Interrelation Of Readiness For Self-Development And Responsibility Of A Future Journalist

Abstract

The social changes occurred in recent decades under the influence of global processes of informatization, intensification, individualization and internationalization have led to the public need to acquire trans-professional competencies not only practising workers in the sphere of mass communication, but also university students. The basic competencies include constant self-development and self-improvement, the ability for interprofessional communication and interdisciplinary synthesis of knowledge, teamwork skills, real and virtual entry into professional and trans-professional networks; In this regard, modern psychological and pedagogical research in the field of professional training of a future journalist is focused on the problems of developing new reference qualities of media professionals in the field of information and communication activities. According to the results of diagnostics carried out in 2018, groups of journalism students with different levels of readiness for self-development were selected and compared to responsibility subject. A modified questionnaire by V. Pavlov “Readiness for self-development” and methods of multidimensional functional diagnostics created by V. Pryadein were used as research methods. The sample of respondents was Bachelor of Journalism at several universities in the Southern Urals. Due to mathematical data processing, the hypothesis of the existence of an interrelation of readiness for self-development and the responsibility of a future journalist was confirmed.

Keywords: Readiness for self-developmentresponsibilityfuture journalistbacheloruniversity

Introduction

In recent decades, the boundaries between traditional and new media (multiskilling - a profession requires many skills), information and entertainment (infotainment), journalism and society (user generated content), sources and representatives of the audience (demediation), journalists and publishers (commercialization) are disappearing. In addition, social changes such as informatization, individualization, intensification and internationalization created a new information and communication structure, have led to the fragmentation of the audience, the formation of a “continuous” culture (non-stop culture) and globalized markets. As a result, we live in a time of radical change (Deuze & Witschge, 2018; Bakker, 2014; Beckett & Deuze, 2016).

Scientists raise the issue of the “professional culture” (Drok, 2012; Russell, 2015), the fundamental elements of which concepts become culture and profession. There are different approaches to understanding it. Fundamental is considered an approach containing such characteristics of professional culture as social motives of work, cognitive interest, desire to put knowledge into practice, the development of needs in creative work, high moral character, hard work, duty, the formation of the foundations of a culture of mental and physical labor, dedication, enterprise. Based on this, professional culture can be defined as an integrative concept that implies the level of skill achieved in work, the ability to creatively tackle professional tasks, make adequate and responsible decisions in the current situation and evaluate it, comply with the rules of professional ethics, labor duties process.

Therefore, in the context of ongoing changes in activity, we can talk about trans-professionalism. This process is not only characteristic of journalism: from the point of view of professional activity, narrow specialization gradually but steadily gives way to universality in the broadest sense of the concept.

Experts identify the following basic trans-professional competencies: narrow specialization in a profession, interprofessional communication skills and transdisciplinary knowledge synthesis, orientation to combining basic research with practical problem solving, teamwork skills, continuous self-development and self-improvement, real and virtual entry into what is called community of practice (professional and trans-professional networks) (Malinovskiy, 2007).

Transprofessionals must be prepared to work freely in their various professional environments due to their thinking and ways of organizing activities. Integration of methods means and ways of thinking and activity under a specific problem situation, which does not have standard solutions, is the specifics of trans-professional work. This approach will allow taking place in the profession, because today we need not just journalists who write, but professionals who are ready to perform the functions of an entrepreneur, a manager, a psychologist, an economist, and a designer. The transprofessional approach also determines the unprecedented development of journalism in the future, provided by the dynamics of the industry (Malinovskiy, 2007; Kalmykov, 2011).

The above changes dictate a certain set of properties and characteristics that a representative of this profession should possess. In other words, they form a model of a journalist as a certain integrity of the main professional, civil, moral, psychological, creative, social and demographic characteristics - all those features that make him a professional, creative person, who is able to effectively perform his functions in society (Anderson, 2014).

Specialists in the field of journalism and journalism education distinguish among the professional qualities that a modern universal journalist should possess, the following ones (Pulya, 2013):

- deep knowledge in the field of humanitarian disciplines;

- awareness of the special role of the media in the modern world;

- the degree of personal sociality and professional responsibility;

- high cultural level;

- understanding of the specific activities of various types of media;

- competence in all aspects of professional activity;

- developed professional reflection;

- ability to self-education, self-improvement

Researchers agree that the theory and practice of training journalists need changes that are focused on the demands of the time, which, in turn, requires highly qualified personnel. Special attention to the activities of specialists in this particular area is due to the fact that journalism is considered a profession of “social significance associated with a high level of social responsibility”; requiring the ability to navigate in the world of socio-cultural values.

