THE PEDAGOGICAL POTENTIAL OF CHARITY ACTIVITY IN SHAPING LIFE COMPETENCIES OF STUDENTS WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT

Abstract

The article examines the pedagogical potential of charitable activity in shaping the life competencies of students with hearing impairment. The relevance of the topic is determined by the specific communicative conditions in which this category of children develops, whereby the acquisition of social interaction skills and independent decision-making requires specially organised practical activity. The study aims to identify the pedagogical potential of charitable activity as a means of shaping life competencies on the basis of an analysis of scholarly literature and a synthesis of the experience of an educational institution. The methodological framework comprises L. S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory, the activity-based approach of A. N. Leontiev and S. L. Rubinstein, contemporary conceptions of the structure of life competencies in students with disabilities, and international research on service-learning. The methods employed are theoretical analysis and generalisation of literature, analysis of normative documents, and the study and description of pedagogical experience. The empirical base is three years of experience in organising a school charity fair at Yekaterinburg Boarding School No. 11, whose participants include deaf and hard-of-hearing students, students with severe speech impairments, teachers, parents, graduates, students of a pedagogical university and colleges, and representatives of a charitable foundation. In the first year, responsibility and initiative belonged to teachers, who determined the beneficiary, distributed roles and coordinated preparations; subsequently, students began to engage independently in making items, developing workshops, decorating the venue and interacting with visitors. Four stages of student involvement are identified: motivational-value, design, activity-practical and reflective, with the need to strengthen the latter noted. Five pedagogical conditions are formulated: a socially significant goal understandable to students; pedagogical support with the gradual expansion of independence; involvement in various activities and social roles; organisation of quality interaction with peers and adults; and mandatory discussion of results and their significance for others. It is concluded that the developmental effect is determined not by participation as such but by the nature of the pedagogical organisation of the activity, including the setting of a social goal, support for initiatives and reflection on the experience gained.