Also published in BG NAUKA

1. Nature and features of extracurricular activities

The human being is created to live in society, in social groups. For the biological and social survival of the human individual, the relationships between individuals are extremely important. And they are based on humanity. Humanity is a long process that is nurtured from the earliest childhood. Humanization, especially in the school community, helps to build the human in the individual.

At different ages, children have a rather intuitive idea of humanity, but they do not have permanently built concepts and conclusions. In preschool age, a child uses the concepts of good and bad, while in school age the volume of concepts expands. Sometimes, however, children do not realize the connection between individual concepts.

Children have a natural need to give and receive kindness. The object of humanization is the other person, the relationship between two subjects.

Unfortunately, today the mass trend is rather in the negative spectrum. Children are raised as separate individuals, parents, in order to care for and protect them, impute to them the feeling that they are special, that they are more important than others, create in them the feeling of needing to receive more than to give. This, in my opinion, is a major problem of our entire modern society. Immersed in materialism, today's children grow up mentally crippled to some extent. They attend school not so much to gain new knowledge and improve themselves, but to receive material benefit - a high grade. It is a well-known fact that in today's school the main problem is the lack of discipline and students. Children do not have an elementary sense of empathy. Even older students do not realize or are not moved, realizing that when they demonstrate poor discipline and inadequate behavior in class, they are primarily hindering some of their classmates who want to learn.

Learning is a purposeful and rationally organized process of absorbing social experience. in its generalized and systematized form, while retaining its main property. School, as part of a child's life, is mandatory and therefore boring, tedious, etc. This negativity in children is manifested on the one hand because of the mandatory programs that they must follow. There is no way that a child can like and study all the mandatory subjects with desire. That is why extracurricular activities fill the student's free time and protect him from aimless wandering, meetings with strangers and dangerous people who could incite him to harmful habits; in extracurricular activities, the student has the opportunity to do his favorite things, to discover and develop certain talents that will enrich his further development as a person; extracurricular activities also educate humanity.

Extracurricular activities are those that are carried out by the student outside of the mandatory classes that are defined in the curriculum and plan.. This activity is also called extracurricular activity. It is organized by institutions specially created for this purpose and creates conditions and factors for the development of children. The main benefit of such activities is that they enable the child to develop his or her own "I" in different life situations. The purpose of such classes is to satisfy the interests and needs of the child in their free time. Extracurricular activities are not subject to mandatory state documents, but are rather subject to the free choice of type, form and realization of the child. Unlike traditional forms of pedagogical interaction, extracurricular activity is flexible, mobile and expedient. It can be organized in or outside the school, in specialized institutions - personal development centers, community centers, various cultural institutes. A specific feature of this type of activity is that it allows for the affirmation of humanity and tolerance in relations between children. Thus, they acquire useful habits and grow up with higher morality and a better value system. Extracurricular activities are attractive because they are voluntary, the student has a real right to choose the type and form, and are directly related to future professional development.[1]

2. Goals and principles of extracurricular and extracurricular activities (ECAs)

Extracurricular activities are a means of managing and achieving better quality education. They serve to regulate the set educational and upbringing goals. They change attitudes and practices in order to improve the functioning of the main educational institutions and support the development of the student's personality.

2.1. Specific objectives:

• reduction of absences;
• control and prevention of aggression;
• increasing literacy;
• improving motivation;
• improving the school environment;
• motivating creative behavior;
• stimulating the personal development of students.

2.2. Basic principles:

• Principle of consistency and systematicity – The IED is tailored to the educational needs, the systematic presentation of the material, and the interests of the student;
• Voluntariness principle – students choose the form of classes they are interested in. This applies to optional knowledge, clubs, sections, interest groups, as well as enrollment in extracurricular educational institutions;
• Principle of public orientation – the activity is of public importance, meets current tasks for the development of the country, is related to achievements of modern science, technology, culture, art;
• Principle of initiative and self-activity – IID takes into account the wishes of the students themselves, is based on their initiative proposals;
• Principle of entertainment – use of interactive working methods;
• Principle of taking into account the didactic connection of theory with practice – developing skills in students to apply the acquired knowledge in the learning process;
• Continuity principle – the need to conduct IEDs throughout the school year.

