Sources of contemporary volunteering in Poland. Influence of the voluntary work experiences of the past eras on the condition of today’s volunteering

The article describes the main sources of contemporary volunteering, i.e. the historical and social context of changes in the perception of voluntary work in the past hundred years. The year 1918 was established as the starting point, i.e. the beginning of the creation of a system of social assistance (welfare) in Poland within the resurgence of the state, the volunteers of which (then called volunteers) were a significant and distinctive element. Moreover, at the same time (1920) the foundations of modern international volunteering were laid, the father of which is commonly referred to as the Swiss pacifist Pierre Cérésole. Subsequent turning points are marked by the times of the People’s Republic of Poland (1944–1989), when all social activities acquired an unequivocally ideological meaning and undertaking such work was associated with expressing support for the ruling system and its political authorities. On the other hand, the times of the Third Polish Republic that began with social changes in 1989, brought the necessity to create the structures of Polish volunteering almost from the very beginnings.

The spatial imaginaries of international volunteer teachers: Contrapuntal and disconnected geographies

Scholars argue that international volunteering must not be framed as altruism or charity; rather, it should invoke themes from decolonial justice theorizing. Volunteers who have benefited from colonial-imperial structural advantages should understand their labor as a kind of reparation for ongoing structural dispossession. I argue that spatial imaginaries are central to this project. Volunteers can better situate themselves with decolonial intentionality if they adopt what Edward Said called contrapuntal theories of geography. The volunteer orientation phase is the best time to instill this spatial imaginary. This study analyzes how volunteers theorize “home” and “away” as they become teachers in Namibia. Drawing from a “netnographic” discourse analysis of their public blogs, I find that volunteers are likely to subscribe to a geographical imaginary of atomized and disconnected spaces, lacking the conceptual tools needed to grapple with decolonial justice and to implement dues-paying volunteering in their classrooms.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE DEVELOPMENT AS A MEANS OF INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEERING COOPERATION

The article is devoted to the description of opportunities for developing a foreign language communicative competence to establish international cooperation in the field of volunteering using the methods of teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The relevance of the topic is determined by dissemination of ideas of volunteerism around the world. The programmes for the development of social policy in Russia state the need to establish international cooperation on volunteerism issues; there are plans for organizing some events with international participation. They require a high level of proficiency in English for communication in the field of volunteering. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the methodology of teaching English for establishing cooperation on volunteering from a theoretical point of view. The current policy of activating international volunteering is analysed, the possibilities of using the ESP concept as a method of short-term specialized teaching of English on a specific topic are discussed, and an approximate thematic planning of a language training course for participation in international volunteer projects is presented. The following methods are used to conduct the research: the analysis of Acts on volunteering at the international and Russian levels, an overview of the websites of Russian volunteer projects and foreign volunteer organizations, the analysis of scientific literature on the methods of teaching English, including ESP. The results of the study confirm the need to develop a foreign language communicative competence for establishing a professional and productive international cooperation on volunteering. An approximate thematic planning of English language classes within the framework of the ESP concept to establish such cooperation is proposed.