Professionalization Through Social Entrepreneurship: the Forming of New Competence in Theatrical Pedagogy

Abstract

Irina Popova — Senior Researcher, Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences. Address: Bldg. 5, 24/35, Krzhizhanovskogo St., Moscow, 117218, Russian Federation. E-mail: irina_popova@list.ru

The constant forming of new spheres of activity which supports the social demand for new occupations and, thus, increases the complexity of the occupational structure, is a characteristic feature of modern society. But how does the awareness of the demand for new professions actually develop? How do the new ways and methods of solving this problem evolve and what are the first steps to be taken towards creating such methods? What are the main obstacles and possible means (resources) for dealing with them? These issues are addressed in the article based on the case of an independent non-profit organization, which was founded in the early 2000s and whose scope of activity lies at the crossroads of art and education (theater pedagogy for adolescent youth).

The study is based on two main approaches. First, it reviews the process of how professions evolve through professionalization, while the second approach emphasizes the particularities of the practices of social entrepreneurship. This article presents the results of research utilizing the case-study method within the project “Study of models of social entrepreneurship in Russia”. It explores the conditions and stages of implementing the main objectives of an independent non-profit organization, i.e. professionalization of theatrical pedagogy through the organization of professional training for the specialists in this field. It analyzes the main obstacles towards achieving these goals: bureaucratic, social (related to the willingness of society to perceive the problem) and psychological (related to the peculiarities of conducting business among professionals).