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The school psychologist on educational television
J o u r n a l o f School P s y c h o l o g y A u t u m n 1966 • Vol. V, No. 1
T H E S C H O O L P S Y C H O L O G I S T IN A C T I O N
This department provides the school psychologist with an opportunity to present case studies on children re[erred ]or diagnostic appraisal or to describe other individual e[[orts at programming or remediation. In case study reports, the locus should be on the process o[ assessment and case management. Reports may, in narrative style, summarize the case history, [indings, recommendations, method o[ consultation with teachers and parents or other [ollow-up services. THE SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST ON EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION
Rudolph F. Wagner Educational Television stations have recently sprung up like mushrooms in this country as well as abroad. The rapid pace of growth has not only made new demands on producers of educational programs but has widened the scope of topical coverage of this new communications medium. Creating programs via ETV is usually considered the task of the educational specialist who, after surveying and pinpointing the needs for a certain subject matter to be taught, will approach the Master Teacher to serve as the implementor of the program. This teacher must meet a multiplicity of criteria to face the demands and requirements of the job. In the wake of a series of talks this writer had given to various school faculties, a suggestion was made to the school administration to produce a series of ETV programs on the subject of school psychology, which could be used in lieu of faculty meetings and as in-service training for teachers in the elementary schools. Here, then, was the chance for the School Psychologist to reveal his "image," both physically and conceptually. Was he going to pose as a "teacher, .... expert, .... psychologist, . . . . egghead," or--worse yet--an "authority?" The following outfine and discussion of the ETV program as it was finally launched is presented here for those colleagues who are either faced with a similar task, or are interested in broadening their professional repertoire. There remains little doubt that a well-produced program via ETV will contribute significantly to the image our profession desires and deserves. The author, Rudolph I:. Wagner, trained at the Instltut fuer Tiefenpsychologle in Stuttgart, Germany, prior to his emigration to the United States. He received his MA degree from the University of Richmond and is at present a PhD candidate at George Washington University. He holds the position of Chief Psychologistwith the Richmond Public Schools, Richmond, Virginia.
71
Purpose and Nature of Programs The purpose of the programs was to offer a series of TV presentations related to school psychology and applied to classroom situations, to be viewed by all teachers in the elementary grades of the school system. This experience was to serve as in-service training for the teachers at a level where both the veteran and novice teacher could benefit from professional and specific information disseminated via TV. The entire series of programs was first video-taped at the studio and then televised over a local ETV station (WCVE-TV, Channel 23, Richmond, Virginia). It could be viewed in the schools at 3:30 p.m. once a month, or at home at 10 p.m. in a repeat broadcast. ~ The following topics were chosen in the initial series of six half-hour programs, entitled Frontiers in School Psychology: 1. Understanding and Accepting the Slow Learner. 2. Teacher Interpretation of Psychological Group Tests. 3. Neurological Handicaps in Children of School Age. 4. Emotional Problems in Early Childhood. 5. Psychological Aspects of Reading Disabilities. 6. Successful Teacher Conferences. Wherever possible, the date of viewing was made to coincide with events of the school }'ear, e.g., Program 2 was presented simultaneously with group test administrations in the schools, and program 6 was chosen shortly before a parent-teacher conference day held at the schools. On each program, a "guest" appeared to compliment or supplement the principal lecturer in whose capacity this writer was privileged to serve. A psychiatric consultant was interviewed by the psychologist as part of Program 3 to point up the medical-psychological nature of the subject matter under study. Each program was carefully planned, but the lectures were not read word-by-word from prepared manuscripts since this technique would have been too colorless for the TV medium. Occasionally, an experienced teacher was also asked to serve as a guest who would be asked to demonstrate certain specialized teaching techniques. At other times, fellow psychologists helped to round out the "image" by offering variety. Written material in the form of brief summaries, case histories, or check lists for symptoms displayed by certain types of students were distrilmted to the teachers shortly after the viewing to reinforce the effectiveness of the programs. llnformation about the availability of the entire series, now being expanded to inelude 30 individual half-hour programs, can be obtained by writing to the Program Director, WCVE-TV, Channel 23, 1904 Old Farm Road, Bon Air, Virginia. The new rifle of the series is "Psychologyin the Classroom." 72