3. Priority areas of the IID

Extracurricular activities have a diverse content. In 1997, a scientific team of specialists in the field of extracurricular activities and heads of extracurricular institutions developed the first version of the standard for extracurricular activities. The authors proceed from the thesis that the child's personality is at the center of this type of activity. Therefore, they determine that the directions should be in view of the personality. They offer the following directions, each of which has its own specific features:

– Person-society;

– Personality-scientific and technical creativity;

– Personality-artistic creativity;

– Personality-physical culture, sports, tourism;

– Personality-work and profession;

3.1. Person-society direction

This direction includes activities that build moral, legal, environmental and health culture in children. In the conditions of these activities, students master the skills to navigate in social and political reality and form national self-awareness. They are directed towards purely practical social attitudes that are related to environmental protection, relations in the family and school, the working environment and the state, and a healthy lifestyle. Activities in this direction help to educate civic self-awareness and an active civic position in adolescents. They form respect and regard for human dignity, rights and freedom of the individual.

The process of implementing such activities related to society includes organizing meetings, conferences, discussions, celebrating notable events, discussing various notable individuals, documents, etc. In this way, children acquire knowledge about the rules and norms of cultural behavior, about the rights and obligations of students around the world and citizens of the Republic of Bulgaria, about the state structure, etc.

3.2. Personality-scientific and technical creativity

This direction includes activities that satisfy the specific interests of children in the field of humanitarian and natural-mathematical scientific fields. Students develop their individual capabilities in the relevant field of knowledge and form their creative abilities and skills. These activities prepare adolescents for realization in the conditions of a market economy and the relevant relations.

Ordinary students are included in clubs and interest groups, where they master knowledge about nature, the laws and phenomena that occur in it. They study generally valid principles and laws, master new technologies. They also develop skills for original solutions to specific tasks, for collecting, analyzing and processing various information. Thus, when they become adults, they will be able to apply their knowledge in everyday life and in new, non-standard situations.

3.3. Personality-pilgrim creativity as a direction of extracurricular activity

The goal of this direction is to introduce children to literature and the arts, to form interest and development in these areas, to help reveal students' talents and skills, to support the formation of aesthetic criteria for the world, for people, for the beautiful and the ugly, etc.

The forms of participation can be varied: circles, clubs, choirs, theater and dance groups. Through this direction, children enrich their general culture for the respective type of art and its means of expression, master various techniques for its application, learn about the essence of the creative process as a whole, acquire skills to distinguish and evaluate different works of art (by observing a painting or a dance or musical performance). Through activities with some type of art, a child learns a lot and acquires a lot. In addition to having the opportunity to master the respective art to a greater or lesser extent, it is possible for the child to discover himself there and improve himself to a high degree. It is also possible to simply fill his free time, doing something that he enjoys and thus reduce the stress he is subjected to in our hectic everyday life.

Another characteristic feature of this extracurricular activity, and not only this one, is the performance. It can be individual or group or both. The performance in itself brings satisfaction to the child, because it gives him the opportunity to show and share his successes in the art he is involved in. The performance also teaches. Many children are timid by nature, shy, and worried about publicity. With the right approach from teachers and parents, they could overcome this shyness through individual performances. And what do group performances give us? Above all, they teach children teamwork, discipline, and dependence. When you dance, sing, or play in a group, you depend on the other "team players," just as they depend on you. This creates a sense of responsibility in the child, the feeling that certain of his actions or inactions influence other people, for good or bad.

3.4. Personality - physical culture, sports, tourism

By practicing sports and tourism, children gradually master motor skills and habits. They aim to improve physical development and strengthen the body of the growing child. By attending various sports activities, habits for a healthy lifestyle are established. The implementation of this type of direction in the IID is mainly along two lines: mass training (mass sports groups, kinesitherapy, outdoor games, competitions, excursions, expeditions, etc.) and specialized training (sports teams). Sports activities based on interests stimulate children to engage in activities independently. Thus, students, in addition to strengthening their bodies, gain knowledge about health as a value, about the main types of sports or how outings and excursions are organized. They acquire useful habits for belonging to a group or team. Since sports also involve injuries, students enrich their general culture and in terms of providing first aid. They learn to work in a team, to give of themselves for others, and develop self-control and discipline skills. At the same time, individual sports activities improve other valuable qualities in children. They learn to rely primarily on themselves and get the opportunity for self-expression and self-realization. By participating in various competitions and games, they acquire very valuable habits of communication and attitude towards losses and victories - something that is extremely useful in life in the future. Controlling emotions and accepting the fact that sometimes there are better people than us makes children more emotionally stable adults.

3.5. Personality-work and profession

This direction includes activities aimed at labor education and professional orientation of children. They develop a respectful attitude towards human labor, skills and habits for performing various practical activities, as well as usefulness and readiness to do something for themselves or for others. When students become familiar with the features and requirements of various professions, they can more easily orient themselves in what profession or craft to pursue as adults. Their knowledge of labor as a basic human activity, of the basic types of labor and materials is also enriched. This can be achieved by familiarizing students with the different working conditions in various enterprises and companies. Students also develop skills in organizing the workplace, as well as skills in performing some basic labor operations: cutting, gluing, sewing, planting, etc., working with various household and electrical appliances.

