I

TEACHING PHILANTHROPY,

THIRD SECTOR AND CIVIL SOCIETY

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF RIJEKA, CROATIA

 

The project INITIATING PHILANTHROPIC ACTIVITIES IN CROATIA (RIJEKA) THROUGH TEACHER'S EDUCATION, focusing on the development of curriculum in philanthropy for teachers’ education started with in March 1995. This project, ending December 1997, was part of the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy’s “Eastern European Initiative Program”.

Although the main goal of the project was to develop curriculum in philanthropy for teachers’ education, the activities within the project could be briefly described as:

 

1. Teaching

 

Beginning academic 1995/96. course “Philanthropy and Education” was introduced as university course at the University of Rijeka School of Education (now School of Arts and Sciences)  for the undergraduate students in educational science. In 1996/97. the course was given at graduate level as well.

 

2. Developing teaching materials (curriculum development)

 

During the course of the project, teaching material “Philanthropy and Education” was developed.  This material is almost a self-sufficient source for basics course in philanthropy, and could be easily used by less experienced teachers in the field or/and as self-study material. It provides course participants or independent learners with almost every aspect of successful teaching (syllabus, carefully structured topics, main teaching methods described, evaluation procedures, basic texts (mainly translations of the texts that are not available in Croatian language), and bibliography of the “Philanthropic Collection”). The material (308 pages) is structured as follows:

 

1.  Introduction (basic information about the material, how to use it, syllabus of the course).

 

2.  Teaching topics (20 carefully structured topics, i.e., Philanthropic tradition,  The third sector in comparative perspective, School and community in the context of prosocial behaviour development, How to stimulate prosocial behaviour, etc.). Each topic includes a basic structure that helps teacher and students in the learning process. The idea underlying the proposed structure is to construct knowledge and to support active learning. Each of the 20 topics precise time needed, aims, what should be prepared in advance, scenario of the lesson, methods to be used, materials needed, work to be done after, literature for further reading and evaluation.

 

3.  Enclosures to the topics (almost each topic has learning questions, transparencies needed, or other materials required for successful teaching).

 

4.  Methods. Since active learning is encouraged and collaborative teaching methods preferred, the main teaching methods are described in details.

 

5.  Evaluation. Evaluation is very important part of every course. In this chapter some simple evaluation methods are described (values clarification, CAT - Classroom Assessment Techniques, etc.).

 

6.  Texts. Regarding the fact that very few texts in the field are written in Croatian language, it might be considered that this section makes an important contribution to the development of the field. In this section  some of the Croatian authors’ texts are given, as well as translated texts. The translated section is very important, because majority of the  students is able to read English texts only with difficulties.

 

7.  Finally, the bibliography of the “Philanthropic Collection”  is added.

 

3.   “Philanthropic Collection”

 

On January 25, 1996, “Philanthropic Collection” (collection of books, journals, and other materials in the field of philanthropy and third sector) was formally introduced at the University of Rijeka School of Education. “Philanthropic Collection” is one of the most important outcomes of the project, and it seems that at the moment offers the most comprehensive publicly available source of literature in the field in Croatia.

 

4.  Publishing/dissemination of the work on the project

 

The work on this project was disseminated through the following publications:

 

·       Ledić, J. (1996). Teaching philanthropy in Croatia: Problems and projects. ERIC document, ED 392 754 

 

·       Ledić, J. (1996). Philanthropy in Croatia: The problems of teaching. (Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, New York, NY, November 7-9, 1996). ERIC document, ED 404 324.

 

Papers published and/or presented:

 

·       Ledić, J. (1996). Treći sektor: okvir za razvoj civilnog društva i djelovanja u području okoliša. (The third sector: a framework for the development of civil society and environmental activities). Socijalna ekologija, 5(1): 37-46. (Paper presented at the colloquium “Hrvatsko društvo pred ekološkim izazovima” (“Croatian Society in Front of Environmental Challenges”), Zagreb, March 26, 1996.)

 

·       Ledić, J. (1997). Croatia. (In: CIVICUS: The new civic atlas: Profiles of civil society in 60 countries).  Washington: CIVICUS, 1997, p. 30-31).

