Special Aspects of Using a Mentoring Approach to Training Public Relations Specialists

Abstract

This article presents the peculiarities of using mentoring approach to training public relations (PR) specialists. It includes a historiographical overview of the best practices related to the specifics of using mentoring in education. Based on the literature review, it proves that the use of a mentoring approach to training PR specialists has certain peculiarities and advantages. This paper provides the results of the study in the form of an online survey. Participants were practitioners and teachers working in the PR field. They had to answer questions related to the methodology of PR professional training at universities. Based on the data obtained, the main issues of mentoring assistance in preparing PR specialists have been discussed. The key methodological aspect of using mentoring assistance in PR training is using a pedagogical model "show-tell-do". This article covers general recommendations on integrating the mentoring approach into the process of PR specialist training at the university.Keywords: public relations; education; mentoring; professional competencies; training model. IntroductionObtaining education in public relation (PR) training is currently rather popular with young people. On the one hand, there is a considerable demand for the specialists in this field on the labour market; on the other hand, there is a problem of contemporary education programmes being inadequate to current labour market requirements. The Ministry of Education of Ukraine issues some requirements to the professional training of students. Subsequently, the university designs the educational system so as to train specialists of the appropriate level, required by the government and the relevant field, using a competency-based approach to education. However, this algorithm is very often violated, which results in the training system being inadequate to the labour market requirements, as the problem of low competence of specialists in a certain field arises. Thus, it is of great importance to optimise PR specialist training programs as well as determine the approaches to developing the professional competencies in PR students. In our opinion, the mentoring approach to PR specialist training can be integrated into the education system. In this paper, we aim to prove the effectiveness of implementing the mentoring approach in training PR specialists at higher educational institutions.

Special Aspects of Effective PR Professionals’ Training in the Post-Truth Era

“…Another aspect of effective education for public relations professionals is the use of a mentoring approach. The mentoring approach involves mentoring communication between an inexperienced beginner in a particular industry and a professional (Kyrychok, 2016). In the educational process, mentoring is traditionally understood as a didactic, personal, long-lasting relationship between an experienced mentor and a student.…”

Mentoring in Medical Science: The Experience of German-Speaking Countries

“…Theoretical framework. In the works of N. Alyushina [1], Y. Demus [2], O. Zabolotna [3], A. Kyrychok [4], A. Mishchuk [5], K. Osadcha [6], I. Sydoruk [8] t has been indicated the need to introduce coaching, tutoring, tutoring and mentoring in higher education, emphasizing mentoring models, the role and functions of a mentor, and the characteristic features of mentoring. In the researches of A. Mishchuk [5] and O. Zabolotna [3], an analysis of mentoring models has been carried out, where the learning model, the competence model, the cultivator model, the sponsor model, the psychologist model, the reflective model, and the development model are distinguished.…”

“…A. Kyrychok singles out the phenomenon of mentoring as, firstly, mentoring assistance through the aspect of the agreement between the mentor and the mentee regarding the assessment of the quality of mentoring, and what the criteria should be for assessment, secondly, the correspondence of the mentor and his mentee to each other's characteristics, thirdly, the gender aspect of mentoring, the mentor's functions, his key roles that benefit the mentee and the benefit of the mentor's functions for the mentor himself [4]. There is a significant amount of research devoted to various aspects of mentoring, but the problem of scientific substantiation of the organizational and pedagogical conditions for the formation of the readiness of future teachers of higher education institutions to implement the functions of a mentor in professional activity has not found its proper solution in the theory and methodology of professional training.…”