The Faculty of Journalism hosted a virtual visit of international experts within the Erasmus+ KA2 project DESTIN
The Chair of Journalism of the Faculty of Journalism of ZNU (Zaporizhzhia National University) continues to implement the international project "DESTIN" under the Erasmus + program (KA2: Capacity Building in Higher Education) "Journalism Education for Democracy in Ukraine: Developing Standards, Integrity and Professionalism".
The 2021/2022 academic year will be the final year of the project, so the team is already starting to sum up the results. The final stage of the quality assessment of teaching at the updated bachelor's and master's degree programs in Journalism was an online meeting of the department’s teachers and students with DESTIN European experts. They were Honorary President of EJTA (European Journalism Training Association), professor of the Windesheim University (Netherlands) Nico Drok and education quality expert at the NGO World University Services (Austria) Mark Schwarzli.
European partners continue to monitor the changes that have been made to the journalism study programs in 2019/2020. For the second year, the Faculty of Journalism has been working according to new curricula, in which the hours of practical disciplines have increased; the master's program has lost its pedagogical component, instead focusing on the training of a journalist, media manager and scientist. Regular surveys of students on the quality of courses, involvement of graduates and employers in discussing changes at the program have become a traditional practice.
"The recommendations given to us by European experts a year ago have become a guideline for us in our work, as such independent expertise helps to critically assess the advantages and disadvantages of our programs. We continue to work on improving journalism education, establish contacts with colleagues from other educational institutions for the internal mobility of teachers and students, look for partners for international cooperation, work with employers to improve educational programs," - said the Dean of the Faculty of Journalism Viktor Kostiuk during the meeting.
European experts communicated not only with teachers, but also with students. According to Nico Drok, students positively assess the quality of educational programs and the changes that are being implemented at the faculty. In particular, students noted the emergence of new courses, more laboratory and practical classes, meetings with practicing journalists, shared their experience of internships in regional and national media. Among the proposals made by the students are the possibility of learning several foreign languages, the refusal of elective subjects not related to the communication industry and the increase in the number of creative assignments teachers give them.
Today, the process of clarifying recommendations for the modernization of journalism education is underway, which will be approved by the consortium of DESTIN project partners and provided to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine to disseminate this experience among other Ukrainian universities.
It should be reminded that the DESTIN project is a three-year international project under the European Commission's Erasmus+ program, KA2. It brought together 20 institutions of higher education and public sector in Europe and Ukraine to develop and implement new standards of journalism education in Ukraine, taking into account the experience of European countries.
