Teachers
About Innovation
The 100 Views program which initiates creative thinking and enhances community participation, is also designed to trigger originality. Whilst the focus on the chosen icon is to inspire response through poetry, art and literature, the school community is invited to go beyond the initial focus in innovative ways. For example:
- Bondi Beach and Maroubra Public Schools both formed student media groups
- Riviera International Academy Kathmandu set up a pen pal interchange with Australian children.
As the program proceeds, it is anticipated further innovations will be presented here, as inspiration for future participants.
100 Views Maroubra Junction Public School - notes on the formation of a Special Media Team
What do we know about our local community?
As school librarian, and as a local of the Maroubra area for 50 years I was very interested in researching Maroubra as studies of local history over many years had revealed to me that there is very little written on the subject. Schools are constantly searching for information and were dependent on the clipping from a local newspaper as the main source. As part of the 100 Views Project, I decided to involve the students and attempt to compile a simple oral history. My experiences noted below, may help others with similar interests.
How to Begin
- Look for people from the local area, past and present with a story to tell, or a memory to share.
- Form a cross section of the community: - all kinds of residents, politicians, business people, sporting identities, community organisations, entertainers, writers, union organisers, dentists doctors, nurses and so on,
Here's how we did it at MJPS
- Began by canvassing the district-personal visits, letters, phone calls-to find people that we could interview.
- Kept a register/book names, contact nos. addresses (I made a little note of who they are/ or story they have)
- Put request in the school bulletin asking for contacts to interview
- Spoke at different community agency meetings to help identify ‘characters’ or key figures in the community past and present
- Probus
- Maroubra Chamber of Commerce
- Randwick Historical Society
- Liaised closely with the Local Studies Librarian at the Local Council Library.
- Developed a Heritage Walk of the area suitable for school children with the Local Studies Librarian. Identified places of interest to the community, so that each class teacher took their children on one of these walks. Distance and level of difficulty differed with ages. Encouraged the use of digital cameras as a photographic record.
- Collected photographs –as a record of change in the district. Some people told their stories using the photos.
- Developed a then - and - now concept with photos
- Purchased original old images of Maroubra from the local library - mounted these on the wall.
- Took photos of today in Maroubra –the beach /shopping centre and put these beside the old to show change.
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The Media Team
Ten children were chosen from Year 5 classes (aged 10 -11yrs). Selected by classroom teachers, theywere interested in media, and were not necessarily involved in many other school organisations. (Not all angels either!)
We met to decide on roles: -
- Camera person(s)
- Meet and greet team
- Interviewers/editors
In preparation for ‘real interviews’ students interviewed each other, tried filming and practised the meeting and greeting routine.
Interview Process
We invited people to be interviewed by phoning them as initial contact.
Interviewees came to the school to be interviewed, or we went to their place of work e.g. many of the business people could not leave their work - place.
The Meet and Greet Team met the guest at the main office and brought them down to the library where the filming was done. We set up 3 chairs as we’d decided on two interviewers at the same time for one interviewee.
Interview Questions
We began with five basic questions which were adapted according to whether the person was a resident/business person/entertainer etc.
- How long have you lived/worked in Maroubra?
- Have you a fond memory or story?
- What changes have you noticed?
- How do you feel about those changes?
- How would you improve Maroubra today if you could?
NB We added questions specific to the interviewee re their work or role in community, eg when we interviewed a politician, Peter Garrett.
A local actor was our first interviewee and the children made many attempts. The interviewee then worked with the students and actually gave them tips. They all ‘had a go’ in front of the camera and we found there were only four who were confident asking the questions. The others preferred to be filming or being part of the meet and greet team.
We used a Sony Handycam video recorder with a tripod. Used the small compact DVDS and found we needed the tripod, the attempts without it being too shaky.
Originally the students had a script but it seemed stilted. Bill Conn (the local actor)asked them to abandon their notes to try without them. The students had difficulty but after a few attempts they found it flowed better as they had a more natural conversation with the interviewee. After several interviews two students really ‘grew’ in the role. One boy was exceptionally good.. He was not in the original team but on hearing about it, he came to me and begged to be part of it. In fact, I believe he did a better job than many adults.
We also took digital photos for the record.
The editing is still to come and they will all do a share of that. We have a parent who has a video film and editing business. I asked for his help to show the kids how to film. He came in before school and gave the students a lesson - how to focus on the subject etc.
Outcomes of a Work in Progress
We haven’t yet finished all our interviews as they take time to complete, and there are still many more to do. One needs to set aside an hour once or twice a week. Teachers don’t like the disruption so I found it easier to take them on Thursday afternoons, when the school was in assembly and I didn’t have classes. We found we needed to allocate at least 30 min to an hour to each interview. We often had to walk down to local shops. Students enjoyed chatting afterwards with guests and they in turn often wanted to chat to unwind as many were very nervous in front of the camera. Editing will be our next challenge. Students found it difficult in the real situation to politely cut some conversations, and thus we have a few lengthy stories.
We found the local Library the Bowen, to be especially supportive as copies of the finished DVDs will be housed as part of their Local Studies Oral History collection.
For these ten students who make up our Media Team and for me, it has been a fantastic experience. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of people, both with their time and willingness to share experiences. We have found so many interesting people with stories to tell about Maroubra, our community past and present. The students really enjoyed the experience and meeting all the different personalities who make up a hundred views of this community. And we now have a permanent record.
Students have asked me constantly since returning from holidays when is the Media Team starting back to work. Once they were comfortable in their roles and not feeling threatened (a couple of students were frightened in front of the camera) they really enjoyed themselves. In terms of educational outcomes, it fulfilled so many, from literacy to information and technology skills in a realistic and engaging way.
100 Views Maroubra Junction gave us the focus for this oral history, and we found reaching out into our community a very worthwhile experience
Sue Mirow. Teacher Librarian, Maroubra Junction Primary School, Jan 2008