [Online]
Available at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/guidance/831193/updated-code-guidance.pdf
[Accessed 14 04 2015].
SureStart, 2005. Social and emotional aspects of learning. [Online]
Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DFES0110200MIG2122.pdf
[Accessed 17 04 2015].