Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemWhat it means to be a volunteer with the Baptist Community Services of New South Wales( 2001)Stimulated by the recent public and scholarly interest surrounding the International Year of the Volunteer, and a corresponding recognition of limitation in academic explanations of the meaning or significance of volunteerism, this project examines the phenomenon of what it means to be a volunteer with Baptist Community Services of New South Wales (BCS). Using case study methodology, qualitative data was obtained through individual in-depth interviews and focus groups consisting of a representative selection of volunteers, managers and clients of BCS. The project found that whilst academics and research participants alike contribute many relevant and helpful insights in answer to the research question of what it means to be a volunteer with BCS, their perceptions of the issue are noticeably different. Among academics, on the one hand, there is a prevailing big picture or macro conceptualisation of volunteering. Their concepts embrace the whole world of volunteering and are expressed theoretically in the form of paradigms such as the educative one of Lave and Wenger who view the meaning of volunteering in terms of situated learning within communities of practice. On the other hand, the participants deal with the question of meaning at the micro level of everyday lived-experience. They encapsulate the. essence of the meaning with word pictures or motifs, expressed in narrative form, that make their perceptions of meaning more accessible to non-academic people. The macro versus micro view of volunteering is a crucial finding of this investigation. The data shows some key factors in both the role of volunteer and the distinctive features of BCS that contribute to the meaning and identity of being a volunteer with BCS. The role of volunteer with BCS is essentially one of enriching the lives of clients. Volunteers are recognised as experts and are consulted in the areas of their expertise. BCS provides a supportive, encouraging environment with a Christian ethos that recognises an added spiritual dimension to the wellbeing it seeks to promote among clients, staff and volunteers. In this environment there is an emphasis on . functional relationships - and flexible leadership styles. Whilst affirming a balance between the drivers of motivation, namely altruistic service and self-actualisation, BCS pro-actively nurtures the exploration and expression of core values, such as sharing, loving and giving, as significant for the meaning of being a volunteer.