Each of these areas of extracurricular activity is specified according to the age and individual characteristics of the students, according to their desires and skills, as well as according to the material capabilities of the respective region. Of course, children cannot simultaneously participate in all activities, even if they show interest in most of them. Therefore, complex opportunities for each area, for each type of activity, should be selected in terms of the overall formation of the child.

4. Forms and organization of IID

The effective organization of the IID requires a good knowledge of the different forms of organization of activities. Regarding age, they can be: same-age – include children from the same class from a given school or from the same class from different schools; mixed-age – include children of different ages from the same school or from different schools

According to the indicator "time" The forms of organization can be permanent and temporary. Permanent ones are implemented for a long period of time, at least one school year. Temporary associations are of a duration of several months – usually work on some project. They do not allow to create traditions and a style of communication between children, but they have their place because they satisfy temporary, momentary desires of the students and satisfy their temporary needs. The benefit of this, although temporary, is that it creates emotional comfort for the person.

According to the number of students, the forms of extracurricular activities can be divided into individual, group and mass. Individual ones are usually applied to children with clearly expressed talents, who have difficulty fitting into a group with average abilities. The group form of organization can have a different number of students, starting from three, with no upper limit. The difference with the mass form for IID is that the latter can include students from one or more grades or even all student communities.

According to the level of preparation, the activities in the extracurricular forms are for beginners, for advanced and for outstanding children. In this way, children with different levels of mastery of a given activity move in sync with the others. This way, there is no danger of any child falling behind and having a negative emotional impact on them or losing the desire for activities due to boredom.

Forms of organization can be implemented through circles, schools, sections, groups, collectives, teams. To create interest among students in a given association, advertisements and individual conversations can be used. The establishment of an association of interests as a necessary factor for the development of children requires that it constantly enriches the child's personality, forms, corrects, develops creative abilities, develops self-activity and satisfies the needs and interests of each individual child who has joined.

5. My personal life experience as a parent and teacher

In recent years, the opinion that the teacher and the school are primarily responsible for the upbringing of a child has been increasingly instilled in society. This is a completely wrong perception. The basic right, obligation and priority of the upbringing of a child is his family.

The fact is that modern society is degrading; as a morality and value system, as humanity... At the same time, it is impossible for the family alone to build the values and principles of humanity in a child. Because the more he grows, the more time he spends outside the family and the more the environment influences him.

It is very important that children do not live with a sense of impunity. In our effort to protect and preserve them, we, parents, often make the fatal mistake of not letting the child suffer the consequences of the mistake. This is how they grow up without any sense of responsibility: towards themselves, towards others; this is how they grow up with such a model of upbringing and in time they will raise and educate their children in this way. And at some point, humanity in human relationships will disappear. The consequences, of course, must be fair. When a person is taught to be responsible for their actions, they better control the negative traits of their character and behavior and cause less harm to themselves and others.

Engagement is also an important component in raising a child. A person is a being created and programmed to develop and improve in a variety of aspects and areas. In my opinion, this is the main meaning of human existence in general. A growing human being needs a suitable soil for development and improvement. If a child is left idle, he instinctively looks for activities, something that "will raise my adrenaline to the max", as today's youth express it. And in this search, children often fall under bad influences, acquire harmful and dangerous habits, degrade and, unfortunately, lately, they have not rarely died.

When a child is first engaged in work at home, it brings them several benefits: they acquire basic life habits that will serve them in a purely practical way in everyday life; they feel useful and part of the family society; they learn that they are dependent on others, but also that they are dependent on them (if they don't turn on the vacuum cleaner, everyone will be uncomfortable with the dirt); they learn responsibility, and selfishness gives way to humanity and empathy.

Engagement in additional extracurricular activities – this has had an incredibly beneficial impact on my two children. Both of them attend a folk dance school, in different age groups. Here I will allow myself to give specific examples of how this has helped them in their growth. Dancing in a group implies regular attendance at rehearsals – this builds discipline. It also implies a serious attitude towards mastering the basic dance techniques – this builds refinement and grace in their physical development. After numerous training sessions, it is time for the performance. Every human being has an instinctive desire to present themselves well in front of the rest of society – it fosters diligence in the activity and insight into the details. It also fosters responsibility towards oneself and towards others: there are always a few irregular children in the group, not serious enough, who on the day of the concert have not “learned the dance”. When the group does not perform well after a performance, it is time for mutual education - the children criticize each other, the diligent ones demand more work and seriousness from their peers, who in turn begin to feel a certain amount of fear of being rejected by the group/society.

