Volunteer Education: Developing Citizenship & Solidarity for A Fairer Society
Volunteering is an activity of free choice, driven by altruism and cooperation in favor of a social cause in order to serve and help the less privileged. In the educational field, volunteering aims at learning and the development of pedagogical knowledge that will meet the needs of a School, University, or Ong.
In a volunteer project of education, the educational institution prepares a diagnosis of the main problems as well as desired goals and objectives. Besides contributing to the process of teaching and learning in an organization, volunteering develops values such as empathy, love, solidarity, and self-realization.
Volunteering is the result of a transformation, in partnership with non-profit entities and civil society. Among the beneficiaries of this action are:
– The entity that relies on the assistance of a professional volunteer, concerned to solve the social problems raised, and thus leads a better quality of life to the target audience;
– The volunteer who sees his work improving the community, feeling socially responsible and being realized not only as a professional but also as a person. Moreover, the volunteer learns to deal with differences, be supportive, and fight for social change.
Volunteering in the educational environment allows young volunteers to develop formative experiences that transform into values such as citizenship, solidarity, dignity, and respect for differences. These values are engaged in volunteer activities, regardless of the cause one supports.
Educational volunteerism contributes to the full development of citizenship. It includes the exercise of political rights and duties, social and civil rights. It is therefore in this type of volunteering that you can integrate pedagogical knowledge for social action, combining theory and practice.
Educational volunteerism can be considered as an important educational tool as well as a significant social transformation technology because it has, as its main target, human development. The institution that offers a volunteer activity for students, contribute to the development of socio-pedagogical competencies, thereby improving the academic performance of these students. In addition, the student, when confronted with real problems in the community, learns to develop and exercise his citizenship. For the organization, this type of activity contributes to the increase of resources, to strengthen their social network, as well as their training.
An example of volunteerism in the educational environment is the “New Heights Educational Group” that offers volunteer opportunities nearby the institution as well as at a distance where the professional can contribute to a cause. Among the activities offered are: tutor, coordinator, grant writer, designer, secretary, etc.
Being a volunteer is to be in solidarity. It means developing attitudes and altruistic love for others through social mobilization. The professional volunteer believes that changes realized in the present may transform a future, and that the world changes when you change.
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