At Literacy NJ, the decline in our basic literacy services has caused us to reevaluate and reinvent our program. The cornerstone of our new plan is to offer an 8-week vestibule program called Steps to Success for new basic literacy students, focused on goal setting, crucial digital skills, and the development of independent learning strategies. We…

Historians of social studies and race have focused overwhelmingly on formal educational settings, textbooks, and curriculum, thereby overlooking the informal educational spaces valued by African Americans. This study examines civic education in informal settings by considering the educational programs of Black voluntary organizations. Hundreds of…

This dissertation is presented to provide an initial examination of The Salvation Army, U.S.A. Eastern Territory's Continuing Professional Education Program begun in 2013. The study focused on three areas of growth and development. These areas include: holistic ministry outcomes, leadership and management development and the retention of officers…

While her background leading a variety of public, private and voluntary sector organisations was not an obvious preparation for her new role as General Secretary of the Workers' Educational Association, the WEA is, nevertheless, in Ruth Spellman's blood. Her grandfather, who left school at 12, became fully numerate and literate through WEA courses…

While people might not be familiar with the term "voluntary arts", they are probably either involved with some voluntary arts activity themselves or they know someone who is. They use "voluntary arts" to mean any situation in which someone is voluntarily participating in an art form for pleasure, social reasons, skills…

Open Stages is Britain's biggest amateur theatre project, a hugely ambitious scheme to bring the professional and amateur theatre worlds together. It is a learning project but, as the Royal Shakespeare Company's Ian Wainwright tells this author, it is not only the amateurs who are learning. Wainwright states that the amateur and professional…

In this article, the author talks about Up for Arts, a Liverpool-based radio project aimed at promoting engagement in the arts. Up for Arts is a unique social action project which uses radio as a means of increasing public engagement in the voluntary arts and crafts. Its success has depended not only on the commitment of its partner organisations…

The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is the umbrella organisation for Member Organisations from 145 countries, with a total membership of 10 million. While Member Organisations offer training and development within their own countries, WAGGGS offers international opportunities, such as leadership development at…

Hardly anyone can have failed to pick up on the recent flurry of stories in the national press about the Big Society, sparked off by Dame Elisabeth Hoodless's remarks that funds for volunteers are disappearing at an alarming rate, and that this is undermining the very idea of a "Big Society". At the same time, under the government's…

The informal learning that older (age 50+) men experience in Australia has been the subject of a suite of recent, intensive, mixed methods research projects in community-based voluntary organizations. The purpose of the research was to examine where men are learning in these contexts beyond work and formal education rather than to assume and…

Dyslexia support is likely to be in place for students within educational establishments in England. However, there are a significant number of adults with dyslexia in the English workplace who are no longer involved in education and for whom ongoing support is necessary to enable them to reach their potential in a world of increasing literacy…

The study is situated within a national youth organisation called the Australian Air League Inc (Air League). We examine the recent progress of the Air League in South Australia, starting as a loose network of volunteers engaged in a sporadic array of activities, to become a learning community that worked collaboratively and then developed further…

A "good society" has recently been portrayed as one in which citizens engage in voluntary associations to foster democratic processes. Arguably, such a good society is considered as one where people are content with their own lives as well as public life. We consider whether participation in civil society leads to more satisfied…

It is rare that an initiative with no significant financial support catches the imagination of local services, but the National Year of Reading has certainly provided a welcome platform for those who are passionate about reading. The National Year of Reading has provided an opportunity for a wide range of groups to share their goals and work…

This report offers information and advice to assist all levels of government in its work to establish evidence-based policies, programs, and practices across the life cycle of disasters. This report provides examples of effective community efforts with respect to people with disabilities, and evaluates many emergency preparedness, disaster relief,…