The Contribution of School Volunteer Programmes to the Personal, Educational and Professional Biographies of the Participants

Tema ovog rada odnosi se na volontiranje u okviru školskih volonterskih programa. Volonterski programi u kontekstu škole predstavljaju volonterske aktivnosti učenika i djelatnika škole, koje se obično provode u okviru školskih volonterskih klubova. Cilj kvalitativnog istraživanja, provedenog 2021. i 2022. godine u Hrvatskoj, opisati je i razumjeti značaj volontiranja u školskim volonterskim programima za volontere, a njegova svrha doprinijeti znanstvenim spoznajama o školskim volonterskim programima i akademskoj raspravi o njihovom značaju. Također, svrha je, kroz izrađene preporuke, potaknuti srednje škole na osnivanje školskih volonterskih programa i uključivanja što većeg broja učenika. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo petero sudionika, s recentnim volonterskim iskustvom stečenim tijekom srednjoškolskog obrazovanja, u školskim volonterskim programima svojih matičnih škola. Podaci su prikupljeni metodom polustrukturiranog intervjua. Svi sudionici istraživanja tvrde da je iskustvo volontiranja u okviru njihovih školskih volonterskih klubova doprinijelo njihovom osobnom razvoju, dok ih je dvoje istaknulo da je to iskustvo ostavilo traga na njihovoj osobnosti. Nadalje, kod dviju sudionica iskustvo volontiranja u školskim volonterskim programima usmjerilo je profesionalni razvoj. Kada se radi o obrazovnim putevima sudionika, dvije sudionice su, potaknute svojim volonterskim iskustvom, razmišljale o upisu fakulteta iz područja društveno-humanističkih znanosti, a jedna je sudionica to i učinila. Svi sudionici su, nakon završetka srednje škole, promišljali o daljnjem volonterskom angažmanu, a dvije sudionice na volontiranje su počele gledati kao na normalan, sastavni dio njihovih života te su stvorile naviku volontiranja.This thesis deals with volunteering in the frames of school programs for volunteering, which refers to volunteering activities of students and school employees and are usually conducted within school-based volunteering clubs. The thesis is based on a qualitative research done in 2021 and 2022 in Croatia with the aim of contributing to the scientific knowledge on school programs for volunteering as well as to the academic discussion on their importance. Additionally, the purpose is to, through the recommendations based on this research, encourage high schools to establish volunteering programs that include as many students as possible. Five participants took part in the research., all with recent experience of volunteering in the frames of volunteering programs in different high schools. The material was collected by the method of semi-structured interviews. While all participants claim that the volunteering experience contributed to their personal development, two pointed out that the experience also contributed to formation of their subjectivity. Further, the volunteering experience directed professional development of two participants. When it comes to further education, the volunteering experience made two participants consider university studies in the field of social science and the humanities, which one of them actually embarked on. All participants considered continuing to volunteer upon the end of high school education. Two of them developed the habit of volunteering and see volunteering as a given part of their lives