Interactive Radio Drama Training from Theatre for a Change

 

Learn how to produce Interactive Radio Drama for a wide range of gender, SRHR, SGBV and COVID-19 behaviour change and advocacy objectives.

Interactive Radio Drama (IRD) is a unique social and behaviour change communication tool from Theatre for a Change. It has been used in multiple countries since 2010 to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights of marginalised and vulnerable women and girls, with documented results.

IRD enables audiences to call in to the radio station and replace the main character in the radio drama, to show what they could do differently to change the story for the better. It enables behaviour change and advocacy to happen on a large scale. In Malawi, we reach over 550,000 listeners through interactive broadcasts each week.

We are now offering online training in our IRD approach to enable other organisations to use IRD in their gender, SRHR, SGBV and COVID-19 behaviour change and advocacy work.

Training structure

  • Condensed version – five half days of interactive skills building sessions via Zoom, plus group work in between the sessions. For three to five people.
  • Full version – eight half days of interactive skills building sessions via Zoom, plus group work in between the sessions. For six to ten people.

Both training versions come with three months of post-training technical support on a needs basis via WhatsApp.

Who is it for?

The training will involve a group of three to ten people who will form your Core Radio Team – they will be the ones receiving and directly implementing the training in target communities.

The Core Radio Team can be a combination of your staff, partner staff and community members. The Core Radio Team is made up of three different roles: Performer, Technician and Presenter. We will provide you with more information, along with training participant selection criteria, as part of the project planning process.

This training is context and project specific, so we are looking to work with organisations who have a clear vision for how IRD could be used as part of a new or existing project. If you are an international organisation with multiple country offices that are interested in receiving this training, and working with us in partnership, then we are happy to organise separate trainings for each office that is interested.

Before the training begins

We will explore together your current programming priorities, and how IRD can help you achieve your programming objectives. Then we will identify aims and outcomes for the project, and develop related project documents – eg logframe, schedule, risk register, MEL plan – along with the training curriculum that will be specific to the aims of your project.

What you will learn

By the end of the condensed version of the training, you will be able to:

  • Develop critical moments for role plays based on specific gender, SRHR, SGBV and/or COVID-19 related attitudes and behaviours you want to help your target audience develop.
  • Devise and perform short role plays live on radio.
  • Facilitate radio touch tag, which lets audiences call into the radio programme and replace key characters in the story, to show what they could do differently to change their behaviour live on-air.
Please note: The condensed version is designed for quickly raising awareness and disseminating messaging around a specific issue, and is intended for one or two broadcasts only – not for long term behaviour change or advocacy.

By the end of the full version of the training, you will be able to do everything from the condensed version, plus:

  • Develop narrative arcs for interactive radio serial dramas lasting multiple episodes over a period of time.
  • Record scenes on location using portable recording equipment.
  • Edit scenes and compile them into episodes ready for broadcast.
  • Develop 30-minute and 60-minute magazine-style broadcasting programmes and scripts featuring IRD and other interactive radio segments.
Please note: The full version is designed for changing social attitudes and behaviours over time and influencing policy, and is intended for a longer term use of the approach.

Programme

Both versions of the course – condensed and full – will be delivered entirely online, through facilitated live sessions using Zoom. The exact days and times of the training will be co-agreed by Theatre for a Change and partners.

Language

We are currently offering the training in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for this training, we ask that you:

  • Be a registered non-profit organisation.
  • Have the commitment and resources to implement the training on radio.
  • Have an interest in working collaboratively with Theatre for a Change, and developing a long-term partnership with us over time.
  • Agree to acknowledge Theatre for a Change as the owner and originator of IRD in all communications.

Licensing and costs

The training comes with a licensing agreement, which permits you to use IRD within the parameters of the project’s scope of work. Training and implementation costs vary depending on the training version, size of the Core Radio Team, frequency, scale and duration of broadcasts, number of listening clubs, project management, and monitoring, evaluation and learning costs. We are happy to provide a sample budget once we have a good understanding of how you envision using IRD in your work.

For more information

Please contact Ryan Borcherding on ryan.borcherding@tfacafrica.com