The ManicaPost
Morris Mtisi
Dear Radio Learners
Good news to all of you out there! The radio teacher is back now. Those who have been following the education programme will remember I announced that it was being shelved for a while pending a new and longer slot.
A number of avid listeners were politely complaining that the programme was a bit too short (30 minutes) and came too late into the night (9:30 to 10pm). Pleasantly one of the complainants was the radio station manager. “I have a daughter whom I encouraged to listen to this important education programme. She does Literature at school and of course the common errors and the English Language skills you handle are good for continuous learners,” he said.
So thumbs up to JB, the station manager.
Finally JB found an appropriate time slot for the radio teacher. It is now a good one hour long–from 5 to 6pm every Sunday. The idea was that most pupils and students would have come back from Churches and hopefully relaxing at home before supper and bed time . . . and so would be my studio student guests.
The programme comes back re-branded of course. It will take live learner participation as part of its method of tuition. This means that there will be an English Language and Literature studio class complemented by interested visiting students and pupils from various schools in between. Please note that the participation of younger learners, primary school participants, will be vital. ‘‘CATCH THEM YOUNG,’’ they say, so goes the old clichéd adage.
Parents or teachers . . . may be schools that want their primary school children to participate, be in touch with me on App on my mobile phone 0773 883 293 or simply come and see me at Diamond FM and The Manica Post.
Radio in other countries is a critical educational tool . . . it is a school in its own right with qualified teachers and experts interacting with learners in very effective ways. Children love radio and they go over the moon when they participate. Gone are or must be the days when people took radio to be all about entertainment. If well organised by knowledgeable people, radio is a fascinating game-changer. Instead of exchanging rubbish on the phone and ear-plugging listening to dirty music, children can use ear-phones to listen to useful educational stuff, at least once in a while.
Please note that the radio teacher, once in a while, welcomes teachers who may have something special in the broader school curriculum to share with listener-learners; Heritage Studies, Business Studies, Accounting, Shona, Ndau . . . the list is as long and broad as the curriculum. We want to broaden the scope of our radio lessons. That is the new idea.
The radio lessons will obviously be spiced with sensible music to keep the mind invigorated. I hope you realise music . . . good music . . . well selected music, teaches English Language: Poetry, Expression, Vocabulary and correct pronunciation of certain words and critical thinking. Music is a perfect element of psycholinguistics . . . meaning development of the mind through the language of music. Rest assured I know the difference between musical trash and good music that teaches sense. As soon as the ears register a musical sound, something happens at the brain-stem . . . and learning and critical thinking begin at once.
My studio class is led by Lisah Munetsi and Panashe. They will invite other individual students from other schools in and around Mutare from time to time.
Enjoy the Radio Teacher Programme . . . every Sunday afternoon from 5 to 6pm.
Your radio teacher-MM
