Determination of the content of a construct "volunteer activity" in educational practice: the experience of theoretical comprehension and empirical reconstruction

Introduction. Volunteering is becoming more and more important in the life of civil society and for the formation of human capital, but at the same time there is a lack of comprehensive scientific practice-oriented psychological-pedagogical research on the concept of "volunteer activity". The purpose of this work is to determine the actual effectiveness of an interdisciplinary study of the psychological-pedagogical concept of “volunteer activity” in the educational space. Methods. Empirical data were obtained using the methods of psychosemantics and psycholinguistics (verbal self-descriptions "My volunteer activity" (schoolchildren and students) and "I am an organizer of volunteer activities" (teachers-organizers, leaders of volunteer centers/teams) were used; compilation of an associative dictionary, a "Personal Differential" technique. The data underwent the procedure of content analysis with the extraction of semantic units. To process the results obtained, an iterative method of cluster analysis – k-means clustering – was used; a comparative analysis of fields was implemented. The empirical study involved schoolchildren (N = 44, aged 14-17) and university students (N = 432, aged 18-20) engaged in volunteering and organizers of volunteer activities (N = 37, aged 35-40) from the Altai Territory. The total sample consisted of 910 people. Research results. The scheme of the interdisciplinary study has been tested, which makes it possible to construct the semantic space of a psychological-pedagogical concept of "volunteer activity". For each sample of respondents, two clusters were obtained: schoolchildren and university students (p≤0.01) – the measure of proximity varies from 4.59 to 9.52 for the first cluster and from 4.19 to 7.57 – for the second one; teachers-organizers (p≤0.05) – the measure of proximity varies from 2.67 to 4.89 for the first cluster and from 1.72 to 3.36 – for the second one; volunteer leaders (p≤0.05) – the measure of proximity varies from 2.67 to 4.33 for the first cluster and from 2.35 to 4.73 – for the second one. Significant differences and points of contact of semantic fields were revealed. The average values of the scales according to the "Personal differential" technique are as follows: for schoolchildren – 5, for university students – 16. Conclusion. The prospects for the implementation of this study are outlined, which consist in the empirical generalization of the continuity of implementation of volunteer practices; the structural analysis of psychological-pedagogical technologies and interactive forms of education, the development of a set of tools for assessing the effectiveness of the results of implementation of volunteer programs, the creation of an electronic database of the most effective and adequate practices.

ERP System for Digitalization of NGO Operations

This project is concerned with the digitalization of NGO operations and the entirety of its working operations including making of an ERP system which streamlines the working of the NGO. It includes the working of the NGO, the financial aspects. NGOs face a multitude of issues when it comes to management and those issues include, tracking volunteer activity, financial transparency, volunteer id database etc. The above problems have been identified with a substantial survey of people working in such organization and our own personal experience. Manual processes and unwieldy amounts of knowledge are the norms for several non-profits, which makes human error and security oversights more likely. Subsequent surveys are conducted about these problems. Hence, we can discuss on improving on these problems and completion of a fully working website with its implementation concluding a better system and digitalization of the NGO program. Keywords: NGO, Operations Management, survey, tracking, Digitalization, ERP

Volunteering as a Predictor of Social Solidarity

The relevance of the topic of the article is due to the widespread volunteering of representatives of various age groups. Volunteering allows a person to combine the satisfaction of personal needs with the needs of the society. The purpose of this research is to study the relationship between volunteerism and social solidarity in the Russian society by the example of studying the motives of a volunteer activity among the population of Yaroslavl region. The realization of the research goal is intended to contribute to a new understanding of the motives of a volunteer activity in the context of the development of social solidarity of citizens of the modern Russian society. The object of the study was people engaged in volunteer activities. The study involved 420 respondents aged 14 to 67 years. The hypothesis of the research is that volunteering is important for our modern society, since it is a predictor of the development of social solidarity, mutual assistance and cooperation. The study was conducted by the personal interview method. The survey was based on a zoned quota sample, represented in accordance with the gender, age and educational structure of the population of Yaroslavl (n = 420 people). The research showed that volunteer activities are more determined by the motives of socially approved behavior. The participation of people in socially useful activities as volunteers is mainly determined by the influence of family values and the values of the immediate environment. The motives for choosing and engaging in a volunteer activity, which is a predictor of social solidarity, are associated with a person's desire to be a part of a group, a membership in which is due to common interests and similar views on life and difficult life situations.

