Volunteering As A Component Of Non-Formal Education

Abstract

Volunteering is one of the non-formal activities with an important role in forming/shaping and developing students' personality. In Romanian schools, volunteering is not part of the compulsory curriculum, being left to the teachers or to the community. This research aims at looking at volunteering, not as a separate activity, subordinated to non-governmental organizations or to other public institutions, but as a component part of the educational activity of a school, carried out in a non-formal context. The objectives of the research were: (1) to identify teachers' perception on the role of volunteering as part of non-formal education; (2) to identify pathways of how to involve teachers in volunteering activities in schools; (3) to identify teachers' perceptions on the benefits of volunteering in shaping students' personalities. The research tool was a questionnaire administered to teachers from three counties in the western part of Romania. The results show that, although all teachers are involved in volunteering, there is a need to develop and implement a legal framework that regulates the volunteering activities in the Romanian educational system. Involving students in volunteering activities contributes to knowledge, mutual knowledge and self-knowledge - crucial aspects in the development of their personality, in building their own system of values that shall help them later. Through volunteering activities, students value the knowledge, the skills, the attitudes acquired/formed in a formal and informal context, but, at the same time, the experiences in which they participate develop the necessary skills in the classroom and in the daily life activities.