Planning and implementing an educational broadcasting service to support schooling demands careful definition of the target audiences. A primary niche group within this target audience is teachers. It is therefore necessary to state who teachers are and what type of relationship they will have with SABC Education.

In this chapter, we argue that teachers are not only possible consumers of SABC audio and video resources, but are users who require support in the use of those resources. Teachers, therefore, have multiple roles and sensitivities, and the diversity that exists between different teachers, has to form the foundation on which to develop strategies to motivate use of the service. This does not mean that focus is only on teachers. Rather, a holistic strategy is required which draws in the supportive roles of the widest range of possible consumers. It is however, important to remember that a key reason for providing support to teachers is that the SABC, like all other broadcasters, needs teachers to use the audio and/or visual materials it produces. The SABC’s roles and responsibilities therefore demand that it dedicate financial and human resources towards supporting professional development networks between teachers, educators and educational stakeholders. Currently, it is not worthwhile for teachers to use audio and video resources in their classrooms because of the bureaucratic context surrounding schools. While some schools do have resources to make the necessary equipment purchases, many decision-makers are unsure of how to do this. Furthermore, many teachers have not be trained in effective use of audio and video resources in the classroom. Further, key policies on teacher and educator roles and responsibilities(Referred to in chapter one of this report), as well as professional development of teachers and other educators, highlight the importance of the school as the site of empowerment and transformation. In this way, teachers are recognised as having a number of potential roles and responsibilities, such as an action researcher in the classroom or a citizen and community developer and provider of democratic values.

In this chapter, we outline broadcast and non-broadcast strategies to support professional development networks, which will have important benefits for teachers while still ensuring that teachers will use the audio and video resources produced by SABC Education.

SABC Education can support professional development networks between teachers and other educators through a combination of broadcast and non-broadcast strategies, which, together, will form an integrated approach intended to compliment and enhance relationships between teachers and the public broadcaster. As has been recognized by international educational broadcasting providers,

The very best service we can give to teachers is of course to the highest possible quality of the programmes themselves directed to the pupils. But programmes, artistically perfect and journalistically brilliant as they may be, are of minor pedagogical value for pupils if they are not integrated in a school’s work and are not relevant. Integrating programmes into the overall teaching is of course the teacher’s business, but we can help them. One way of doing this is to incorporate a message to teachers about classroom work in the pupil’s programmes. My impression is that the more friendly we as educational broadcasters are with the educational establishment, the more likely we are to succeed.(Johnston, J.,1992, p.141)

Extending the Availability of Audio and Video Resources
SABC Education is in the process of extending its current broadcast strategies, and this report forms part of that exercise. Two basic options are available to make these more easily accessible, which are not mutually exclusive.

Option One
Audio and videocassettes, consisting of recordings of SABC broadcasts, can be, and are being, developed and distributed by the SABC. A more detailed discussion of distribution mechanisms is offered in chapter twelve of this report, but we mention it here because distribution is an essential part of supporting professional development networks. Critically important distribution channels which SABC Education can support and use are the networks that exists between district offices and teachers’ centres. SABC Education’s broadcast programmes can be reversioned into teacher programmes, which are intended to supplement other broadcasts and focus on how teachers can use programmes with students. The BBC, for example, realized that, in its science series broadcasts to children (infants to upper primary) that there was a need

to give teachers more information on how to develop classroom activities. Now as a matter of course, each new science series for pupils has a teacher’s programme giving practical information and advice on how to cope with experiments and work effectively with small groups in the routine of a large class.(Johnston, J.,1992, p.141)

Audio and videocassette packs of SABC educational productions could be compiled specifically for use by teachers in their classrooms. Additional information about this is contained in chapter twelve of this report.

Option Two
Another option available to the broadcaster involves compiling existing programmes in such a way that they can be broadcast in two-hour blocks for easy recording. These block broadcasts could consist of extracts from a range of SABC programmes (not specific to SABC Education), reversioned archival materials, or repackaged current audio and video resources.

Supporting Teachers’ Technical and Educational Capacity
Many teachers have not been trained to use audio and video resources effectively in classrooms. The challenge facing the broadcaster is whether or not the human capacity exists to use its service, both technically and educationally.

Technical capacity would include turning on a videocassette recorder or using the rewind function. Educational capacity would focus on how resources and technologies enhance teaching or learning. At present, some teachers consider the use of technology in technical terms only, but technical and educational capacity cannot be considered in isolation.

