I. INTRODUCTION
THE PROJECT PROPOSAL
1.1 The UN Sustainable Development Goals
As a response to the University of the Philippines Open University's (UPOU) commitment to uphold the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this special project has been strategically aligned with SDG 4: Quality Education and SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.
The program’s proponent and designer have set out to develop a year-round training initiative focused on campus journalism, incorporating it into the broader framework of student development opportunities. This initiative directly supports SDG 4, which seeks to promote lifelong learning opportunities and enhance educational achievements. The program's objective goes beyond a single project, recognizing the essential role of journalism in fostering critical thinking, civic engagement, and informed participation in public discourse among students.
This initiative is also a pioneering and innovative program for campus journalism across the province, with the exception of Special Education in Journalism in select institutions (e.g., Zambales National High School SPED). Its aim is to establish a network of school publications that will adopt the program design and share best practices, thereby strengthening the development of campus journalism skills, knowledge, and attitudes. This collaborative vision is fully aligned with SDG 17, which emphasizes the importance of partnerships in achieving sustainable development goals.
1.2 Related Literature & Project Overview
In the Philippines, campus journalism has a rich history in promoting student engagement in media as a form of information dissemination. Hence, schools press conferences has taken shape as a vital tool in developing students communication skills and honing their exercise of press freedom and free speech.
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In 1911, ‘The Coconut’ of Manila High School (now Araullo High School) was published becoming the first-ever secondary campus student paper. It was only in 1923 when the first secondary campus paper than was released regularly – the La Union Tab of La Union High School. From then on, there had been more school publications that were established all over the Philippines and a need to hold conferences for teachers and students was arranged in order the standardize the teaching of journalism and school paper management.
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The Philippine Secondary Schools Conference was first organized in Pasig in December 1931. It was held in Rizal and was spearheaded by Mr. Ricardo Castro who was the Principal of Rizal High School during that time. It featured various writing contests including legend writing, editorial writing, sports writing, news and interviews, and feature writing. The only group competition held then was the judging of the best school papers, awarded by section. Before, Tagalog section was just part of the English school papers, which is different today as there is a separate category for Filipino school publications.
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Schools Press Conferences stopped when Second World War started and resumed in 1948 where copyreading and headline writing was added, replacing legend writing and spelling contest. The Department of Education began to institutionalize the schools press conference during the 1960s making it the most sought-event for student journalists in the country (Sarmiento, 2010). Campus journalism and schools press conferences was designed as training ground for aspiring journalists, too, making it more than just a competition (De Guzman, 2015).
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Campus Journalism has a legal backing for having enacted the Republic Act No. 7079 known as the Campus Journalism Act of 1991. This outlines a legal framework for the promotion and development of campus journalism in the country. This Act is also based on the constitutional mandate under the Bill of Rights, Section 4, that stipulates the freedom of speech, of expression, of the press, and the right to an assembly. This guarantees that the Philippine populace remain aware of their responsibilities as citizens and are protective of their rights enshrinded under our laws. Hence, the Department of Education (then Department of Education, Culture, and Sports) has been mandated to organize press conferences at the school level, division, regional, and national levels.
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Up to these days, schools press conference has become an annual big culminating activity of student journalists from all around the country. It was evolved, adding more individual and group categories. This is an assembly of showcasing the skills of young students in using media as a tool in shaping the nation and our democracy (Delos Santos, 2020), encouraging critical and creative thinking, and developing their moral character (RA 7079, Sections 2 and 8).
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And as a response to this mandate set by the Department of Education, the proponent of this project put forth an effort to address the diminishing and/or unseen skills of elementary students in campus journalism as well as a training ground for young students to remain up-to-date with current events, both local and international.
1.3 Personal Purpose & Objectives
The student publication at Lipay Elementary School called ‘The Bridge,’ has developed a stellar reputation in recent years for turning out exceptional student journalists who routinely make it to the Regional Schools’ Press Conference. This accomplishment is evidence of the school’s steadfast dedication to developing journalistic abilities and encouraging a culture of excellence among its student writers. But the school had a brief setback, with its run of success over the previous five years coming to an end. The absence of regular training and growth opportunities for its prospective campus journalists is the reason for this drop.
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The school paper adviser acknowledges that the lack of preparation, long-term goal- setting, and quality training programs for their campus journalists are major factors in the decline of representative qualifiers in higher school press conferences in the last five years.
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“It was a few years back when we were able to send our students to RSPC. And it was also the time when our newsletter gained prestige here in the division when we became the second best English Newsletter in the entire Central Luzon for elementary,” the school paper adviser explained.
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Journalism differs from academic writing (Nageswaran, 2023). There are rules, trends, tones, and structures followed to qualify a piece as journalistic writing. The advantage of having an instructional design in place is to create a blueprint that will train, prepare, and educate workshop participants in journalism, with the execution carried out by the seminar/workshop implementer. In a general sense, instructional design plays a pivotal role in effective teaching and learning, serving as the foundation upon which impactful instructional materials and interventions are crafted to address defined learning needs and varied learning styles. By integrating the principles of learning theories, instructional models, educational media and technology, and pedagogy, instructional design ensures an equitable, accessible, and responsive learning experience.
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In essence, our strategic roadmap for this particular program aims to empower the implementer to deliver high-caliber instruction. This includes maximizing their professional abilities and discernment by equipping workshop participants with the necessary skill sets, knowledge, and attitudes to thrive in the competitive arena of journalism.
1.4 Significance of the Project
This instructional design for a campus journalism training program is significant as it aims to equip students with essential knowledge of fundamental concepts in news and news writing, which are crucial for their active participation in press conferences and higher-level journalistic activities. By enhancing students’ cognitive processes, this seminar-workshop provides a strong foundation for their future endeavors in various aspects of campus journalism, including writing, broadcasting, captioning, and school paper production.
Furthermore, the development of this instructional design serves as a valuable model for educators and journalism trainers, demonstrating the benefits of structured training sessions in fostering enduring skills development in journalism and related areas of writing and publication. Furthermore, this approach encourages continuous reflection on effective teaching practices and the impact on student outcomes within the context of journalism education, contributing to the broader field of educational best practices.
1.5 Scope and Limitation
Scope: The instructional design focuses on a campus journalism training program aimed at equipping students with fundamental concepts in news and news writing. This program is tailored for students at Lipay Elementary School, specifically targeting Grades 5 to 6 students who are members or aspiring members of the school's official student publication, The Bridge. The training program covers essential journalistic skills, including writing, broadcasting, captioning, and school paper production. The program also serves as a model for educators and journalism trainers, demonstrating how structured training can enhance students’ cognitive processes and provide a solid foundation for their participation in press conferences and other journalistic activities.
Limitation: The training program is limited to the specific context of Lipay Elementary School and its student publication, The Bridge. The scope is confined to students in Grades 5 and 6, aged between 10 to 12 years old, selected based on their proficiency in written and oral English and Filipino. While the program is designed to be a model for journalism training, the applicability of the instructional design to other schools or student populations may require adjustments to account for varying levels of student proficiency, institutional resources, and specific journalistic needs. The program's effectiveness is also dependent on the existing commitment of the school’s administration and the availability of resources to support ongoing training and development.