Ecological-Patriotic Volunteership As A Means Of Forming The Civiс Position

Abstract

One of the areas of patriotic education is the inclusion of the younger generation in volunteering. The article presents the phenomenon of ecological-patriotic volunteering as an effective tool for consolidating the patriotic and environmental areas of educational work. The possibilities of ecological-patriotic volunteering as a means of patriotic education and forming the civic position of the young generation are revealed. The essential characteristics of this type of volunteer activity are considered, as well as its forms (ecological-patriotic education, environmental protection activities, organization of ecological leisure) and principles of organization of ecological-patriotic volunteering (the subjective position of the participants, educational and entertaining-educational nature of the activity, nature and culture, eventfulness, etc.). The article analyzes the results of a diagnostic study of young people’s ideas about patriotic education at school, as well as its connection with environmental activities. The authors present the experience of the volunteer group “Dobry Novgorod”, analyze the results of the ecological-patriotic work of volunteers from the perspective of their personal changes, as well as in the assessments of citizens participating in volunteer events. The most effective forms of ecological-patriotic volunteering have been identified, including family holidays, the territory cleanup combined with leisure activities. The characteristics of ecological-patriotic volunteering that contribute to the formation of civic activism and patriotic feelings of volunteers are revealed: universality and accessibility for people of different ages and physical abilities, comprehensibility and aesthetic value, educational nature of the activity, integration with various types of leisure, developing pride in their work and country.

Keywords: Civic positioncivil societyecological-patriotic volunteeringpatriotic education

Introduction

In recent years, the Russian Federation has embarked on the development of public interest in volunteering. In 2018, the Federal Law No. 15-FZ “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation on the Issues of Volunteering” was adopted. In the near future, all regions of the country should introduce the Volunteer Support Standard, as well as report on events that took place within the framework of the Year of Volunteering (Standards of Volunteering Support in Regions, 2017).

Volunteering becomes a means of active patriotic education of the younger generation. According to V.V. Putin, “Volunteers have become partners of the state” (Ivanova, 2018). Significant support is received by state movements aimed at developing patriotism, such as Victory Volunteers, Yunarmia (Young Army), and the civic direction of the Russian schoolchildren movement.

In a situation of active public involvement in volunteering, there naturally arises an interest in considering volunteering as a means of patriotic education and the formation of a civil society.

Problem Statement

Currently, in Russia there is a tendency to unite civic and patriotic education, which is reflected in the state program “Patriotic Education of Citizens of the Russian Federation for 2016-2020”. However, this document broadcasts a rather “militarized” understanding of patriotism, excluding such important direction of development of civil society as a transition to an environmentally responsible lifestyle. On sixty pages of the program’s text, there is not a single word with the root “eco” and not a single mentioning of nature as part of homeland (Government program“Patriotic Education of Citizens of Russian Federation for 2016-2020”, 2015). The inclination to military-patriotic education is confirmed by the active development of Yunarmia (Young Army) and the Victory Volunteers movement. Thus, the idea that patriotism is, above all, protection of homeland from the enemy, military merit and educational activities related to the preservation of the historical memory of the former glory of Russia, prevails among young people.

The analysis of state documents in the field of patriotic education is presented in the research work by Sanina (2016). The author indicates a strong militarization of Russian patriotic education that prevents the formation of constructive patriotism and “cultivates the unconditional love for homeland, devotion to the supreme power, unquestioning positive assessment of the activities of the authorities, rejection of critical evaluation, readiness to protect the state right up to self-sacrifice” (Sanina, 2016, p. 52). In this situation, the relevant question is what values, except for the militaristic ones, can become the focus of patriotic education.

Reflecting on the place of patriotic education in the state educational system, Golunov (2012) considers three strategies for the development of patriotic education, including the preservation of the dominant role of patriotic education, its equality with other areas of educational work, as well as its replacement by education in civic activity, humanism, tolerance, and general moral principles.

In our opinion, it is possible to integrate the above-mentioned strategies in terms of that various areas of educational work (moral, aesthetic, environmental, etc.), as well as fostering civic activism can transmit patriotic values, thereby reducing the resistance of young people to straight-forward slogans and traditional “passive” methods and means of patriotic education.