SABC Education has a role to play in developing resources that build both technical and educational capacity among teachers. Several critical factors that need to be taken into consideration before developing such resources, namely:

•    Educational provision;
•    Impact; and
•    Need.

Of course, the public broadcaster is not primarily and/or solely responsible for developing technical and educational capacity among teachers. Teacher education provision is the responsibility of national and provincial government departments, teacher education providers, and schools themselves. The SABC can, however, develop resources – broadcast and other – that illustrate how teachers can use SABC Education resources in their classrooms. This locates the SABC’s initiative within a broader process of professional development of teachers. Deciding what role the public broadcaster will play demands a sensible, down-to-earth approach. This involves asking the question:

Do we start where we can make the biggest impact (although this ‘problem’ may not be the gravest?), or do we deal with the most serious problems first?(Gultig, J. 1992)

SABC Education can learn from other international broadcasters’ experiences in teacher development. Channel Four, for example, regards its broadcasts to teachers as one of its most unsuccessful initiatives. It will be important, therefore, to decide on which issues to prioritise and which interventions to offer. In the final analysis, the SABC will be accountable for these decisions.

It is also necessary to strike an appropriate balance between technical and educational capacity development, and this will be the responsibility of production teams. While research and consultation are essential, SABC Education has the final decision about this balance. As has been suggested in chapter one, potential dangers exist in the current context, because technological initiatives undertaken without consultation or consideration of diversity of interests and capacities may lend to unnecessary ‘teacher-versus-technology’ struggles. It has been suggested that, in the current context, the wholesale introduction of technologies into the classroom:

Will be resisted by teachers if they feel it is replacing them, or if they feel disempowered by it. If we believe in the empowerment of teachers we must be very careful about how we use technology. It must be unpacked (not wrapped), and it needs to be interactive, and it needs to be accepted by teachers on educational, not economic terms.(Gultig, J. 1992, p.5)

The second consideration is whether or not the public broadcaster’s interventions will have an impact. International broadcasters have tried different strategies to enhance impact.

A successful approach used in the Netherlands included teaching methodology packages and programmes produced jointly by the public broadcaster and the Ministry of Education. The intervention was successful because it contained very practical information for teachers such as how to switch on a video recorder and how best to position a television set in a classroom.

The third consideration is the focus of audio and video resources developed for teachers’ use. This is linked to a question about who determines teachers’ needs – teachers, their unions, the national Department of Education? In chapter one, we described some concerns that teachers have about ineffective and inappropriate professional development initiatives. Determining focus or issues to be tackled demands that the broadcaster consult with a wide range of educational ‘stakeholders’ beyond just the Department of Education. Knowing what teachers need and want is vital, and this is a lesson that has been learnt by international broadcasters, some of which have appointed educational officers to undertake on-going liaison with schools, teachers, educators and educational stakeholders. These broadcasters realized that developing products for teachers has to begin with such liaison. Their products therefore are

the result of close understanding of and sympathy with audience needs and the ability to collate large amounts of random advice into a working brief.(Lee, D. (1992))

Many international broadcasters have come to realise that technologies and programmes can support teachers but

the problem…became more one of identifying priorities and securing expert and relevant advice.(Scarborough, M. (1992))

Clearly, developing resources for teachers requires extensive consultation with teachers. Some issues that could form the basis of these resources are offered below, but this should not substitute consultation with teachers, teacher centre coordinators, district officials, provincial education departments, and other teacher education providers, such as Non-Government Organizations and higher education academics.

Professional Development and Empowerment
Teachers are understandably anxious about their own teaching skills, given the high demands placed on them by Curriculum 2005 integration processes. Clearly supporting teachers’ confidence is essential. This means that both the broadcaster and the teaching profession need to recognize that confidence is linked to more than just subject knowledge. Hence, professional development initiatives cannot focus on subject knowledge only. Teachers must be encouraged to perceive themselves as innovators and change agents, and professionals of worth:

A change in attitude is necessary. This includes a decrease in fear - with regard to pupils and departments - and an increase in teachers believing in themselves as professionals. In short, a professional culture among teachers has to be rebuilt. Teachers must again take ownership of the teaching process, and responsibility for its strengths and weaknesses.(Group C, 1992)

Developing broadcast resources based on concerns with greatest need only are not necessarily successful in terms of greatest impact. For example:

A major omission in present teacher education was ... the inadequate attention paid to the teaching of organisational/ management/ leadership skills to teachers ... This was particularly crucial among middle and senior educational management, but was also seen as a basic part of all teacher education.(Meyer, M. 1992)

Management and leadership skills are a ‘need’(Fullan, M. Op cit. p 20). Broadcast programmes developed for radio may have some impact in raising awareness about this need, but the capacity of radio broadcasts to develop leadership skills is doubtful. Broadcast programmes should, therefore, focus on democratising information about the importance of management or leadership processes but should not try to ‘teach’ these skills.

