Russian Educators about Communication and the Need for Communication Education

Abstract

The article presents the results of an empirical study (a survey) analysing the perceptions of Russian educators on the issues of communication and communication education and training.
There were 52 survey participants representing universities from eight regions of Russia (Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Tomsk, Volgograd, Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Novokuznetsk and Shadrinsk – several different parts of the Russian Federation, from the North-West to the South-East regions). The survey included 16 questions: 10 open questions with the individual answer of a participant and 6 multiple choice questions. The survey was conducted via the Internet.
The survey results demonstrate that the Russian educators characterise communication predominantly through the lens of two theoretical perspectives or models, namely the psychological and information model. With regard to the two close concepts used in Russian to account for communication (kommunikatsia and obshenie) no consensus was revealed on how to view the difference between them. Among the most commonly identified problems in communication education and training, the participants name a lack of qualified (communication) professionals and the lack of professional training programmes to gain that expertise.
The author draws a suggestion that at the core of the matter there is the problem of institutionalising this area of studies. In order to solve it, new policies are required to introduce degree-providing communication programmes and thereby establish communication as a separate area of training.