INTEGRATING VOLUNTEERING INTO HIGHER EDUCATION CURRICULA: MODELS, INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS AND PRECONDITIONS FOR CIVIC PARTICIPATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25264/2786-9202/4.1-9-34Keywords:
volunteering, civic participation, service-learning, educational programmes, higher education institutionsAbstract
The article examines the integration of volunteering into higher education curricula and the recognition of competencies acquired through volunteer activities. The study aims to analyse foreign models of integrating volunteering into higher education, to identify the institutional mechanisms and conditions for their application, and to assess the potential for using this experience in Ukrainian higher education institution (HEIs). Three types of mechanisms have been identified: 1) credit-bearing service-learning, which provides for defined learning outcomes, reflection, and assessment (the USA, Canada, Ukrainian Catholic University); 2) crediting vol-unteer activities as practice (some Polish HEIs; the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Promoting the Development of Volunteering among Education Seekers” No. 4186-IX); 3) non-curricular recognition and documentation of acquired experience without awarding credits. The study finds that, despite their differences, the analysed models combine socially beneficial activity with defined learning outcomes, institutional partnerships, structured reflection, assessment, and documentary confirmation of the acquired competencies. The elective course analysed is an accessible way to introduce volunteering-related content into a curriculum. However, without mandatory socially beneficial pro-jects, partnerships with civil society organisations, structured re-flection, and assessment of practical results, it does not constitute a complete model of service-learning. The study concludes that inte-grating volunteering into higher education has institutional poten-tial. At the same time, the actual impact of such integration on the development of civic competencies and student participation re-quires separate empirical verification.
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