The idea of ‘Service-Learning’: Evaluating educational volunteering as an authentic form of future teachers’ professional development

Introduction. Analysis of contemporary Russian and international publications reveals the absence of unified tools for effectiveness assessment, fragmented research perspectives, and the treatment of educational volunteering merely as a subcategory of social volunteering, disregarding its specific characteristics. Consequently, this study aims to analyze and provide a comprehensive theoretical and methodological review of approaches to studying the phenomenon of educational volunteering as a means of implementing ‘service-learning’. Materials and Methods. The methodological foundation of the study is a comprehensive approach: the systems approach is applied to analyze educational volunteering as an integrated system interconnected with the university educational environment, social context, and the ‘service-learning’ module syllabus. The activity-based approach is used to examine volunteer practices as a specific form of teaching, thereby revealing their motivational, axiological, content-related, and reflective components. The primary research method is theoretical analysis of Russian and international scholarly sources. Results. The authors conducted a comprehensive theoretical and methodological analysis of the phenomenon of educational volunteering within the ‘service-learning’ concept. The study identified the conceptual foundations of educational volunteering, tracing back to J. Dewey’s theories of empirical education and D. Kolb’s experiential learning model. Criteria for differentiating educational volunteering from social volunteering were established based on goal-setting, methodological foundations, and participants’ roles. A set of principles for organizing volunteer activities was classified across three levels: essential-organizational, content-pedagogical, and support. A multi-level effectiveness assessment system was developed, encompassing macro-, meso-, and micro-levels with corresponding evaluation tools. Furthermore, a comparative description of national research traditions in Russia, the USA, and China was formed, revealing specific approaches to studying the phenomenon. Conclusions. Based on the literature analysis, the study clarifies an integrative conceptual model of educational volunteering as a means of implementing ‘service-learning’. The model presents the phenomenon as a synthesis of theoretical foundations (Dewey-Kolb ideas), basic principles (reciprocity, reflection, integration of academic and practical components), and organizational mechanisms. The created theoretical and methodological framework enables a holistic analysis of the phenomenon and serves as a foundation for further empirical research and practical developments in higher education.