Abstract:

There have recently been an acute issue considering a possibility of expanding the educational space of a school through social partnership with public structures. Over the past six years, a cooperation agreement has been concluded between the charitable public organization «Perspektivy» and seven schools of St. Petersburg, which goes along the following areas:
1. Organization of informational and methodological support for school staff regarding socialization and education of students with severe and multiple developmental disorders (SMDD).
2. Capacity building of the school staff through various forms (seminars, trainings, supervision, etc.).
3. Carrying out open events at school with the involvement of specialists from «Perspektivy».
4. Renewal of the material and technical equipment.
5. Informational and consulting assistance for families with children with SMDD on the topics of development and education.
6. Providing volunteers to work in classes, which are attended by children with SMDD.

Personality of a volunteer often plays an ultimate role in working with children with SMDD. As Ushinsky K.D. wrote, everything must be based on the personality of the “educator,” only a person can affect the development of another person. In this regard, the presence of a volunteer in a fairly closed, limited space of school and class seems to us to be extremely important, since the volunteer here acts as a representative of the “big world”, as well as an unconditional “other”. Having perceived the “other”, the child gets to know himself better: his preferences, his desires, abilities, etc. The volunteer positively contributes to the socialization of the child with SMDD: the role of the volunteer is much more mobile and flexible than the role of the teacher or special educator, the volunteer can act as a friend, as an assistant, as an educator.

The data of the survey we conducted showed that future volunteers see their role in the school in much the same way. More than half of the volunteers surveyed noted that:
1 - they want to be needed by children;
2 - they want to get new experience;
3 - they want to know how children with disabilities live, they want to learn how to understand them;
4 - they want to learn how to interact with children with SMDD.

Data analysis revealed the basic needs of young people who do volunteer work in schools:
1 - the need of a person to be needed by another person;
2 - need for communication;
3 - the need to gain experience (social, professional);
4 - the need for self-actualization.

For the moment there are five volunteers working in three schools of St. Petersburg. Based on our positive experience, we believe that volunteering in schools can be one of the important areas of cooperation between a public organization and a public institution.

Keywords:

Volunteer, volunteer work, severe and multiple developmental disorders, education, public organization.