Effective factual TV content for young audiences : exploring new approaches to creating history documentaries for 6 - 12 -year - olds in digital UK television

Nelson, T

Abstract

This interdisciplinary original research engages with the fields of TV documentary production, children’s television, historiography, and the pedagogy of history teaching. From this large field, I am taking what is necessary for my research as a practitioner. The purpose of my practice-based PhD research is to create a teaching resource/guide to support the production of engaging children’s TV history documentaries. It could be helpful to, and applied by students, filmmakers, commissioners, educators, and anyone studying documentary making.
My project explores how to develop an exemplar documentary/factual digital TV format, using elements drawn from successful factual children’s TV programmes combined with some of my original ideas. I evaluate how effectively this exemplar documentary engages children, reflect critically upon the findings, and finally present a summary of insights in the field of children’s TV history documentaries. The techniques exemplified in the film are relatively low-cost and are, in this respect achievable for the industry despite pressure on budgets. I chose to develop a history documentary programme since the Department of Education (September 2013) regard history as essential for helping children look to the past and connect it with the present, to gain an “understanding of Britain’s past and that of the wider world.... [and] ... to understand the complexity of people’s lives, the process of change, the diversity of societies and relationships between different groups, as well as their own identity and the challenges of their time.” (History programmes of study: Key Stages 1 and 2 national curricula in England). I focus on children aged 6-12 years (CBBC target audience) and upon a specific topic–Viking’s period (793-1066 AD) in their History Key Stage 2 curriculum.
I chose the Vikings period because it is on the school Curriculum, and it fits well with where I live since the area has a strong connection with Vikings of the past and what they have left behind for us to see in the present. Hence, I target local schools for using focus groups for audience research.

Citation

Nelson, T. (2022). Effective factual TV content for young audiences : exploring new approaches to creating history documentaries for 6 - 12 -year - olds in digital UK television. (Thesis). University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Acceptance Date: Sep 6, 2022
• Deposit Date: Oct 5, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 12, 2024
• Award Date: Jan 11, 2022