I have also noticed how the feeling of camaraderie and empathy is manifested. When one child is absent, another one undertakes to convey information about a change in the schedule, an upcoming concert, etc. Often behind the scenes they help each other, instead of waiting for the leader: the "kids" put on makeup for the younger ones and help them with their hair, a girl has forgotten the much-needed secret needle and another one runs to help her, the more experienced boys, instead of making fun of the little ones for getting tangled in a belt and vests, show them the intricacies of putting on the folk costume. Because on stage the audience sees the group in its entirety and the children know it. Often the children also participate in charitable causes, most recently for a child they know, who is seriously ill. The concert was tiring, there were quarrels and dramas behind the scenes, but in the end everyone went home with a feeling of inner satisfaction that they had done something good, helped a loved one.

Extracurricular activities also imply other activities to them. Often, the performances are connected with visits to other settlements – the children combine work with pleasure, visit local landmarks and enrich themselves further, meet new people, exchange experiences. Sometimes they participate in competitions – they learn about fair competition. There was a moment when it was incomprehensible to them why they should rejoice in the success of others who have ranked in higher positions: we taught them that it is not scary when you are not among the first and that there is nothing wrong or shameful in this, we taught them that they should appreciate the work and efforts of others, even if they are their competition. And when the performance is combined with a long-distance trip, their sense of care for each other is heightened: they look out for each other to see if anyone has forgotten something important, some of the group are responsible for carrying and keeping part of the inventory (baskets with flowers, wooden spoons, clappers…).

In addition to dancing, my children also engage in folk singing and instrumental performance – individually. In addition to the above-mentioned advantages, in individual performances they learned that here they cannot “hide” in the group when they are not well prepared. In the solo performance they are alone – both for the stormy applause and for the shame of a poor performance.

But the most important thing is that these extracurricular activities allow them to do something of their own that they enjoy and that teaches them in a much more enjoyable way.

What's happening at school?

During the 2016-2017 school year, I worked as an Italian language teacher at the National Higher Educational Institution "K. Preslavski" - Varna. In addition to regular Italian language classes, I formed two groups under the "Your Class" project. Attendance at these classes is voluntary. Since, for a number of reasons, there is not enough time in regular classes for additional information besides the mandatory vocabulary and grammar, my main goal in these classes is to enrich the general culture of children about the culture and history of Italy in a pleasant way. I teach classes with different profiles - mainly artists and dancers and a few children with a history profile. To make it useful and interesting for them, I gave them different tasks: one part of the dancers had to find information about Italian folklore and prepare presentations. Then the students from the "history" profile presented what their classmates had done. The artists, who are more in number, were asked not only to prepare presentations about famous people and landmarks, but also to draw them. In mid-June, there will be an exhibition that we will present at the school. During these classes, the atmosphere is “freer”. The dry academicism of regular classes is missing. The children are calmer and work more diligently. We often have discussions on the topic of the day: on the topic of Venice, it turned out that many of them had visited this city. Everyone shared their impressions, a debate arose about whether the city is good for living or just for tourism, what is worth seeing there… during the discussion, I, as a teacher, supplemented with information and was careful not to let the conversation go beyond the limits of good manners. Some of the children are more emotional, used to imposing their opinion at all costs. In such cases, I try to show them that being different from them does not necessarily make them better or worse, but simply different, which is actually constructive for our society. With others, I noticed how at first they timidly tried to express an opinion. I try to inspire them with more courage to stand up for themselves without fear that others will not accept them.

6. In conclusion

I have always believed that to be a teacher you need to have a calling, a huge dose of talent and a lot of knowledge and communication skills. This profession is one of the most important and responsible in society, because it is the teacher who, in addition to providing knowledge, plays a significant role in the upbringing of his students and contributes to the formation of their character.

A child is formed as a person first at home, in his family. But the more he grows, the more his environment influences him. One part of this environment is the friends and teachers with whom he contacts every day. And it is precisely the teacher, together with the parents, who are his role models. Anyone who works with children should know that daily contact with them shapes the future of our society.

And modern parents should perhaps attend courses on parenting methodology...

References:

1. Lecture material by Prof. Dr. Stoyanka Georgieva
2. Rangelova, Emilia. Methodology of Educational Activity, Sofia, "Ex-Press" Publishing House, 2009

 

© 2023 Iliana Dechkova