The federal state educational standard of higher education of the Russian Federation is a set of mandatory requirements for the implementation of basic professional educational programs. The competencies that graduates of journalism department must master, are:

- Ability to search, use critique and information synthesis, apply a systematic approach to solving posed problems;

- Ability to determine the range of tasks within set goals and choose the best ways to solve them, based on current legal norms, available resources and limitations;

- Ability to manage their time, build and implement the path of self-development based on the principles of lifelong education;

- Ability to perceive intercultural diversity of societies in sociohistorical, ethical and philosophical context;

- Ability to carry out business communication in oral and written forms in the state language of the Russian Federation and in any other foreign language (s);

- Ability to take into account the effects and consequences of their professional activities, following the principles of social responsibility (The Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation No. 951, 2014; Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation No. 271, 2015).

Considering the requirements of the federal state educational standard, we understand that in modern realities, there is a need for strong personalities who are able to make quickly difficult decisions, to take responsibility for their actions and to ensure effective development of their professional activity.

Thus, the issues of responsibility and self-development of future journalists are most relevant in the research of various scientific fields.

Problem Statement

Based on the the results of domestic and foreign psychological and pedagogical research (Zeer, 2013; Steensen & Ahva, 2015; Pryadein, 2014; Hellmueller & Mellado, 2015), we state that readiness for self-development and responsibility distinguishes a mature person from an immature person. This gives grounds to assume that readiness for self-development may be associated with the assessment of the student's responsibility, acting as a regulator of behaviour that determines the dynamics of the subject’s development. This hypothesis served as the basis for a pilot empirical study conducted in foreign language teaching at a number of universities in the Southern Urals.

Research Questions

Is there any interrelation between self-development and responsibility of future journalists?

Purpose of the Study

The goal of this pilot study is to study readiness for self-development and responsibility of students of journalism department in the context of foreign language teaching at the university.

Research Methods

Diagnosis of readiness for self-development was carried out by means of pedagogical observation of the activities and behaviour of students, analysis of their products of educational activities, a modified questionnaire by V. Pavlov “Readiness for self-development”.

To collect data on the formation of the level of responsibility of students we used methods of multidimensional functional diagnostics created by Pryadein (2014).

The implementation of diagnostics, including the procedures for using the criteria and indicators of the development of the student’s personality traits, was carried out in accordance with the instructions of the respective methodologies.

Data processing was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 20 software.

Findings

As the analysis of regulatory documents has shown, in connection with new trends in the life of modern society, general cultural competence, i.e. the ability to self-organize and self-educate, along with the competence of communication in a foreign language in oral and written forms for solving professional tasks, tasks of interpersonal and intercultural interaction is enshrined in the Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education in the areas of training future media professionals.

Taking into account the fact that learning a foreign language is, first of all, the interaction of the teacher and the student, it should be recognized that a positive result for the development of students' readiness for self-development and increasing their level of responsibility is directly dependent on both the student and the educational environment. The period of study at the university is an important step not only in the preparation of a professional but also in the development of a student as a subject of life activity. It was revealed that the main necessary psychological and pedagogical conditions include: targeted selection of educational material, an individual approach to students, the use of new technologies and interactive teaching methods. Studying the field of activity of a journalist allows you to determine the scope of a foreign language in a journalist's work in order to develop a methodology for foreign language education, a system of professional skills and abilities ensuring the success of a journalist. The pilot project confirms that this teaching methodology can serve as a basis for creating an innovative learning environment, i.e. conditions that facilitate the acquisition of the reference qualities of a media professional by students. Experimental research has shown that a methodically sound application of student self-management technologies can contribute to the development of competencies in the field of self-development and relevant personal qualities, in particular, responsibility and autonomy.

The sample of respondents was Bachelor of Journalism at several universities in the Southern Urals (Chelyabinsk State University, South Ural State University, GI Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University, Ural Federal University, etc.) of 1-2 years of study. In total, the sample consisted of 168 people (n = 168). According to the results of diagnostics carried out in 2018, groups of students with different levels of readiness for self-development (from 1, very low to 9, very high) were selected and compared to responsibility (from pronounced responsibility, neutrality or situational manifestation of responsibility, to irresponsibility) subject). As a result of mathematical data processing, the hypothesis was confirmed of the existence of a relationship of readiness for self-development and the responsibility of a future journalist.

As we can see from the table 1 , there is the interrelation between level of responsibility and readiness to self-development. The average number of both characteristics is about .7.

Conclusion

Analysis of theoretical and empirical results allows us to draw some conclusions. It can be stated that at the initial stage the bachelors are not sufficiently prepared for self-development, possessing an insufficient level of responsibility. A positive correlation between readiness for self-development and academic success is revealed.

The use of research results in real educational activities at the university serves to expand the semantic consciousness of future media professionals.

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