Upskilling Campus Journalism Program and Students' Level of English Proficiency: Perspective of English Journalism Coaches

Campus journalism ignites young minds, fosters critical thinking, and empowers the next generation of storytellers to shape their world through compelling narratives. A good command of language is crucial to achieve this, yet linguistic barriers can hinder the conveyance of ideas, particularly in English. Through a qualitative phenomenological study, the researcher explored the experiences and strategies of English campus journalism coaches pertaining to upskilling campus journalism program and the students' English proficiency. The participants were eight (8) campus journalism coaches from different schools in Davao Oriental. From the findings, unique narratives were gathered about the experiences, strategies, and insights of the coaches. Three themes emerged as experiences of coaches: resource constraints, time management, and academic and skill gaps of students. Meanwhile, for the strategies, there were also three themes: development of writing skills, guidance and feedback, and coaching and lesson planning. For the insights, three themes have been unfurled: coaching approaches, growth and development, and personal qualities and leadership. Ultimately, this undertaking shines a light on campus journalism coaches who transform student writers into storytellers, thinkers, and leaders who will shape the narrative of tomorrow.