Characteristics of the "rv Medium Teaching via T V presents problems not otherwise encountered in lecture-type presentations with a live audience. The "teacher" is at the mercy of a captive audience whose reactions he cannot sense and see until the program is aired, and even then he will reach only a portion of his viewers. For this reason, feedback becomes a very essential and important part for the T V teacher. Studio productions also place a certain spatial limitation, depending on the type and number of cameras used. A mike hung around the neck limits spontaneous movements. However, these disadvantages are offset by many advantages, if used wisely and proficiently. For instance, visual aids can be used very effectively and can be varied in style as well as manner of presentation. Professional artists are available to aid in the creation of these aids. Written text, the so-called "supers" in TV lingo, can be superimposed on the screen to supplement the audio with the visual. The teacher is more or less forced to prepare his presentation thoroughly. Information has to be accurate and double-checked. Excessive non-fluencies of speech, or irrelevant remarks are out of place and would not be tolerated by the critics. Zooming-in techniques and frequent change of angulation and location of the cameras likewise contribute to the liveliness and freshness of approach. Guest appearances bring specialists in a given field closer to the teacher who could otherwise not have had an opportunity to see the expert. We have just begun to explore the possibilities of the new medium that already has gone into productions in color. Characteristics of the TV Audience Initially, only faculty members of the elementary schools were considered as the audience. However, since the programs were repeated at 10 p.m. over the same channel, it soon became apparent that the audience was much wider than anticipated. In a questionnaire survey conducted by the Psycholog-ical Services of the school system, 14% of the teachers reported that persons in their circle of acquaintances had viewed the programs at night, while 11% of these teachers had also watched the programs at night because they had been unable to attend faculty meetings at school in the afternoon, for one reason or another ( N = 2 2 5 ) . Among the people viewing the programs at night were college professors who frequently urged the studenLs in their college classes to watch the programs, retired teachers, student teachers, housewives, interested parents, and teachers and counselors from the secondary schools. In fact, the possibilities of showing the series of programs again at a later date with a local college underwriting the course for credit was explored, since 47~b of the teachers queried expressed an interest 73
in such educational offering at the college level?
Evaluation and Conclusion The first venture to introduce the school psychologist via Educational Television was considered successful and the continuation of the series of programs bears out the fact that it was well received by the classroom teachers in the school system. T h e presentations, along with written instructional material distributed simultaneously with the viewing, paved a way for feeding professional information to teachers who were reached on a mass basis, rather than being painstakingly contacted by an individual school psychologist in Fuller-brush fashion. T h e enthusiastic response of the faculties confirmed the belief that the school psychologist's image is a positive one which was further reinforced by the T V series. In fact, in the questionnaire survey mentioned above, 71% of the respondents rated the lecturer's performance as very good or excellent. W h e n asked ff the teacher felt addressed as a professional person, 88% responded positively. W h e n asked if they felt that the programs were produced and conducted in a professional manner, 85% responded affirmatively. In conclusion, it can be stated that the venture of having the school psychologist on Educational Television produced the following results: 1. Created and reinforced a positive professional image for the school psychologist. 2. Provided in-service training and college level courses to teachers in need of further professional growth. 3. Disseminated the school psychologist's message via a mass mediu m that is economical and visual. 4. O p e n e d up a new channel of communication between school psychologists and front-line teachers.
