EXPRESSION OF VOLUNTEER ACTIVITY OF EDUCATION STUDIES STUDENTS: THE CASE OF LITHUANIA AND LATVIA HIGH SCHOOLS

Abstract

Although special attention has been paid to volunteering in the last decade, there is a tendency to get involved in this activity, but not all EU countries, including the Baltic countries, pay enough attention to strengthening the idea of volunteering and its infrastructure, many processes are left to themselves. In order to draw attention to this, the European Economic and Social Committee calls on the EU Commission to take action and declare 2025 as the European Year of Volunteers. In the article, based on the data of the scientific analysis and the conducted research, it was aimed to find out the extent, motivations and benefits for personal development of Lithuanian and Latvian pedagogical pre-school and pre-school education program students. In the course of this research, it was relevant to find out the extent, motives and benefits of future prie-school and pre-school education pedagogues' involvement in voluntary activities for personal development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression and characteristics of voluntary activities of Lithuanian and Latvian high school students who have chosen Preschool and Preschool education studies. In order to define the essence of the scientific problem, problematic questions are raised: what is the involvement of students of pedagogical study programs in voluntary activities? What are the motivations for volunteering? What are students' attitudes towards the benefits of volunteering? The purpose of the research is to reveal the expression of students' volunteering. The research used the methods of scientific literature and document analysis, written survey, descriptive statistics, content analysis and generalization. The analysis of scientific literature revealed that volunteering can take very different forms - local volunteering, national and international volunteering, specialized activities, specific age groups activities of representatives, short-term and long-term. Each form has its own advantages, so it is very important to choose not only the topic, but also the form that meets the needs of the volunteer. The results of the study revealed: the level of participation in voluntary activities is higher among Latvian students than Lithuanian students. Almost half of the respondents said that they have never participated in voluntary activities, but would like to participate. The largest part of those interviewed did not participate in long-term, but episodic volunteer activities. Lithuanian pedagogic studies students participated in formal voluntary activities to almost twice the extent compared to Latvian students. The main motive that encourages participation in voluntary activities is the same for both surveyed groups - the desire to help others, it is still important for Lithuanian students to test themselves in different activities and to improve their personal qualities, while for Latvian students it is important to look for new challenges and test themselves in different activities. Respondents usually participated in voluntary activities on their own initiative or encouraged by friends, and during voluntary activities they usually did not work alone, but worked with other persons or worked in a group. It was noticed that volunteering was mostly done in the fields of social activities, education and cultural activities. Lithuanian students tended to participate even more actively in the fields of religious activities and community activities, while Latvian students - in the field of sports activities. When participating in voluntary activities, it is important to meet not only the needs of others, but also personal benefiting and personal development. The most significant thing for both Lithuanian and Latvian students is that they experienced emotional satisfaction, were able to realize themselves and gain new experience. For Lithuanian students, the personal benefit received was also very important - the cultivation of moral values, and for Latvian students - finding new acquaintances.