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Learning For Volunteering
Sonnie Hopkins believes that it is time for
volunteering to be recognised as skilled work, alongside paid work.
High level skills are important to paid work
and Australia's future economic well being. This is something we
hear almost daily. But seldom do government ministers or the press
talk of the place of skills in the work of volunteers! Yet volunteers
create wealth that benefits many people. Estimates for Australia
put the value of volunteer output as equivalent to that of a major
industry sector. Volunteers also create other forms of value. One
is the sense of self-worth that volunteering engenders-a benefit
that flows on to others in many ways. Another is the contribution
to social cohesion that derives from the voluntary nature of the
work.
It seems too, that the work of volunteers is
of growing importance. For instance, an aging community means expanding
demand for many of the services that volunteers provide. Not only
will there be more call on support for the elderly; more 'third
agers' will mean greater time for leisure and personal development
pursuits, amongst them exploration of their natural and cultural
heritage.
Enterprises in the market economy are increasingly
reliant for their survival on highly capable and committed employees.
The same can be said of organisations that employ volunteers. Recipients
expect 'first rate' service regardless of whether those with whom
they deal are paid or unpaid. And they are likely to demand an even
higher level of capability than hitherto. To illustrate: museums
must service an increasingly educated community seeking answers
to more complex questions and guidance in the use of more powerful,
and skill-demanding, search and retrieval technologies. Also, volunteering
can involve duty of care-for museum personnel in the security of
artefacts, and seeing to it that a safe environment is maintained.
The training of paid workers presents many challenges
to enterprises in the market economy. But challenges can be even
greater for organisations looking to train their voluntary workers.
Volunteers are typically busy people with many commitments; they
often have difficulty in finding time to attend training outside
rostered hours. Rosters typically have volunteers thinly spread
over lengthy cycles, making cost efficient training provision problematic.
Moreover, the very tight financial conditions that most organisations
operate under, makes efficiency in training very important. In addition,
there may be a lack of people who are skilled in training delivery,
especially where an organisation is establishing a new service or
expanding to a distant location.
It is not surprising then, that research has
shown that the training of volunteers is a major concern to the
organisations that employ them. Nor is it surprising that the more
highly educated are disproportionately represented amongst Australia's
volunteer population. This partly reflects cultural tradition. But
it probably also stems from the tendency for the more educated to
feel they require little training, since they are confident that
they bring to their volunteering considerable knowledge and skill,
including well developed learning ability. Notwithstanding, training
is vital to all volunteer performance, whether as on-the-job induction
or more formally delivered. One of the things that educationists
have come to appreciate over recent years is the contextual nature
of knowledge in action-which is what skilled work is. We are all
'ducks out of water' when we take on a new job! Nonetheless, it
is not in the interest of organisations employing volunteers to
have some sections of the community less inclined to work in this
way-recruiting suitable numbers of volunteers is a common problem.
Nor is the present situation consistent with a society that is egalitarian.
Might every-day acknowledgment, by governments and the press, of
the worth that volunteers create-not just at the Olympics-encourage
more people to offer their services? And would reference to the
diversity of skills required for different forms of volunteer work,
as for different forms of paid work, encourage people from all sorts
of backgrounds to see that they have something to offer? Furthermore,
might the status of volunteer work be enhanced?
It is my belief that government recognition
should extend to national vocational education and training policy
explicitly placing voluntary work alongside paid work. This would
not imply government commitment to across-the-board funding for
training of volunteers, though it could mean better access to funds.
It would also provide all organisations employing volunteers with
a say in the forms and content of vocational education and training
nationally. In addition, it could include a framework for volunteers
who wish it, to have their learning recognised, so that it carries
due weight with employers in the market economy-something that happens
too rarely at present. However, it is stressed that the volunteer
must be free to choose whether he or she wants formal recognition
of learning; the alternative puts at risk many of the attractive
features of volunteering.
Australia, like governments in many other developed
countries, is promoting learning as being a lifelong endeavour for
active and fulfilling participation in work and the community generally.
Surely this means all work, paid, voluntary and home duties!
Sonnie Hopkins recently retired from the
position of Research Fellow with the University of Melbourne. An
exploratory project on volunteer training formed part of her research
undertaken in association with the Monash-ACER Centre for the Economics
of Education and Training (CEET). See www.education.monash.edu.au/centres/CEET.
CEET can be contacted on 03 9905 9157.
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