Volunteering Of Future Teachers In The Context Of Educational Inclusion

Abstract

One of the most pressing at present is the possibility of integrating the classroom and extracurricular activities of students, which contributes to the formation and development of their professional competence. In the context of the study, the volunteer activities of future teachers are seen as а part of their professional competence. In particular, the authors consider the possibility of using volunteering as a type of practice-oriented activity of future teachers in the process of their preparation for work in an inclusive educational process. Information-cognitive, motivational-value and operational-efficient components are allocated to describe the holistic structure of readiness for volunteer activities of students of pedagogical specialties. The authors of the article cite the results of a pilot study on comparative analysis of the formation of components of readiness for volunteering in future defectors and students of pedagogical specialties. The need to form components of the readiness to volunteer students of various pedagogical specialties has been identified and justified. On the basis of the study, some recommendations have been made to prepare future educators of different profiles for volunteering as a practice-oriented activity within the framework of a competent approach with based on the experimental obtained data, which may be useful to university leaders and faculty.

Keywords: Volunteer activitieseducational inclusioncompetent approachpractice-oriented approachprofessional competencereadiness for volunteering

Introduction

In today's world, volunteering is one of the main forms of social activism of citizens (Sender, 2016; Sikorskaya, 2006; Young & Glasgow, 1998). Increasing the role of volunteers in society contributes to the development of humanistic values and tolerant attitude towards different categories of people. These qualities are very important for teachers, including those working in an inclusive educational space. In order to become a successful specialist in inclusive education, a university student must not only master the knowledge, skills and competencies, experience and methods of communication, but also become a spiritually rich person oriented to humanistic values , and has a wide range of professional competencies (Bocsi, Hajnalka, & Markos, 2017).

Problem Statement

The main problem of the study is to study the peculiarities of the formation of information-cognitive and motivational-value components of readiness for volunteering activities in future defectors and students of pedagogical specialties.

The need to solve this problem is due to the following circumstances:

the most urgent at present is the possibility of integrating the academic - professional and extracurricular activities of students, contributing to the development of professional competence as a system of scientific - theoretical knowledge, operational - technological skills and motivational - value characteristics of the specialist needed to organize the upcoming professional activities (Antonova, 2009; Danilevich, 2011; Ekimova, 2006);

• involving future professionals in practical activities as close as possible to the profession being developed (Chacón, Pérez, Flores, & Vecina, 2011);

• the potential for student volunteering as a practice-oriented activity for future educators (Christauskas, Petrauskiene, & Marcinkeviciute, 2012).

Research Questions

The answers to the following questions were looked for during the study:

Purpose of the Study

The aim of the study is to compare the formation of information-cognitive and motivational-value components of readiness for volunteering in future defectors and students of pedagogical specialties.

The authors of the study suggest that volunteering at the university will be an effective means of shaping the professional competences of future teachers and their readiness to work in the conditions of educational inclusion, if features of the formation of information - cognitive and motivational - value components of readiness for the volunteer activities of future teachers of various specialties will be investigated and identified

Research Methods

The purpose of the stated experiment was to study the peculiarities of the formation of informational - cognitive and motivational - value components of readiness for volunteering activities in future defectors and students of pedagogical specialties.

Purposeful study of the peculiarities of the formation of information-cognitive and motivational-value components of readiness for volunteer activities among future teachers was conducted from March to May 2019 on the basis of the faculty of social pedagogy and psychology, pedagogical and philological faculties of the Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherov, the Institute of Inclusive Education of Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after M. Tank.

A group of full-time and part-time students were selected to organize the study, 2nd to 4th years of education in “Oligophrenopedology”, “Surdo-Pedagogy”, “Preschool Education”, “Elementary Education”, “Music Arts”, “Rhythmics and choreography”, “Social Pedagogy”, “Russian Language and Literature”.“Foreign language."

The total number of people involved in the study was 130 students. Gender composition of groups: 124 girls and 6 young men. The age of the people under test is 18 to 25 years.

65 students of the specialty "Oligophrenopedagogy" and "Surdo-pedagogy" made the first experimental group (EG1), the rest of the students of pedagogical specialties made up the second experimental group (EG2). Each of the under test students performed the same set of tasks in similar conditions, namely alone with the experimenter, in complete silence, which allowed to ensure the objectivity of the evaluation of the results.

A complex of methods used to achieve the set goal and stipulated tasks includes:

• logical-psychological analysis of the subject content of psychological-educational and special literature on the topic of research;

• methods of empirical search (author's questionnaires of a closed nature: questionnaire on identification of the characteristics of the formation of the information and cognitive component of the readiness for volunteering activities, questionnaire "Motives of voluntary assistance", “Motivation for participation in volunteer activities”;

• quantitative and qualitative analysis of the obtained evidence ;

• mathematical and statistical methods of processing the study data (Fisher's angular transformation).

