The primary reason that community-based literacy agencies have chosen to include volunteers in their programming is because volunteers can (and do) offer a different level of service to literacy learners. There is also a misconception that volunteers are simply unpaid labour, but monetary issues should not be the primary focus in a volunteer-based program. Instead, agencies need to be able to answer the question, “If we had more than enough funding to hire all the staff we need, would we still use volunteers? And what jobs would those volunteers do?”

The answer to the first question should be a resounding “Yes!, we would indeed continue to use volunteers!” Volunteers are more than just unpaid labour. They provide an invaluable service in terms of establishing an ongoing relationship of trust with learners. Because they meet one-on-one (or sometimes in small groups) with learners, they get to know people in a way that simply isn’t possible for program staff. By working so closely with learners, volunteers can provide program staff with a wealth of informal assessment information that staff can in turn use in their formal assessment tracking and reporting. The level of detail that a volunteer can provide about the learner’s skills, successes and struggles is integral to the overall assessment picture.

In addition, volunteers bring a high level of commitment and enthusiasm to literacy instruction, and they also bring a wealth of skills and background experience from their own jobs and lives that complement and enhance those of the program staff.

Volunteer tutors can (and do) complement the work of staff through individualized instruction or assisting with small group work, thus freeing up program staff to devote themselves to issues of accountability: demonstration of learning, tracking progress, formal assessments, etc. When it comes to assessment, the ongoing feedback that a volunteer can provide is worth more than its weight in gold. This ongoing feedback is a key component in the team effort that goes into conducting thorough and accurate assessments. The chapter entitled “The Volunteer’s Role in the Assessment Process” provides a more in-depth look at the scope of the volunteer tutor’s job.