Sociological analysis of volunteer activity as a mechanism for the development of civil society in foreign countries

The active development of the volunteer movement in modern Russia encourages a comparison of the practices of organizing the volunteer movement in different countries, in order to study positive experiences and partial borrowing, as well as to analyze the phenomenon of volunteerism in a broader scientific context - as one of the mechanisms for the development of civil society. The article presents a sociological analysis of volunteer activity in seven developed foreign countries in such categories as historical features of formation, typical areas of volunteer activity, common goals, values and motives of volunteers, state support for volunteer programs and projects, as well as identical features of the organization of volunteer activity in these countries. This analysis is a selection of the best foreign practices of working with volunteers and allows you to outline the prospects for the development of the volunteer movement in other countries, including in Russia. The article helps to systematize the features of the development of volunteer activity in the world community and call it an effective mechanism for educating citizenship and increasing social activity. The international practice of involving citizens in volunteerism has clearly demonstrated the significant contribution of the third sector to the global economy, building a strong and solid society that is ready to respond quickly to current challenges and help solve global problems.

STUDENT VOLUNTEERING: TRADITIONS, PROMISING DIRECTIONS, EXPERIENCE

The article reveals the role and relevance of volunteer activity in the modern student educational environment. Attention is focused on the formation of significant qualities of a student's personality, promising directions of the volunteer movement in Russia are considered. Illustrative examples of student volunteering on the basis of MPSU are given.

Volunteering in the time of COVID-19. The Polish example for Europe

The subject of the article is the analysis of the possibilities of using the volunteering to counteract adverse effects of crisis situation based on the example of the coronavirus pandemic. The authors examine the Solidarity Corps for Seniors’ Support (pl. Solidarnościowy Korpus Wsparcia Seniorów) and the local system Warsaw Supports ( pl. system Warszawa Wspiera) applying the institutional and normative method, and case study method in an attempt to provide answers to the following questions: (1) How and under what rules was the volunteering potential used to support the citizens? (2) Did the actions based on volunteer activity undertaken in Poland efficiently complement the work of public authorities? (3) Is the implementation of the developed solutions and their usage within the European Solidarity Corps structure possible in similar cases in the future? The case study allows to conclude that Polish solutions proved to be efficient and allowed to formulate the proposals of establishing a broader cooperation between the EU Member States concerning experience sharing in voluntary work development in crisis situations.

The Anesthesiologist’s Perspective and Experience in Global Congenital Cardiac Surgery: Results of a Survey of the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society Membership

Anesthesiologists are important components of volunteer teams which perform congenital cardiac surgery in low-resource settings throughout the world, but limited data exist to characterize the nature and breadth of their work. A survey of Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society (CCAS) members was conducted with the objective of understanding the type of voluntary care being provided, its geographic reach, the frequency of volunteer activities, and factors which may encourage or limit anesthesiologists’ involvement in this work. The survey was completed by 108 participants. Respondents reported a total of 115 volunteer trips during the study period, including work in 41 countries on 5 continents. Frequent motivating factors to begin volunteering included invitations from charitable groups, encouragement from senior colleagues, and direct connections to individual locations. Discouraging factors included familial responsibilities, the need to use vacation time, and a lack of support from home institutions. The year 2020 saw a marked decrease in reported volunteer activity, and respondents reported multiple pandemic-related factors which might discourage future volunteer activities. The results of this study demonstrate the global reach of anesthesiologists in providing care for children having cardiac surgery. It also offers insights into the challenges faced by interested individuals, many of which are related to a lack of institutional support. These challenges have only mounted under the COVID-pandemic, leading to a dramatic downturn in volunteer activities. Finally, the survey reinforces the need for better coordination of volunteer activities to optimize clinical impact.

COVID-19 and the Restructuring Collective Solidarity: The Case of Volunteer Activity in Québec

Drawing on a combination of survey data, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis, this article explores the main forms of restructuring that have taken place within Québec’s voluntary sector in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It centres on three main shifts: the designation of certain voluntary activities as “essential services” by politicians; the im- plementation of new approaches to soliciting, matching, and retaining volunteers; and the institutionalization of a new health-centric rationality within the supervision of volunteer work. The article concludes by calling for recognition, in theory and practice, of the essential role that volunteering plays with regard to socio-territorial resilience. RÉSUMÉ Mobilisant les données d’un travail de veille portant sur l’impact de la pandémie de COVID-19 sur le secteur de bienfai- sance au Québec, cet article explore les principales restructurations qui se sont opérées au sein du secteur bénévole. Nos enquêtes nous ont permis d’en dégager trois : la qualification, par le politique, de certaines activités bénévoles en « services essentiels » ; la mise en œuvre de nouvelles approches en matière de sollicitation, de jumelage et de rétention des bénévoles ; l’obligation pour les organismes d’encadrer le travail des bénévoles en fonction d’une « rationalité sanitaire ». L’article se clore avec une discussion où nous appelons à reconnaître, tant en théorie qu’en pratique, le rôle incontournable du bénévolat en matière de résilience socio-territoriale.