CONFERENCEhttps://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2025.35 | 494-507 | PDF
The Relevance of Voluntary Activities in the Training of Preschool Education Teachers in Lithuania
Algimantas Bagdonas¹, Asta Jakimavičienė¹, Lina Majauskienė¹, Nijolė Meškelienė¹
¹Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution, Lithuania
Abstract
The paper deals with the issues of the voluntary activities of students during their preschool education studies. European youth policy is promoting volunteering for young people within and beyond the EU to foster learning mobility, solidarity and intercultural understanding. Higher education institutions encourage students’ voluntary activities as this contributes to local community initiatives and their own institutional goals, provides experience and skills for further students’ personal and carrer development. Although society acknowledges the importance of volunteering development, Lithuania does not devote enough attention to strengthening the idea of students’ volunteering. This paper highlights the selected results of the empirical survey from the year 2023–2024, organised in Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution, Lithuania. The aim of the study was to reveal the relevance of voluntary activities in the training of preschool education teachers in Lithuania. The results of the survey highlight the extent, motives and benefits of future preschool education teachers’ involvement in voluntary activities. 260 students participated in the quantitative survey. The research results revealed that half of the respondents had never participated in voluntary activities but would like to. The majority of surveyed students from the pedagogical studies participated in episodic rather than long-term formal voluntary activities. The primary motivation for engaging in voluntary work is the desire to help others. Students consider volunteering in different activities as important personal challenge, as well as opportunity to develop personal qualities, to try new activities and to gain diverse experiences. Respondents participate in voluntary activities on their own initiative or encouraged by friends, and they usually work not alone but in collaboration with others or as part of a group. Students highlighted that they experienced emotional satisfaction, had the opportunity for self-fulfilment and gained new experiences and skills relevant to their pedagogical careers.
Keywords: preschool teachers’ training, preschool education studies, students’ volunteering, students’ voluntary activities, volunteering development
In: Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2025. Proceedings of Scientific Papers = Cilvēks, tehnoloģijas un izglītības kvalitāte, 2025. Rakstu krājums. Ed. L. Daniela. Riga: University of Latvia, 2025. 698 p.
ISBN 978-9934-36-461-7
https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2025