Keyword: «willingness to participate in volunteering»

At present, society requires from a person the ability to constant personal and professional improvement, which actualizes the development of students’ “self-concept”, the formation of their personality in the educational process of the university. The purpose of the article is to study the influence of students’ “self-concept” on the willingness to participate in volunteer work. The study was conducted on the basis of the Tula State Pedagogical University named after L. Tolstoy with first- and second-year students. The research methods included a theoretical analysis of domestic and foreign literature on the research problem; questionnaires, testing, and a pedagogical experiment were used as empirical methods. The principles of consistency and integrity, taking into account the individual and age characteristics of students, etc. were determined as fundamental ones. The article presents the experience of implementing the program of classes for volunteer students "The First Step into Volunteering", which promotes the involvement of students in various areas of volunteering. Its distinctive feature is the form of interaction organization in the "student-mentor - first-year student" system. The proposed program provides theoretical and practical modules aimed at developing the “self-concept”, individuality of students, reveals the potentials of personal and professional growth by means of volunteer work. The program consists of the following modules: “Who am I?”, “I am a volunteer”, “Helping others”, “Volunteer project”, “From volunteering to employment”. The theoretical significance is presented by an overview of approaches to the structure of the students’ “self-concept” and the development of the volunteer movement. The practical significance of the research is in the worked out program for the development of students’ “self-concept” at the pedagogical university in the process of active involvement in volunteer work. The introduction of students to project activities deserves special attention. The research results can be useful for the development of volunteer centers of universities, the organization of psychological and pedagogical support for the creative activity of students.