1In the meantime, Richmond Professional Institute 2 Richmond, Virginia, has received a substantial grant under the Higher Education Act of 1965, Title I, which will make it possible to continue the series by producing 30 additional programs. The entire series is being offered for college credit as well as in-service training to all participating schools in the WCVE-TV station's viewing area, extending over a radius of approximately 70 miles. 74
T H E S C H O O L P S Y C H O L O G I S T IN A C T I O N
This department provides the school psychologist with an opportunity to present case studies on children re[erred ]or diagnostic appraisal or to describe other individual e[[orts at programming or remediation. In case study reports, the locus should be on the process o[ assessment and case management. Reports may, in narrative style, summarize the case history, [indings, recommendations, method o[ consultation with teachers and parents or other [ollow-up services. THE SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST ON EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION
Rudolph F. Wagner Educational Television stations have recently sprung up like mushrooms in this country as well as abroad. The rapid pace of growth has not only made new demands on producers of educational programs but has widened the scope of topical coverage of this new communications medium. Creating programs via ETV is usually considered the task of the educational specialist who, after surveying and pinpointing the needs for a certain subject matter to be taught, will approach the Master Teacher to serve as the implementor of the program. This teacher must meet a multiplicity of criteria to face the demands and requirements of the job. In the wake of a series of talks this writer had given to various school faculties, a suggestion was made to the school administration to produce a series of ETV programs on the subject of school psychology, which could be used in lieu of faculty meetings and as in-service training for teachers in the elementary schools. Here, then, was the chance for the School Psychologist to reveal his "image," both physically and conceptually. Was he going to pose as a "teacher, .... expert, .... psychologist, . . . . egghead," or--worse yet--an "authority?" The following outfine and discussion of the ETV program as it was finally launched is presented here for those colleagues who are either faced with a similar task, or are interested in broadening their professional repertoire. There remains little doubt that a well-produced program via ETV will contribute significantly to the image our profession desires and deserves. The author, Rudolph I:. Wagner, trained at the Instltut fuer Tiefenpsychologle in Stuttgart, Germany, prior to his emigration to the United States. He received his MA degree from the University of Richmond and is at present a PhD candidate at George Washington University. He holds the position of Chief Psychologistwith the Richmond Public Schools, Richmond, Virginia.
71
Purpose and Nature of Programs The purpose of the programs was to offer a series of TV presentations related to school psychology and applied to classroom situations, to be viewed by all teachers in the elementary grades of the school system. This experience was to serve as in-service training for the teachers at a level where both the veteran and novice teacher could benefit from professional and specific information disseminated via TV. The entire series of programs was first video-taped at the studio and then televised over a local ETV station (WCVE-TV, Channel 23, Richmond, Virginia). It could be viewed in the schools at 3:30 p.m. once a month, or at home at 10 p.m. in a repeat broadcast. ~ The following topics were chosen in the initial series of six half-hour programs, entitled Frontiers in School Psychology: 1. Understanding and Accepting the Slow Learner. 2. Teacher Interpretation of Psychological Group Tests. 3. Neurological Handicaps in Children of School Age. 4. Emotional Problems in Early Childhood. 5. Psychological Aspects of Reading Disabilities. 6. Successful Teacher Conferences. Wherever possible, the date of viewing was made to coincide with events of the school }'ear, e.g., Program 2 was presented simultaneously with group test administrations in the schools, and program 6 was chosen shortly before a parent-teacher conference day held at the schools. On each program, a "guest" appeared to compliment or supplement the principal lecturer in whose capacity this writer was privileged to serve. A psychiatric consultant was interviewed by the psychologist as part of Program 3 to point up the medical-psychological nature of the subject matter under study. Each program was carefully planned, but the lectures were not read word-by-word from prepared manuscripts since this technique would have been too colorless for the TV medium. Occasionally, an experienced teacher was also asked to serve as a guest who would be asked to demonstrate certain specialized teaching techniques. At other times, fellow psychologists helped to round out the "image" by offering variety. Written material in the form of brief summaries, case histories, or check lists for symptoms displayed by certain types of students were distrilmted to the teachers shortly after the viewing to reinforce the effectiveness of the programs. llnformation about the availability of the entire series, now being expanded to inelude 30 individual half-hour programs, can be obtained by writing to the Program Director, WCVE-TV, Channel 23, 1904 Old Farm Road, Bon Air, Virginia. The new rifle of the series is "Psychologyin the Classroom." 72