The questionnaire to identify the features of the formation of the information and cognitive component of the readiness for volunteering activities among future defectors and students of pedagogical specialties included 18 questions related to the identification of students understanding the phenomenon of "volunteering," its essential characteristics, specifics of activity, qualities of a volunteer's personality, his needs, desire to work as a volunteer. Some of the questions concerned the work of students as volunteers in an inclusive environment, with children with special features of psychophysical development; students' willingness to work with such a category of children (knowledge of the specifics of children, their needs, ability to communicate with them).

The study of the characteristics of the motivational-value component of the readiness for volunteer activities was carried out with the help of the following questionnaires: the questionnaire "Motives for voluntary assistance" (desire to help, communication, religious promptings, status enhancement, free time, etc.) and the "Motivation for participation in volunteer activities" questionnaire (sense of duty, need for self-expression, ability to gain respect and recognition, desire to show care, opportunity for professional development and professional self-fulfillment through the realization of life and professional experience and other).

Findings

Analysis of the study results of the characteristics of the formation of the information and the readiness cognitive components for volunteer activities among future teachers allowed to draw certain conclusions (Table 01 ).

These indicators show that the majority of respondents do not have enough the full understanding of the semantic component of the word "volunteering", this concept is not sufficiently differentiated. At the same time, comparing the data of the EG1 and EG2 questionnaires, we can say that the understanding of the meaning of the word "volunteering" is about the same level among respondents.

95.3% of EG1 and 86.2% of EG2 surveyed students said that a volunteer could theoretically be a person of any age; 13.8% of EG2 respondents and 3.1% of EG2 respondents believe that a person under the age of majority may be a volunteer under the age of 50; 1.6% of EG1 respondents found it difficult to answer. Such indicators show that the majority of respondents have formed an idea of the age limit (restrictions) of participation in volunteering activities, and some respondents need clarification of the issue.

87.7% of the respondents of both groups believe that the basic rule of the volunteer is not to look for their own benefit, but 12.3% of the respondents insisted that often volunteering is the way to paid work, there is an opportunity to prove yourself and to prove from the best side, to try yourself in different areas of activity and to decide on the choice of life path.

44.6% of EG1 students and 40% of EG2 respondents believe that "volunteering" and "social activities" are synonymous concepts; 32.3% of EG1 subjects and 41.5% of EG2 sit back; 23.1% of EG1 respondents and 18.5% of EG2 students find it difficult to answer. Thus, in the majority, both future defectors and students of pedagogical specialties do not have a clear distinction between the concept of "volunteer activity" and "public activity."

To the question "Give definition to tolerance," we got the following answers (Table 02 ).

It should be noted that the overwhelming majority (92.3%) of surveyed of both groups consider tolerance one of the most important qualities of a volunteer and only 7.7% of the surveyed EG1 and EG2 indicate that this quality a volunteer can manage without

52.3% of EG1 respondents and 60% of EG2 respondents said that it is important for a volunteer to have a sense of empathy. 24.6% of defectors (EG1) and 20% of pedagogical students (EG2) believe that volunteers cannot do without feelings of pity, and the remaining 23.1% of EG1 and 20% of EG2 subjects believe that pity is not a productive feeling. It is possible that this choice of answers is due to the lack of knowledge of the clear definitions presented for discussion by the subjects. Often people mix the concept of "pity" and "empathy," "sympathy." It is the feeling of empathy that carries the meaning of "empathy," and pity implies a form of discomfort that often takes on the form of condescending compassion.

The results of the survey showed that 55.4% of EG1 respondents and 52.3% of EG2 respondents would like to try their hand at volunteering in the field in which they receive a specialty; 36.9 per cent of the respondents of both groups also have such a desire, but do not have time to volunteer. At the same time, 7.7% of EG1 surveyed and 10.8% of EG2 students believe that they have enough knowledge gained at the university and volunteering cannot improve their practical skills. These indicators underline the desire of the majority of future professionals to gain experience in volunteering.

The answers to the question "Is there a person or group of people you would like to work with as a volunteer?" are reflected in Table 03 .

The results of the students' answers show that the categories of persons with whom students will have to interact within their profession were selected for future volunteer activities, this once again proves the desire of future specialists acquire as much knowledge, skills and skills as possible in this aspect.

When choosing a form of practice-oriented volunteer work with persons with special features of psychophysical development, the respondents' answers were distributed in a following way (Table 04 ).

