Launching the professional career of journalism students in a university editorial office: pedagogical effects and risks

Archive of Scientific Articles

ISSUE:

Pedagogy. Theory & Practice. 2025. Volume 10. Issue 8

COLLECTION:

Vocational Education

All issues

Abstract. The study aims to assess the impact of future journalists’ work in a university editorial office on professional skills formation, professional identity development, and media competence enhancement in journalism students by identifying factors that impede students’ successful adaptation to professional activities. The article examines the start of professional activity of journalism students in the context of a university editorial office as a form of practice-oriented learning, including the development of skills, the formation of professional identity, and the enhancement of media competence for future professional activity. Based on the experience of pedagogical implementation of a dual education program and data from semi-structured interviews with students, pedagogical effects and risks associated with the organization of editorial practice in the educational environment are identified: student motivation, content quality, and adaptation to real media processes. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that previous thematic studies have mainly focused on the organizational-model and value aspects of dual education, while the issues of pedagogical challenges arising at the stage of a real professional start remain insufficiently studied. The personal experience of students undergoing training in university media editorial offices has not been fully considered. This study contributes to filling this gap, focusing on subjective sensations, challenges, barriers, and pedagogical conditions that promote (or hinder) the successful start of professional activities of journalism students. Particular attention is paid to the formation of professional identity, reflection, and internal contradictions that arise in the process of mastering the professional role. The study revealed that the start of professional activity in the context of a university editorial office can be considered as a stage of the educational process, at which primary experience of professional action is formed, accompanied by emotional stress, increased motivation, the emergence of responsibility and reflection. The pedagogical value of the start of professional activity in the context of a university editorial office lies not only in applied skills training, but also in creating conditions for personal and value choice – key to sustainable professional development. In conclusion, methodological recommendations developed for universities that implement such dual education models are presented.