The most suitable way seems to be the unification of patriotic and ecological areas of educational activities, since the natural, cultural and historical wealth of a country is sometimes not separable (monasteries and natural parks, architectural monuments and the surrounding natural landscapes, etc.). In addition, the integration of environmental and patriotic areas of educational work correlates with the trend of greening, i.e. the penetration of environmental knowledge, practices and values into various spheres of public life (Titov & Cherkashin, 2017).

The importance of greening the education and the formation of ecological culture for sustainable development is underlined by Zakharov (2011), Monakhova (Monakhova & Agalarova, 2007) and others. Autleva (2013) develops the idea of the need to create a system of environmental socialization. Environmental competence is becoming increasingly important for an individual nowadays (Demyankov, Pavlov, & Smirnov, 2017).

At present, the ecological and patriotic areas of upbringing and education are closely related to the concept of sustainable development; its goals include clean water and energy, the preservation of the ecosystems of the sea and land, the fight against climate change, responsible consumption and production (Sustainable Development Goals, 2018). At the same time, the patriotic component becomes a kind of moral foundation that lands global goals of sustainable development in local, native conditions.

According to Lyubimov (2013), “the key condition for the formation of a citizen is participation, active involvement in social life”. The researcher notes that the key condition for the formation of a civil society and the active participation of the younger generation in its social and political life is the inclusion in the activities, as far as possible, from an early age. The author calls for the restoration and consolidation of the meanings of citizenship, culture and identity at school and in the family environment, where such social competencies as ability to choose, adaptability to change, responsibility and ability to keep a word, desire for self-development, etc. should be formed and developed. In our opinion, it is volunteering that allows developing these skills, as well as forming the active position and dedication of a young person.

Being the most characteristic tool of civic participation, volunteering in the world research has long been viewed as a tool for building civil society (Salamon, Sokolowski, Haddock, & Tice, 2013; Van den Bos, 2014; Dreyfus, 2018). In this article, it is important to dwell on the volunteer activities of an ecological-patriotic nature; these activities currently do not receive broad support from the state, whereas, in our opinion, they are one of the most important tools for shaping patriotism and citizenship of young people.

Research Questions

• What are the ideas of young people about patriotic and ecological-patriotic education?

• What are the essence and features of ecological-patriotic volunteering?

• What are the forms of organization of ecological-patriotic volunteer work? Which ones are most interesting to young people and why?

• What are the possibilities of ecological-patriotic volunteering in solving the problems of patriotic education and the formation of the civic position of the young generation?

Purpose of the Study

The study of ecological-patriotic volunteering allows revealing and describing the essential characteristics, as well as the pedagogical capabilities of this type of activity in the organization of patriotic education and civic education, which is the purpose of this study.

The article presents an attempt to prove the effectiveness of ecological-patriotic volunteering in educational work in the urban community using the example of the “Dobry Novgorod” (“Kind Novgorod”) informal volunteer group, as well as by studying the opinions of the participants of the city’s volunteer events organized in 2017 and 2018.

The results of the research can be further used to organize pedagogical work with schoolchildren and students, as well as in formulating a sustainable development policy for urban communities.

Research Methods

• In order to study the essence of ecological-patriotic volunteering and its characteristics, the pedagogical literature on the topic of patriotic and environmental education, as well as research on the problems of volunteering was studied.

• To identify students’ ideas about the relationship between ecological and patriotic education, a survey was conducted in Yaroslav the Wise Novgorod State University (NovSU), in which 60 first-year students of various majors took part. The questionnaire was offered to first-year students, as they could, in our opinion, assess educational work at secondary school where they studied for 11 years.

• Participant observation to study the organizational aspects of ecological-patriotic volunteering was used during the process of organizing environmental-patriotic events on the territory of Veliky Novgorod from 2017 to 2018.

• The method of individual interview was used to study the civic position of the participants of the “Dobry Novgorod” volunteer group, as well as changes in their value orientations and attitudes in the course of ecological-patriotic volunteering.

• To study the forms of organization of ecological-patriotic volunteering, an online survey was conducted in the social network VKontakte.

