Communication for Development

Yesterday's Dream

By: Donna Cruz

I know we are all familiar with this song. This is often used as a graduation song, am I right? HAHA! But here, I will not use this song for commencement but as an inspiring background music for our Media Literacy Program. (see below for details) 

"Media ay Kilalanin, sa Tamang Paraan ay Gamitin"

- The Slogan for our Communication Campaign on Media Literacy. We did this last semester as a requirement in our subject Communication Theories with our very fabulous and ever gorgeous Professor, Ms. Gerby. This had been really a memorable event not just for me but also for my classmates. We taught Grade Four pupils in a public school somewhere in Sto. Tomas, Batangas for four consecutive Thursdays. It is really hard for us to come up with a program like this, of course we had our planning and researching beforehand. It's really hard to look for a school who's willing to participate, we also disseminated tasks within our group to make it easier. Every week is really a struggle, especially when it comes to resources. We do not have much of a budget that is why we are just settling to what is available. Imagine, every week we need to prepare letters of request, so that we could use the school's (LPU) projector outside. What made it even harder is that we are teaching four sections of grade four students simultaneously, in connection with the projectors, we are only allowed to use two (2). So what we did? we scheduled the use of he projectors so that it won't overlap, (in-short we had our last minute change of plans) and during the actual campaign, you'll see me running from one room to the other just to check if they're doing fine, if they need anything and if they're already done using the projector. Our campaign lasts for an hour, some even exceed because they're really having fun teaching those kids. 

What are we teaching?

Well, I think it's obvious in our campaign slogan. We are teaching those students about media literacy. About the four mass media which includes the; Print media, Radio, Television, and the Internet. (Now, I think it made sense why we taught them for four consecutive Thursday. One day per Mass Media) We are Communications students and one of our aim is to use communication for development, that's why as much as we can we are helping those students to familiarize themselves with the mass media so that they can better use it in the future. With learning we believe that it will  make a difference on how these students look at the mass media. 

How did we know what to teach them?

It's simple! We just tried to put ourselves on the shoes of these children. They're still young, they do not need to know very deep information like history, we did not use technical terms. We taught them what they just need to know. The Basics. But since we also want to be really sure on what topics should we focus on discussing during the campaign, we let them (students) answer a pre-test question for us to know their knowledge before the campaign. 

How sure are we they gained knowledge from the campaign?

We had our pre-test, that's why we also had them answer the post-test, it's also an exam to test if they really understood everything we taught them. Just like in school, we also gave merits and medals for those who really excelled.


For our Fifth day (last day)....

Now, I am taking back what I just said in the start of this blog, I am using this song for commencement too. HAHA! :) This day is the happiest, we had our games, prizes and of course the awarding. This was my first time to actually host for a commencement exercise, to go up the stage and to award students with medals and certificates. It was really heart-warming, seeing those smiles on their faces. I've already said it is the happiest but might as well add that it is also the saddest. why? obviously it's because it's the last day we will be seeing them. It's only for four days but we already did build a bond among each other. That's why it is really hard to tell them "goodbye!" :'(


What's the connection of the song to this?

The song talks about children being our hope for a better future. One line in the song is "We need a hand to guide us" that's why we did this campaign, to guide the students on how they can make use of these mass media for development. We are shaping them to better persons in the future.

"And we need a hand to guide us, Helping each other Build each other as long as we're together you and me... For together we stand, divided we fall. Together we climb to the top of the world."

And I am proud to say, I am an AB Communication student.