A network of volunteers, the International Union for Conservation of Nature Commission on Education and Communication (CEC), present some reflections on their contributions towards the field of education for sustainability from 1992 to the present. Many CEC members have been thought leaders to this multidimensional field, and advocates for a more…

Volunteers from the International Reading Association (IRA) participated in the teacher education component of Macedonia's Secondary Education Activity, an initiative to reform vocational/technical education (VET), funded from 2004 to 2008 by USAID. Volunteers offered professional development to VET teachers using a trainer-of-trainers model,…

Explains steps in developing a volunteer program in a school; (i.e., assessing the school community's need for volunteers; developing a volunteer management plan; implementing the program; and evaluating the effort. Looks at trends in the number of volunteers, the competition for their services, volunteer expectations, and strength through…

Large numbers of trained volunteers working in community-based settings are needed if adult literacy programs are to be successful. In addition, adult literacy programs must work in partnership with other community organizations. Particularly necessary are formal linkage agreements with nontraditional organizations such as service and fraternal…

A successful student volunteer program for providing community services, initiated by the Quaker-run Westtown School, is described. After arranging for the recruitment and the orientation of student volunteers, cooperating agencies, and faculty sponsors, evaluation processes, daily schedules, and public relations policies were devised. Students,…

The purpose of this paper is to provide information to practitioners who are establishing and implementing volunteer programs on their campuses. First, the historical and contemporary roots of civic participation by students in American higher education is explored in three historical phases: (1) higher education as preparing an elite group of men…

Lessons worth noting from existing community-service programs include the importance of reciprocity and benefit to the volunteer; accountability to the community; youth leadership; a multigenerational approach; crossing the color line; and open mindedness. The service movement provides real possibilities for mutual advantage. (SLD)

After the Castro revolution of 1959, the new Cuban revolutionary government began a massive literacy campaign that taught 700,000 persons to read in about a year. Twenty years later, Nicaragua, facing an even more serious literacy problem, conducted a similar literacy campaign. In approximately six months, Nicaragua had reduced illiteracy by 37…

This essay addresses how to cope with several potential barriers to implementing effective service-learning projects. The discussion builds on experiences of developing and refining service-learning in upper-division communication courses. Difficulties arise in three areas: the institutional and physical setting, student attitudes, and community…

Small businesses can participate in a variety of partnerships with the educational community that can result in benefits to all partners. Examples of successful school-business partnerships in Arizona include the Aquafria Foundation in Evandale; the partnership among the University of Arizona, Pueblo High School, and the Puma County-State Bar…

From his experience as a teacher organizer, the author offers concrete and detailed advice about preparing for the successful implementation of an educational innovation, Project Follow Through. In an informal format, he discusses the selection of appropriate school sites, recruitment of volunteer teachers, presentation of the innovation, and…

Conference presentations of four individuals are included. The first presentation, by a new reader (Marty Finsterbusch), discusses the diversity of the illiterate population and urges new readers to become actively involved in the instruction and administration of literacy programs. Advantages include improved recruitment, improved communication…

Service learning links community service and volunteerism with academic learning. It is a collaborative effort that brings schools, community-based organizations, parents, and other community members together in a common enterprise of individual and community growth. Service learning is based on a number of existing links between schools and…

This document reports oral and written testimony of witnesses at three Congressional hearings on eliminating illiteracy held in spring and summer, 1989. Witnesses included Senators Paul Simon, Howard Metzenbaum, Nancy Kassebaum, Strom Thurmond, Thad Cochran, and Orrin Hatch; Secretary of Education Lauro F. Cavazos; literacy program managers and…

After listing the aims and objectives of the Institute for Socially Disadvantaged Groups' Educational Improvement (ISDGEI), in Kolhapur, India, this collection of seven articles discusses prospects, problems, and successes of providing universal elementary education to the children of India. Articles: (1) discuss quantitative and qualitative…