Findings

Conclusion

In the world of global processes and the erasure of borders, the formation of the civic-patriotic position of the young generation is becoming one of the conditions for the stable development of the state. At the same time, effective patriotic education and the formation of civic consciousness presupposes the inclusion of an individual in active activities, the participation of an individual in the public life of the country and region.

We consider the inclusion of the young generation in volunteering activities aimed at protecting and preserving the natural, cultural and historical values of their homeland – ecological-patriotic volunteering – to be one of the most important areas of patriotic education. Ecological-patriotic volunteering is an activity that is understandable and accessible to both a child and an elderly person; it allows people unite, regardless of religious, national and economic differences. The practical results can inspire further collaboration.

Acknowledgments

The article is published in the framework of the project 18-413-530001 “Potential possibilities of using the ethno-cultural heritage of Veliky Novgorod in the patriotic education of the younger generation”.

References

1. Autleva, A. N. (2013). Ecological education and upbringing in the system of ecological socialization of personality. Bulletin of the Maikop State Technological University, 2. Retrieved October 1, 2018, from: http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/ekologicheskoe-obrazovanie-i-vospitanie-v-sisteme-ekologicheskoy-sotsializatsii-lichnosti.
2. Demyankov, E.N., Pavlov A.A., & Smirnov, D.V. (2017). Forming the Ecological Competence of Pupils. The European Proceedings of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Volume XXVIII, 231-242.
3. Dreyfus, S.N. (2018). Volunteerism and US Civil Society. Stanford Social Innovation Review, vol. 16, no 3. Retrieved October 10, 2018, from: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/volunteerism_and_us_civil_society#.
4. Golunov, S. V. (2012). Patriotic upbringing in Russia: pros and cons. Educational Studies Moscow, 3, 258-273.
5. Government program “Patriotic Education of Citizens of Russian Federation for 2016-2020” (2015). Retrieved October 10, 2018, from: http://edu53.ru/np-includes/upload/ 2016/04/25/9962.pdf.
6. Ivanova, A. (2018). “Volunteers become partners of the state”: Putin announced the 2018th Year of Volunteer. Retrieved October 10, from https://russian.rt.com/russia/article/457029-putin-god-dobrovolca.
7. Khvorostyanova, N.I. (2017). Volunteering in Russian society and in Russian Sociology: View from Abroad. Sociological Journal, 23, 2, 136-152.
8. Kukushkina, A. G. (2017). Eco-patriotic education of university students. Newsletter of Yaroslav the Wise Novgorod State University, 4(102), 68-71.
9. Lyubimov, L.L. (2013). Russian School: development of citizenship. Educational Studies Moscow, 1, 278-300.
10. Monakhova, G.A., & Agalarova, P.I. (2007). The concept of sustainable development and the tasks of environmental education of students in schools and universities. South of Russia: Ecology, Development, 1, 113-116.
11. Pevnaya, М. V. (2016). Managing Russian volunteers’ efforts: essence and contradictions. Sociological Research, 12, 69-77.
12. Salamon, L.M., Sokolowski, S.W., Haddock, M.A., & Tice, H.S. (2013). The State of Global Civil Society and Volunteering: Latest Findings from the Implementation of the UN Nonprofit Handbook. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies
13. Sanina, A.G. (2016). Patriotism of Russians and patriotic education in modern Russia. Sociological Research, 5, 44-53.
14. Shitikova, O. N. (2002). Ecological and patriotic education of younger adolescents in the modern school of general education. Retrieved October 5, 2018, from http://www.lib.ua-ru.net/diss/cont/119619.html.
15. Standards of Volunteering Support in Regions (2017). Retrieved October 10, 2018, from: https://asi.ru/social/volunteers/#standard
16. Sustainable Development Goals (2018). Retrieved October 10, 2018, from: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ru/sustainable-development-goals/
17. Titov, E.V., & Cherkashin, E.O. (2017). Ecology as the Field of Social Relations. The European Proceedings of Social & Behavioral Sciences, XXVIII, 206-211.
18. Van den Bos, C.M. (2014). Using Volunteering Infrastructure to Build Civil Society. Stichting Rijnstad, Arnhem.
19. Zakharov, А. V. (2011). Environmental education and environmental education in the context of overcoming modern global environmental challenges to humanity. TSU Bulletin, 9, 335-339.