Characteristics of the "rv Medium Teaching via T V presents problems not otherwise encountered in lecture-type presentations with a live audience. The "teacher" is at the mercy of a captive audience whose reactions he cannot sense and see until the program is aired, and even then he will reach only a portion of his viewers. For this reason, feedback becomes a very essential and important part for the T V teacher. Studio productions also place a certain spatial limitation, depending on the type and number of cameras used. A mike hung around the neck limits spontaneous movements. However, these disadvantages are offset by many advantages, if used wisely and proficiently. For instance, visual aids can be used very effectively and can be varied in style as well as manner of presentation. Professional artists are available to aid in the creation of these aids. Written text, the so-called "supers" in TV lingo, can be superimposed on the screen to supplement the audio with the visual. The teacher is more or less forced to prepare his presentation thoroughly. Information has to be accurate and double-checked. Excessive non-fluencies of speech, or irrelevant remarks are out of place and would not be tolerated by the critics. Zooming-in techniques and frequent change of angulation and location of the cameras likewise contribute to the liveliness and freshness of approach. Guest appearances bring specialists in a given field closer to the teacher who could otherwise not have had an opportunity to see the expert. We have just begun to explore the possibilities of the new medium that already has gone into productions in color. Characteristics of the TV Audience Initially, only faculty members of the elementary schools were considered as the audience. However, since the programs were repeated at 10 p.m. over the same channel, it soon became apparent that the audience was much wider than anticipated. In a questionnaire survey conducted by the Psycholog-ical Services of the school system, 14% of the teachers reported that persons in their circle of acquaintances had viewed the programs at night, while 11% of these teachers had also watched the programs at night because they had been unable to attend faculty meetings at school in the afternoon, for one reason or another ( N = 2 2 5 ) . Among the people viewing the programs at night were college professors who frequently urged the studenLs in their college classes to watch the programs, retired teachers, student teachers, housewives, interested parents, and teachers and counselors from the secondary schools. In fact, the possibilities of showing the series of programs again at a later date with a local college underwriting the course for credit was explored, since 47~b of the teachers queried expressed an interest 73
in such educational offering at the college level?
Evaluation and Conclusion The first venture to introduce the school psychologist via Educational Television was considered successful and the continuation of the series of programs bears out the fact that it was well received by the classroom teachers in the school system. T h e presentations, along with written instructional material distributed simultaneously with the viewing, paved a way for feeding professional information to teachers who were reached on a mass basis, rather than being painstakingly contacted by an individual school psychologist in Fuller-brush fashion. T h e enthusiastic response of the faculties confirmed the belief that the school psychologist's image is a positive one which was further reinforced by the T V series. In fact, in the questionnaire survey mentioned above, 71% of the respondents rated the lecturer's performance as very good or excellent. W h e n asked ff the teacher felt addressed as a professional person, 88% responded positively. W h e n asked if they felt that the programs were produced and conducted in a professional manner, 85% responded affirmatively. In conclusion, it can be stated that the venture of having the school psychologist on Educational Television produced the following results: 1. Created and reinforced a positive professional image for the school psychologist. 2. Provided in-service training and college level courses to teachers in need of further professional growth. 3. Disseminated the school psychologist's message via a mass mediu m that is economical and visual. 4. O p e n e d up a new channel of communication between school psychologists and front-line teachers.
1In the meantime, Richmond Professional Institute 2 Richmond, Virginia, has received a substantial grant under the Higher Education Act of 1965, Title I, which will make it possible to continue the series by producing 30 additional programs. The entire series is being offered for college credit as well as in-service training to all participating schools in the WCVE-TV station's viewing area, extending over a radius of approximately 70 miles. 74