Curriculum 2005 interventions are another very high-risk area for the public broadcaster. As we described in chapter two of this report, public broadcasters in developing countries opt for direct curriculum intervention, often with disastrous educational results. The challenge for SABC Education is how to respond to what is clearly identified in educational broadcasting policy documents as a priority. This requires a clear understanding of ‘curriculum’ and of what broadcast programmes can achieve most effectively, in terms of impact. A heady enthusiasm for direct curriculum intervention must be tempered by two facts
•    The risk of alienation; and
•    The risk of role and sectoral conflation.

The broadcaster can potentially alienate teachers by focusing on curricular issues at the expense of other needs. For example, many professional development initiatives (including many short courses) were not historically recognized or rewarded. Hence teachers may be reluctant to use SABC resources that are not likely to lead to promotion or accreditation. The broadcaster could easily be pressurized into becoming – by default – an ad hoc educational provider, a role that is neither desirable nor sustainable. The difficulty, however, is that many teacher educational institutions do not develop teachers’ capacity to use audio and video resources in teaching and learning processes, with the result that SABC Education has to provide some form of support. The challenge is to set clear limits to this support and to ensure that it complements and supports teacher education providers’ primary responsibility for excellent quality teacher education.

Ensuring that this takes place requires analysis of what television or radio broadcasts do best. One obvious answer is that broadcasts can effectively raise awareness about an issue or phenomenon. Supporting professional transformation is thus one possible successful broadcast intervention. As was argued several years ago:

A massive ‘marketing’ exercise needs to be launched to convince the community of the importance of education and teachers, and also to ‘teach’ teachers of their professional responsibilities. (Group C, 1992)

Television channels and radio stations, together with national mass circulation newspapers(Fullan, M. Op cit. p 20), can be used as forums in which the public can consider critically the nature of a ‘professional teacher’ and a teacher’s roles and responsibilities within developing country. Broadcasts can also provide teachers with information about their profession, as well as the flexible and open career pathways available to them. In this way, teachers are provided with information that challenges traditional notions that the ceiling of the profession is to become a principal. Alternative career paths such as subject specialist or staff development facilitator can be promoted(Gauteng TSUD. Op cit. p 7)

The public broadcaster can support the creation of positive professional identity for teachers by linking up with existing initiatives such as the South African Council for Educators (SACE). For example, SABC Education can support SACE’s aims to

strengthen its role as a professional development body rather than as the guardian of a code of conduct. SACE needs to provide and build a new identity for teacher educators as professionals and then provide the means through which this can be practised. [For example] working with unions to re-focus education debate on curriculum and organisation rather than primarily on wage issues; developing a series of conferences and workshops through which professional identity is forged and developed; developing journals, newspapers, TV and radio programmes focusing on aspects of teacher education.(Technical Committee for the Revision of Norms and Standards for Teacher Education. (1997). Norms and standards for teacher education, training and development: Discussion Document. Pretoria: Department of Education. Emphasis added)

SACE is primarily responsible for providing and building a new identity for teachers as professionals. The SABC can assist – but not replace – agencies such as these in achieving this objectives.

The New Educator Express
All of the principles and considerations mentioned above have been used to formulate a broadcast strategy(Only television has been focused on in this example) to support the professional development of teachers, and to contribute to the gradual growth of professional development networks. The existing teacher development programme, Educator Express, can be used as a foundation for this new service, and programme briefs have already been developed.

The new Educator Express will be extended from half an hour to an hour (52 minutes of programming and eight minutes of commercial advertising). The scheduled times of broadcast will be on Saturday (on SABC 3), Sunday (SABC 1), and both will be scheduled for morning broadcast.

