Lesson Plan 4: Voluntary work - Volunteering and engagement in society
This lesson will focus on the transfer of general knowledge on the subject of engagement; including the comparison of voluntary services in the country of origin and hosting country; the lesson will also focus on the reflection on individual skills and competences.
Lesson duration: 2 EU plus selected videos or its sequences
Learning objectives:
- Raising awareness and knowledge on the importance and meaning of volunteering in the hosting country and identifying differences or similarities in volunteering between own country and hosting country.
- Understanding basic conditions and prerequisites for starting voluntary work: being aware of expectations and abilities when performing voluntary work
Summary of the tasks / actions
Task 1: Explanation of the terms with simple words, giving synonyms, word associations: voluntary work, honorary post, engagement.
Task 2: Watching selected sequences of various videos, where the speakers talk about their engagement in society, volunteering activities
Shoreh: 8:38-11:55
Alex: 41:24-44:48
Task 3: Motivation for engagement: why do people engage in voluntary work?
Questions for reflection (group work)
Motivation
What are the motivations of the speakers to be volunteers, if any?
What motivates me?
What topics/areas are interesting for me?
What competences do I want to acquire through volunteering work? What competences do I have to offer?
Engagement in country of origin:
How do people get involved in voluntary activities in your home country?
Are there any associations or clubs of volunteering?
Do you see any similarities?
Task 4: Conditions for voluntary commitment
Individual work and group discussion with supporting questions, presentation of the findings;
What are the conditions, requirements (time, language) in voluntary work? (e.g. commitment, reliability, punctuality)? What are the benefits?
Task 5: Am I able to be a volunteer and how can I contribute to the voluntary work and engagement?
Individual and group discussion with supporting questions?
Who and how can I actually be involved in the voluntary work? What could be an interesting topic for me? What are the next steps?
How much time can I schedule? How do I assess my language (German) skills?
The teacher can also present specific examples of voluntary work, areas, various organisations (sport, fireworks, music, seniors etc.).
Materials / Equipment:
Templates with supporting questions
List of associations providing voluntary work or any documentary film about voluntary work in the hosting country to show what possibilities for engagement and voluntary work do exist.
http://www.bamf.de/DE/Willkommen/Engagement/Bagfa/bagfa-node.html - Presentation of examples of voluntary activities, how migrants can contribute to the social engagement;
References:
„Teilhabe durch Engagement“, Handbook Mein Weg ins Engagement, Freiwilligen-Agentur Halle-Saalkreis e. V.
http://www.bamf.de/DE/Willkommen/Engagement/Bagfa/bagfa-node.html
Lesson Plan 4 as a PDF file here.
- Society – Integration successful versus unsuccessful – main factors, hidden hopes and expectations
- Languages - Learning the host country language: aspects of motivation, how can we increase it
- Study opportunity – Attending the educational measures
- Working life (your path to a job, your dream job)
- Use of social support services
- Accommodation
- Mentality of the host people; your identity: do you feel more “German”, “European”, or…
- Family
- Contacts in the host country (including free-time activities)