BYLINES AND BEGINNINGS: THE NARRATIVES OF THE SPECIAL PROGRAM IN JOURNALISM GRADUATES

English Language Teaching

Although the Special Program in Journalism (SPJ) has been implemented, few studies have been conducted to examine how the graduates understand their experiences after the program. This qualitative phenomenology study primarily aims to analyze the lived learning experiences of SPJ graduates from Trento National High School. Specifically, the study examined the graduates’ lived experiences, challenges encountered, coping mechanisms, and insights gained from their participation in the program. Ten (10) SPJ graduates were purposely selected as participant of the study for a fuller understanding of the phenomenon. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the experiences of SPJ graduates were transformative, meaningful, and experiential in nature. Participants acquired communication skills, critical thinking, confidence, discipline and journalistic competence through authentic journalism-related activities. The findings also revealed that participants had issues such as time pressure, heavy workloads, self-doubt, lack of resources and problems in balancing academic duties with media work. Participants adopted coping strategies including time management, cooperation, consulting mentors, self-directed learning and persistence to overcome these obstacles. In addition, the graduates acquired important knowledge on responsible communication, resilience, self-confidence and the role of journalism as a tool for expression, activism and personal growth. The study generally found that participation in the SPJ was very crucial in the intellectual, personal and communicative development of the graduates even after the completion of the program.

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