The results of the study showed that the majority of EG1 respondents are well acquainted with such concepts as autism, intellectual insufficiency, emotionally - willful instability, hyperactivity, cerebral palsy, sensory disorders, etc. (72.3%), at the same time, 30.8% of EG2 respondents believe that their knowledge of these concepts is at a sufficient level. 24.6% of EG1 students and 58.5% of EG2 respondents consider their knowledge superficial, 3.1% of EG1 surveyed and 4.6% of EG2 subjects are not yet familiar with all concepts, 6.2% of EG2 respondents do not know the exact definitions of these terms. 58.5% of EG1 surveyed noted the experience of communicating or working with people with special features of psychophysical development within the framework of educational and industrial pedagogical, 41.5% of EG1 respondents do not have such experience (students of 1st and 2nd years of education).

Despite the fact that the majority of EG1 respondents are familiar with defective concepts and have had experience with people with special needs in psychophysical development, 70.8% of them consider themselves unprepared for volunteering with people with special features in the development and only 29.2 per cent consider themselves fully prepared for such practices-oriented activities. Only 21.5% of EG2 surveyed have experience of communication or working with people with features in psychophysical development in volunteering activities, 78.5% of respondents in this group do not have such experience. The majority of EG2 respondents (78.5%) consider themselves also unprepared for volunteering with people with developmental disabilities and only 21.5% are fully prepared.

By analysing the results of students' responses to the needs they can meet by volunteering, we have obtained the following results (Table 05 ).

Thus, it can be noticed that the majority of respondents to both EG1 and EG2 need communication and a sense of need for another person, which is most important when organizing volunteer activities and for people with special needs in psychophysical development.

At the same time, 52.3% of respondents of both groups believe that the motives of human participation in volunteering can be self-serving, and 47.7% insist on the contrary. It should be noted that volunteering is often a path to paid work and career growth, so in some cases the motives for volunteering can actually be somewhat self-serving.

After analyzing the results of the "Motives for Voluntary Assistance" questionnaire, we compiled a comparison table of different motives among students of defective specialties and pedagogical specialties (Table 06 ).

Such indicators shows the readiness of the majority of future specialists to come to the rescue at the request of another person and the high enough formation of their motivational - value readiness for volunteer activities.

67.6% of EG1 respondents and 77.8% of EG2 respondents believe that volunteering helps in career development. Indeed, volunteering is not only about helping others, but also about gaining invaluable experience interacting with different social groups.

95.4% of EG1 surveyed and 89.2% of EG2 respondents receive satisfaction from volunteering activities, while 4.6% of EG1 students and 10.8% of future EG2 teachers do not experience it.

60% of EG1 surveyed and 61.5% of EG2 respondents believe that volunteering is always an opportunity to learn something new (practice-oriented activity), 35.4% of EG1 participants and 26.2% of EG2 students partially agree with them, but 4.6% agree with them EG1 and 12.3% of future EG2 educators do not indicate the acquisition of new skills as a motivation for volunteering.

86.2% of EG1 surveyed and 78.5% of EG2 respondents try their time volunteering because they know someone who has engaged in similar activities, for 13.8% of EG1 participants and 21.5% of EG2 respondents this motive is not significant.

Conclusion

According to the study, students of defective specialties are more prepared to work with people with special features of psychophysical development than students of other pedagogical specialties. However, both need to expand their knowledge and skills in the field of practice-oriented volunteer activities, i.e. in the formation of the information and cognitive component of this type of activity.

Consequently, the findings point to the need to organize and train students in pedagogical fields to improve their professional competence, including within the framework of the educational inclusion.

Based on the results of the study, it is possible to recommend university leaders and teachers to actively organize the training of future specialists - teachers of different profiles to volunteering as a practice-oriented activity.

This training should include:

• The study block, which aims to update the cognitive interest to the meaningful aspects of volunteering, understanding the connection between the received knowledge with the personal experience of students.

• The block of self-knowledge, the task of which is to internalize concepts reflecting the values of volunteer activity (altruism, empathy, etc.), the development of personal reflection in students.

• Value-sense block, the main task of which is to assimilate the system of values that characterize the professional orientation, which task is to actualize the meaning of self-realization in volunteer and pedagogical activities.

The study does not claim to be an exhaustive analysis of all aspects of the problem under study due to its diversity. In our opinion, an in-depth study of the content of training students in pedagogical specialties for volunteer activities, taking into account the possibility of their participation in inclusive educational activities, may become a promising direction for a further research.

Acknowledgments

The article (paper) is funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation under a state assignment, project No. 27.2617.2017/4.6".

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