Volunteer programs, especially those for docents, may often be overlooked as learning opportunities rather than as a strategy for program delivery. Thinking about docents first as learners themselves, and then as partners in creating learning experiences for visitors, can create a meaningful shift in the relationship. By integrating concepts from…

As part of a broader evolution of our K-12 programming, the Art Institute of Chicago transitioned our docent program into a newly designed Volunteer Program, a process that was informed by rigorous research, reflection, and evaluation of our engagements with students and teachers. This case study offers a perspective on designing a new structure…

In recent years, the role of the professionally trained volunteer docent has taken many twists and turns. Guided by institutional strategies and missions, docent programs have flexed, shifted, and altered to meet institutional needs. This article provides an overview of recent trends and practices presented at the National Docent Symposium…

Over the past 10-15 years, the Volunteer Program at the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County has undergone an immense transition. This program overhaul tackled historical methodology that had been creating barriers to participation, addressed the changing needs of modern volunteer audiences, and worked to highlight access and inclusion in…

Volunteers play a pivotal role in enhancing the effectiveness of the 4-H program. Research demonstrates that offering professional development opportunities to volunteers contributes to retention. The Volunteer Research Knowledge Competency Taxonomy (VRKC) is a framework that pinpoints essential competencies for proficiently delivering 4-H youth…

Introduction: An innovative undergraduate helping skills course where students learn, practice, and apply a problem management model with a peer volunteer on a non-clinical issue across three supervised helping meetings is presented. Statement of the Problem: Undergraduate helping skill courses are typically offered as in-class role-plays. This…

The wisdom of Audre Lorde informs us that "the master's tools will never dismantle the master's house." The origins of many museum collections are that their objects were obtained by colonizers who became the masters of colonized people's cultural heritage. One of the master's tools has always been to create and benefit from a system of…

In the state of Queensland, volunteers perform much of the work needed to prevent the extinction of threatened species who are native and unique to this continent. Acting from an understanding of interspecies justice, caring people rescue and rehabilitate hundreds of thousands of wild animals every year. Many of these same people conduct informal…

The presence of volunteers, both affiliated and unaffiliated, and the influx of donations during and after an emergency can be addressed through a comprehensive emergency operations plan (EOP). Education agencies and their planning teams must consider developing a system that addresses the different types of donations and volunteers, how they will…

All content to Wikipedia is added and edited in a crowdsourced model, wherein nearly anyone can click the "edit" button and change content on Wikipedia. An active community of dedicated volunteers is what keeps Wikipedia as reliable as it is today--good, but not complete. More diverse contributors are needed to add more content to…

Multilingual students learning English face changes in developing intercultural communicative competence outside the classroom. This Classroom Exploration, informed by frameworks of intercultural communicative competence, willingness to communicate, and cultural adaptation, explores the use of reflection comics in a service-learning course for…

As with many Volunteer Programs, volunteerism at Filoli began in support of a fledgling organization in 1975. Initially a separate nonprofit, Friends of Filoli was created with the purpose of fundraising and other support, but was dissolved in 1989 as it was not self-sufficient. The leadership structure, however, remained and later merged with the…

Extension personnel are tasked with ensuring that 4-H volunteers have competencies identified in the Volunteer Research and Knowledge Competency (VRKC) Taxonomy, 4-H youth development's foundational volunteer skills framework. The VRKC Codebook is a qualitative analysis tool for accurately identifying VRKC-aligned needs expressed in volunteer…

Textbooks and lectures can convey the science of volunteer management; however, the art of volunteer management is developed through experience and reflection. This teaching activity gives students practice in developing a volunteer program and in identifying mission and position-specific nuances to volunteer management. Over the course of three…

As a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine, two million children have been forced to flee their homes in order to seek safety in other countries. In addition to having a safe place to live, every child must be able to access education in order to gain the knowledge they need to meet their full potential. This is the belief at the "Let's Shake…