PhD, Associate Professor L.Y. Batyuk¹
Dr.Sc.Hist., Professor I.M. Kornilova¹
PhD, Associate Professor A.S. Fomina¹
S.A. Ruzanov^1
1Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Moscow

Keywords: volunteer, civic and patriotic education, sports volunteer movement, charity, philanthropy.

Background. Presently in the national secondary and higher education systems a high priority is being given to the concepts of volunteer activity with an emphasis on the civic and patriotic education. The relevant studies by the research team of University of Economics have showed that the academic volunteer movement is rapidly gaining momentum. As reported by the Federal Youth Service Agency, the volunteer population was estimated at 2.5 million in 2015 versus 4 million in 2016. As things now stand, the academic charity activity is ranked among the most efficient ways for the young people’s education and healthy lifestyle cultivation in their youth subcultures. The national higher education system is increasingly active in establishing the academic volunteer centres. The student volunteers learn to respect other people’s labour working hard for the centres. Many of them are driven by spiritual values (rated higher than material ones) in their volunteer actions, highly active in physical training and sports movements and provide good services and social support to the people in need [2-4].

Objective of the study was to perform a questionnaire survey of the volunteer movement in the national higher education system.

Methods and structure of the study. Subject to the survey were 160 students up to 25 years of age [7] who were offered questions on how important the volunteer movement is for their personal life including their physical training and sporting activity.

Study results and discussion. It was in December 2015 that Plekhanov Russian University of Economics established a Volunteer Centre for the FIFA-2018™ World Football Championship in Russia that was formally certified in the early 2016. For the first year of its operations, the Volunteer Centre implemented 59 initiatives and events to promote healthy lifestyles and sports in the academic communities. Among other initiatives, the Volunteer Centre made presentations of the volunteer programs for the FIFA-2018™ World Football Championship in Russia (the so-called Football Lessons) for schoolchildren, school graduates and university students. Presently the Volunteer Centre recruits, registers and trains volunteers for main events including the sporting ones in Moscow and all over Russia. The RUE volunteer teams are professionally trained to serve at top-ranking local, regional and international sport events. The RUE Volunteer Centre works in close contact with “Victory Volunteers”, the Russian Public Organisation giving a top priority to the patriotic education process. The RUE Volunteer Centre activists have provided valuable organisation and management services to the “Immortal Regiment” People’s March in Red Square including the people’s flow control and veteran assistance services. Furthermore, the Volunteer Centre activists largely contributed to the following events: concert “Thanks to the Descendants for Fidelity” in the State Kremlin Palace; Russian events of the National Student Football League; and the football matches of Spartak FC versus CSKA FC and Spartak FC versus Rostov FC. It should be also noted that the RUE Volunteer Centre activists assisted in organisation and management of the draw for the FIFA-2017 Conference Cup in Kazan and gained an indispensable experience and skills that will be necessary for different services rendered at the FIFA-2018™ World Football Championship in Russia. Presently the RUE Volunteer Centre takes systemic efforts to advance the civic and patriotic education in the academic communities viewed as one of the top priorities of the young people’s education process. The RUE Volunteer Centre activities may be classified into social, civic, cultural etc. [1].

The current academic volunteer activity is basically designed to attain some specific goals and yield concrete results. Many volunteers see their mission in facilitating the spiritual and ethical social progress on the whole via the personally valuable new activities, socially important efforts and individual creative progress; and some of them give a special priority to the civic and patriotic education and patriotic world outlook cultivation in the young people’s subcultures [6].

The questionnaire survey of the RUE volunteers showed that 83% tend to believe that their volunteer activity is designed to support people on a free basis to improve their life quality; 13.2% of the respondents believe that volunteers should be supported and offered some benefits; and 3.8% expect their volunteer activity being payable in the same way as any other work. Our analysis of the responses to the question on what volunteer activity is personally most important for the respondent showed that 67% rank highest the volunteer service to the underage orphans or neglected children; 24% give preference to the volunteer services at top-ranking sport events and people’s patriotic marches; and only 9% give a top priority to the charity services to the most vulnerable groups of people [5].

Our analysis of the survey data showed that the core value of the volunteer movement is the volunteer’s personality progress in many aspects including the theoretical knowledge of the relevant legal and regulatory provisions; knowledge building and advancement process; and appreciation of the social importance of their volunteer services.

Conclusion. Our analysis of the academic volunteer services demonstrated that most of the young people polled are in need of due values and social development opportunities for progress in the activity and ideally need to be supported by the senior people’s experience. The volunteer centre activists must work in close contact with the leaders of the relevant volunteer, patriotic, sport, charity and non-governmental organisations.