Educator Express will use a magazine format, which offers it the flexibility, needed to respond to the dynamic context and needs of teachers and the schooling system. The magazine programme will incorporate two long segments, approximately ten minutes duration. Segment one is made up of inserts that model good teaching and learning practice. This segment is intended to identify, and promote, teachers who are excellent facilitators of learning, and in particular, those whom embody professionalism, competence and commitment to the values of the new education policies. Segment two will be a series of inserts that focus on management and governance issues. For example, these inserts may examine the roles of teachers on school governing bodies or how teachers can work with school managers, such as heads of departments or principals, to build closer links between school and community. The remainder of each programme will comprise an educational magazine, dedicated to discussions, interviews, recorded inserts, or archival information on major educational news events such as a teachers’ strike or matriculation results. It will also be made up of previews of forthcoming programmes (for example, those used in the Foundation Phase service) and include suggestions on how to use these broadcasts in classrooms in ways that link to the inserts on good teaching and learning practice. Finally, there might be two to three minute inserts on topical issues (for example, child sexual abuse) and the remaining time can be dedicated educational news inserts or live interviews with educational stakeholders and parents.

Flexibility and opportunity will have to be key characteristics of the production process of such a programme. Production teams responsible for developing inserts to be included in the programme will have to be well acquainted with the programmes making up the school service (and broadcast during the week), as well as the rationale underpinning the whole service. Production processes will be ongoing, with final production taking place no more than a week before broadcast. This is will provide Educator Express with a current, ‘cutting edge’ style, while allowing for thematic continuity between various inserts included in the programme.

A detailed discussion of non-broadcast resources is provided in chapters seven and twelve of this report. We describe here other activities that the SABC can undertake, which do not directly involved broadcasting, which will ensure that professional development networks can be established.

Developing Effective Teacher-Broadcaster Relations
Various activities will have to be undertaken to improve the relationship between teachers and the public broadcaster. A critical aspect of this is the establishment of partnerships between SABC Education and educational key structures and organizations. Additional information about these structures and organizations is provided in chapter thirteen of this report.

Teacher Participation in a Range of SABC Education Activities
Teachers can participate in a range of SABC Education production, research, consultation and promotion processes. One possible way to achieve this is by seconding teachers to SABC Education for a period of time, ranging from several months to two or more years. In this sense, secondment is used here to refer to a formal process of transferring a teacher from the classroom into a new working environment, such as the public broadcaster’s educational liaison team. Educational Liaison and Media Officer posts can be filled or supported by seconded teachers, identified through appropriate consultation processes, with provincial Departments of Education and district offices.

Another possible way of achieving this is to work with teachers, who remain in their classrooms, but who still support SABC Education by engaging in action research in classrooms and schools. For example, teachers can continuously collect and feed data on, for example, students’ attitudes to television, through to SABC Education. And SABC Education could collate this information and send it back to teachers, in support of their efforts. This arrangement is not a formal secondment (in the sense described above) but is formal in the sense that it is a partnership between SABC Education and teachers, and between the public broadcaster and provincial departments of education, school governing bodies, and schools. This type of relationship supports efforts to ensure that teachers are reflective practitioners and to ensure that the school is the primary site of professional development and empowerment for teachers.

Another approach is that SABC Education can, with other SABC departments, encourage teacher participation in radio phone-ins, or live audience television broadcasts. This means that audience-scouting processes must include announcements that explicitly request teachers’ participation. In this sense, SABC Education’s advocacy role within the corporation is an important part of supporting professional development of teachers.

Identifying Broadcast Champions
In consultation with provincial departments of education, district officials, teacher centre coordinators, among others, SABC Education should identify teachers who can act as broadcast champions. A broadcast champion is a volunteer who provides training at teacher centres to colleagues in the use of audio and video resources. The SABC can provide resource support for these training sessions (for example, videocassette copies of Educator Express intended for screening and discussion at a workshop). Broadcast champions will be expected to establish support groups for teachers who are, and/or intend, using audio and video resources in their classrooms. These support groups can exist at a district level, and ensure that within a given district, professional isolation is being challenged. Identifying broadcast champions should not be a difficult process, and numerous important initiative-champion networks have already been set up. For example, Spider’s Place, Curriculum 2005, Media in Education Trust, and TELI champion networks have already been identified and set up in various districts. SABC Education can support these champions in their efforts to promote technology enhanced education and learning, or specific resources, without duplicating the networks which exist.

Use the Internet to Encourage Collegiality
The suggested use of the Internet by SABC Education will be described in detail in chapter twelve of this report. Much of the conceptualization around the use of websites and electronic distribution services focuses on teachers, and should be seen as part of building professional development networks.

