A three-day basic academic instructional television (TV) script writing workshop for secondary school teachers who teach Literature (English B) at the Caribbean Secon-dary Education Certificate (CSEC) level, organized by the Multimedia Unit of the National Centre for Educa-tional Resource Development (NCERD) which is responsible for the Guyana Learning Channel, concluded recently with the various participants receiving certificates.
The workshop which saw 18 teachers participating from across the region, was the second of its kind aimed at bolstering the television programme needs of the Learning Channel to benefit students who are about to write their CSEC exams. The previous workshop held by NCERD was focused on the area of science, while this recent endeavour was entirely on literature.
Participants were required to bring a lesson plan of their choice from a literature or history book, and were guided into making the lesson into an instructional TV script for production by the Learning Channel. During the three-day session, participants were engaged in working groups, discussions and presentations on academic script writing. Emphasis was also placed on turning the curriculum and lesson plans of the units in the subject areas into TV programmes that will assist students preparing to write the CSEC exams.
A more innovative and interesting learning environment in the classroom is expected to be achieved once production of the script is completed, since CDs of the programmes will be made available to teachers to incorporate in their school curriculum.
Speaking to the participants, director of the Learning Channel, Roopnarine Tewari said teachers are the pioneers who will feed the Learning Channel with scripts.
Meanwhile, coordinator of the event, Dr Seeta TS Roath said “the workshop took into consideration our audiences needs and characteristics, their preferences, likes, dislikes, limitations etc.” These features were found after a recent survey conducted by NCERD revealed the need for more Literature programmes targeting CSEC students. She also described the event as “a collaborative relationship with our production crew which will continue into the production of the programmes which will be broadcast in all ten regions of Guyana and beyond our borders.”
“The challenge to use local resources available within the class room was well accepted in response to the cry of many who complained about a serious shortage,” was how one of the facilitators, Shaundell Phillips, from the New Amsterdam Multilateral School described the workshop.
The Learning Channel is the only TV station in Guyana that caters for the needs of children only by providing various educational programmes throughout its air time