The academic volunteer activity may be more successful if duly supported by the university management via facilitating initiatives, motivations and conditions. It is highly desirable for the universities to develop and offer a due system of incentives for volunteers. It could also be helpful if volunteers are certified by the relevant identification documents with records of their volunteer accomplishments that may give benefits in the university entrance or employment process.

On the whole, the current academic volunteer movement as a social phenomenon is designed to promote healthy lifestyles and encourage political, social, economic, civic and patriotic progress of young people in particular and society on the whole.

References

1. Averyasova J.O. Sovershenstvovanie sistemy normativno-pravovogo obespecheniya razlichnykh napravleniy fizicheskoy kultury i sporta v Rossii [Enhancement of system of regulatory support of various directions of physical culture and sport in Russia]. Mater. Vseros. nauch.-metod. konf. "Strategiya razvitiya sportivno-massovoy raboty so studentami" [Proc. Rus. res.-method. conf. "Strategy for development of mass sports activities with students"], 2015, pp. 12-14.
2. Averyasov V.V. Formirovanie sportivnoy kultury studentov kak vazhny faktor razvitiya studencheskogo sporta v Rossii [Development of students' sports culture as key factor in development of university sports in Russia]. Mater. Vseros. nauch.-metod. konf. "Strategiya razvitiya sportivno-massovoy raboty so studentami" [Proc. Rus. res.-method. conf. "Strategy for development of mass sports activities with students "], 2015, pp. 7-11.
3. Batyuk L.I. Rol blagotvoritelnosti i metsenatstva v sisteme obrazovaniya i prosvescheniya v Rossii [The role of charity and philanthropy in Russian education and enlightenment system]. Gumanitarnye nauki v sovremennom obrazovanii: problemy, resheniya, perspektivy razvitiya [Humanities in modern education: problems, solutions, development prospects]. Moscow, 2013, pp. 15-19.
4. Batyuk L.I. Blagotvoritelnost i sponsorstvo v sovremennoy v Rossii [Charity and sponsorship in modern Russia]. Mater. IV Mezhdunar. nauch.-prakt. zaochnoy internet-konferentsii "Gumanitarnoe obrazovanie v ekonomicheskom vuze" [Proc. IV Internat. res.-pract. Internet conf. "Humanities Education in University of Economics"], 2016, pp. 22-27.
5. Burov A.G., Krylova G.S., Antonova I.N., Mikhal'chenko E.G. Model razvitiya studencheskogo sportivnogo kluba [University sport club development model]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2016, no. 9, pp. 36-38.
6. Kornilova I.M., Ruzanov S.A. Uchenye Plekhanovki i ikh rol v istorii rossiyskoy gosudarstvennosti [Plekhanov university scientists and their role in the history of Russian state system]. Vestnik Rossiyskogo ekonomicheskogo universiteta im. G.V. Plekhanova, 2014, no. 10 (76) pp. 121-132.
7. Kornilova I.M. Istoriya stanovleniya negosudarstvennogo vysshego obrazovaniya v Rossii v kontse XX veka [Non-state higher education in Russia at the end of the XX century: History of development]. Mater. IV Mezhdunar. nauch.-prakt. zaochnoy internet-konferentsii "Gumanitarnoe obrazovanie v ekonomicheskom vuze" [Proc. IV Internat. res.-pract. Internet conf. "Humanities Education in University of Economics"], 2016.

Corresponding author: tarasovaiv@mail.ru

Abstract

The article analyses practical experience of the volunteer movements in the academic education system. The volunteer movement progress profiling at University of Economics gave to the authors the grounds to conclude that the volunteer movements are on the rise and facilitate the advocacy for patriotic and civic values plus contribute to the healthy lifestyle cultivation in the young people’s communities. The volunteers learn to respect other people’s labour working hard in the process. Many of them are driven by spiritual values (rated higher than material ones) in their volunteer actions, highly active in physical training and sports movements and provide good services and social support to the people in need.

The authors believe that the volunteer movement and centres need to establish contacts with leaders of patriotic, charity and non-governmental organisations. For the volunteer initiatives to be successful, the volunteers need support and facilitating provisions from the university management. It is highly desirable for the universities to develop and offer a due system of incentives for volunteers. It could be also helpful if volunteers are certified by the relevant identification documents with records of their volunteer accomplishments that may give them benefits in the university entrance or employment process.