 

·       Ledić, J.: Croats, God and What Else: Ideology and Values in Croatian Elementary School Curriculum. Paper presented at the 26^th ARNOVA (Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action) Conference, Indianapolis, December 4-6, 1997

 

·       Ledić, J. (1999). Stanje i problemi razvoja trećeg sektora u međunarodnom i nacionalnom kontekstu. (Present state and problems of the third sector development in international and national context); In: T. Macan (ed.): Hrvatska i održivi razvitak. Humane i odgojne vrednote. (Croatia and sustainable development: Human and educational values) Zagreb, Ministarstvo razvitka i obnove Republike Hrvatske, p. 199-204.)

 

·       Ledić, J.: The Future of Nonprofit Sector Teaching  and Research in CEE. Paper presented at the VOLUNTAS Symposium: Ten Years After: Civil Society and the Third Sector in Central and Eastern Europe, Prague, October 15-16, 1999.

 

For additional information please contact:

 

Professor Jasminka Ledić University of Rijeka School of Arts and Sciences Omladinska 14 HR-51000 RIJEKA CROATIA-EUROPE

tel/fax.: ++385 51 345 207 fax.:++385 51 345 051 e-mail: jasminka.ledic@ri.tel.hr

 

 

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II

 

Teaching Third Sector Disciplines at University Level:

 A Croatian Experience

 (outline prepared for the workshop for university teachers and NGO experts in Central and Eastern Europe:

 

Third Sector Studies at University and College Level –
Theory and Practice

 

Jasminka Ledić

University of Rijeka

School of Arts and Sciences

Omladinska 14, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia

Phone/fax: +385 51 809 515

email: jasminka.ledic@ri.tel.hr

 

 

 

THE THIRD SECTOR IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN CROATIA: RESEARCH AND TEACHING
2000[1]	2001
research of the sector: (1) within institutes and universities; (2) within NGOs	institutes and universities: no new research initiatives NGOs – research and publishishing initiatives[2]
National Research Program  (1996-1998); 53 research programs (public research institutes) and 863 research projects (universities) – only one project partly deals with the nonprofit sector	National Research program not established, existing research projects mainly going on
lack of interest for the sector from both state and researchers – the problem of interdisciplinary research and division between the fields	remains, even deepens
research done within the sector: important but not widely accessible and evaluated	remains important; efforts undertaken for becoming widely accessible and evaluated
teaching about the sector – only exceptional, without systematic efforts	remained the same
obstacles connected with the student mobility within the university	remained the same
courses offered at the University of Rijeka (Philanthropy and education; Education for civil society; Nonprofit law)	remained the same; plans for improvement and further development
THE THIRD SECTOR IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN CROATIA:
PROPOSALS FROM 2000	DEVELOPMENTS,  EXPERIENCE, AND PLANS,  2000-2001
international cooperation in comparative research	CIVICUS INDEX
the distinction between training and education: more efforts are to be dedicated to education for civil society (planned systematically within the educational system; special attention to teachers education)	no substantial improvements in education; quality training continues
establishing an inter-university interdisciplinary department in Croatia	initiatives for establishing summer school/graduate program (contacts established with the University of Rijeka Rectorate)
filling the gap between research and practice – resuorce centers as links between researchers (universities and institutes) and NGOs	Experience from the course Education for civil society, where link is established; positive experience
EXPERIENCE FROM THE COURSE EDUCATION FOR CIVIL SOCIETY
·        placing the students in resource center and training organisation
·        students’ involvement in research organized by NGO
·        promotion of volunteering
·        students proposing and working on projects
·        newspapers and magazines as teaching resource
·        literature review (National library)

 

 

"The medieval image of the university as an ivory tower, with scholars turned inward in solitary contemplation, immunized from the cares of the day, is an image that has been superseded by the modern university constructed not of ivory, but of a highly porous material, one that allows free diffusion in both directions. The academy is of the world, not apart from it." (Shirley M. Tilghman,  Princeton University's 19th president, October 2001).