Why use Volunteers?

Crucial to a successful program is the volunteer tutor’s multifaceted role as assessor, instructor, advocate and motivator. (19)

THE VALUE OF USING VOLUNTEERS has long been recognized by community-based literacy programs. However, most of the evidence is anecdotal; not much has been done in terms of hard research, facts and figures. One of the few examples comes from an American volunteer literacy program called Time to Read. In 1988, they reported that “the key to effective assessment of learner progress [is the] close interaction between tutors and learners.”(20)

Assessment is a measure of program accountability. Literacy practitioners must be properly trained to conduct formal assessments. Quality training, combined with on-the-job experience, gives practitioners the skills they need to conduct thorough, accurate assessments. The amount of time and training required to gain this level of expertise is significant and beyond the scope of what literacy programs can reasonably expect from volunteers. In fact, an Australian study discussed this issue of volunteers carrying out increasingly complex tasks and the differences between paid and unpaid practitioners. The authors of the study came to the conclusion that the role of volunteers in literacy programs has changed significantly and that programs should give careful consideration to the type of tasks and the level of responsibility they assign volunteers.(21)

If we acknowledge that there is a difference between the role of staff and volunteers in literacy programs and that the role of volunteers has changed and is continuing to evolve, why do we even recruit volunteers? After all, volunteer recruitment and management are time-consuming tasks.