Disseminate Information about Professional Support
SABC Education should collect, collate and distribute information about the importance of professional development networks to teachers, educators and teacher education institutions. For example, an ‘info-blast’ can be included as part of the new Educator Express. This could include announcements about national conventions or annual general meetings of teacher associations and unions; or research agencies wishing to interview teachers; or announcements of forthcoming workshops and other professional development initiatives happening in various districts. This dissemination of information can be achieved by:
•    Collecting and distributing information on teacher associations, unions, and professional bodies, among others; and indicate what types of support these organisations provide to professional development networks;
•    Collating and compiling information that is distributed via e-mail and facsimile distribution lists; and
•    Developing channels of communication with editors and journalists working in a range of print publications targeting teachers such as SADTU News or The Teacher publications.

Develop Facilitator’s and Teacher’s Guides
SABC Education can further support professional development of teachers by developing a facilitator’s guide, which briefly outlines how to support technical and educational capacity among teachers. This facilitator’s guide can be distributed to teachers’ centres, Foundation Phase facilitators, school heads of departments, or teacher education providers who can use this resource to support teachers.

Another guide that may be developed, and which SABC Education Television has developed production briefs for, is a teacher’s guide. This is described in more detail in chapter twelve of this report. We mention it here, however, to indicate that this short, practical guide is a resource that can assist teachers, with effectively using audio and video resources in the classroom; changing perceptions of what are resources and teaching aids; and introducing the concept of audio and video resource management.

Convene A National Convention
It is also possible for SABC Education to set as a long-term goal, the convening of a national convention for teachers and with teachers. This is identified as a long-term goal as it will require substantial planning and resources. For this reason, SABC Education will need to obtain sponsorship (preferably from the corporate sector) in order to convene a national convention for teachers on audio and video resources and technology enhanced learning and teaching processes. This convention should provide teachers with the opportunity to discuss and debate what it means to use audio and video resources in classrooms, how students’ respond to this, and strategies for ensuring that parents are involved in recording broadcasts, for use in the classroom. This convention is critical in that it is for teachers, and it is teachers, who are the invited guests. Often professional development of teachers is discussed at conferences dominated by academics, researchers and internationally renowned speakers. This convention should, however, offer teachers the opportunity to discuss issues, present papers, hold plenary discussions, and facilitate break away group debates, on issues that they themselves identify as important or relevant. It is possible that this convention can precede other conferences planned by SABC Education, such as the educational broadcasting convention, but the principle of teacher-ownership should be observed and respected by the convenors.

Promoting the Service to Teachers
We discuss in detail the promotional strategies required to ensure the sustainability of a school service in chapter ten of this report. What is important here is to signal that promotional activities must be compatible with other non-broadcast activities. Promotion will also need to be sensitive to two main issues:
•    Perceptions of teachers and teaching; and
•    Professional isolation between teachers.
If teachers’ perceptions of themselves and/or their profession are negative or if they believe that the Department of Education, students and the wider community holds negative attitudes about teachers, they will resist using SABC Education resources. An additional factor that may lead to resistance by teachers to use SABC Education resources is the professional isolation that exists between teachers. It is widely recognised that any intervention’s ability to elicit

Real change in practice [is] only feasible if a strong teacher support network was put in place to support teachers and teacher educators while they were in or once they have been through a course of training.(TSUD. Op cit.p.6)

Suggestions for overcoming these challenges are outlined later in the next chapter of this report.

A Note on Principles Informing Distribution
Clearly, teachers will be one of the main target groups supported by SABC Education, and also key targets for SABC Education promotions. It is recommended therefore that the following principles inform the distribution of promotion and support resources to teachers, and other educators:
•    Print promotion resources should be distributed free to the target audience;
•    Where possible, promotion information should be distributed through publications such as The Teacher or SADTU News, which teachers will access without cost, once they have purchased the publication;
•    Educator Express should be broadcast on channels with as wide as possible reach and penetration;
•    Teacher’s and facilitator’s guides, and other non-broadcast support resources, will be available on demand at an appropriate cost; and
•    In the interests of equity and redress, a certain number of the guides will be available at without charge and upon request only, as part of a particular campaign or promotion strategy.
In this way, promotional resources will be distributed widely, and non-broadcast support resources will be developed and distributed largely on a cost-recovery basis.