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Volunteers are adult learners too:
A conference which explores the contribution of learning for and through volunteering
| Date: | Tuesday, 6 December 2005 |
| Venue: | London Resource Centre |
| Ref: | C12-58/12/05 |
| Fee*: | £150 – Statutory/Private Organisations £125 – NIACE Members for the first applicant and £100 – for subsequent applicants from the same organisation £100 – for Voluntary Organisations (*includes lunch, tea/coffee): |
[Background] [Audience] [Programme]
Background
Organisations which build partly or wholly on the unpaid effort of volunteers are many and various, and have been a longstanding feature of life in the United Kingdom. They include small community organisations and self-help groups with no paid staff, voluntary organisations with one or more paid employees, large charitable organisations dedicated to a specific cause and local authority services with a focus on community development or adult learning.
People who take the step into volunteering, sometimes help others to learn, but many find themselves on their own journey of learning, discovery and transformation.
This conference will explore some of the experiences of individuals and organisations and the role learning has played in their development. Workshops and presentations will represent the rich and diverse characteristics and contributions of volunteers and volunteering. Conference delegates will receive a copy of the new NIACE Lifeline on Volunteers and Volunteering being launched that day.
The conference will aim:
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to highlight the importance of volunteering to the development of a vibrant culture of active citizenship, including collective and individual activism; |
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to focus attention on the key role of learning in volunteering, both informal and formal, and how this can increase access into learning, particularly for more marginalised and disadvantaged learners, and support progression into further learning, paid work, and new forms of community activism; |
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to explore the various contexts in which such learning occurs (in preparation for, and as a consequence of, voluntary activity) and the contribution this makes to both the experience of volunteering and to learner progression; |
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to examine what might be included in an appropriate curriculum for learning for and through volunteering, and the nature of effective practice in this context; |
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to explore the contribution of learning for and through volunteering to various key government policy areas such as lifelong learning, widening participation, skills for employability, workforce development, 'Skills for Life' (language, literacy and numeracy skills), neighbourhood renewal and community regeneration. |
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Audience
This conference will be useful to those interested in developing learning in community settings from amongst Higher Education, Further Education, Local Authority and Voluntary and Community Sector providers. It will also be helpful to organisations developing volunteering programmes, particularly in terms of how they address key learning and training aspects.
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Programme
| 10:00 | Arrival and Registration (Tea/Coffee available) |
| 10:30 | Welcome and Introduction to the Day |
| 10:45 | Volunteers talk about how
volunteering involved them in a learning journey that has changed their
lives Issues highlighted by these personal experiences Dave Cooper Sarah Housden John Allan |
| 12:00 | Discussion Groups: What scope is there for working more effectively with volunteers? Reviewing and developing current practice |
| 13:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00 | Plenary Discussion Issues highlighted by the Discussion Groups |
| 14:15 | Three very different providers
(Voluntary Sector, Local Authority and Specialist Adult Education College) -Explain why they’re passionate about work with volunteers. -How they go about it. -How they manage the political environment. Ian Hunter, Head of Community Learning, Gateshead Council Prof. Tony Jowitt, Principal, Northern College for Residential Adult Education Janet De Bathe, Chief Executive, Learning Links |
| 15:15 | Guest speaker The personal and wider benefits of volunteering |
| 15:45 | Conclusions and launch of ‘Volunteers and Volunteering’ |
| 16:00 | Close of Conference (Tea/Coffee available) |
This programme is correct at the time of going to press. The organisers reserve the right to make changes to the published programme in the event of one or more of the advertised speakers being unable to attend. Delegates will have no claim against NIACE in respect of such changes.
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