TRAINING
The Training Page of Volunteer Today has practical trainer techniques and activities to make orientation sessions more productive and valuable. There are also ideas to help enhance the professional volunteer manager's training level.
~ June 2006 ~ Topics
Training Young Volunteers
As school concludes and young people and their parents seek meaningful activities for the summer, your organization may include some young volunteers. Training children is not the same as training adults. Here are characteristics of children and tips to make the training or activity effective.
| Late Teens (15 – 18) | |
| Characteristics | Training Hints |
| Strong desire for status in their peer group. | Develop activities in training where teens are supported by one another rather than the teacher. |
| A large number have feelings of inferiority or insufficiency. | Create activities with successful outcomes for everyone. Avoid lots of competitive games, unless they are group oriented and fun. |
| Working on a personal life philosophy. | Provide activities in training to help them explore how their experience as a volunteer can help them learn who they are as a person. |
| Are interested in world events and may have Internet friends from other countries. | Encourage discussion of how the world is impacted by the work of the organization and its volunteers. |
| Early Teens (13-14) | |
| Characteristics | Training Hints |
| Peer pressure is strong, first from same sex, then from opposite sex. | Use peer pressure to provide encouragement to all in the group. And individualize it. |
| Want to make their own decisions, but still need some guidance. | Provide parameters for both youth and adults. |
| Working on social skills with adults and their peers. | Provide activities in training to help them explore how to interact in appropriate ways. |
| Are interested in world events and may have Internet friends from other countries. | Encourage discussion of how the world is impacted by the work of the organization and its volunteers. |
| Can be very self-conscious. | Avoid asking them to stand out from the group. No demonstrations of their knowledge until he/she is comfortable. |
| Like to be liked. |
|
| Ages 9 – 12 | |
| Characteristics | Training Hints |
| Are easily motivated. |
|
| When they feel competent it enhances self-esteem. |
|
| Often show loyalty to members of their own sex and antagonism to the opposite sex. |
|
| Attention span is about 40 minutes. |
|
| Learn best when physically active. |
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| Can form special attachments to older youth. |
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| Acceptance by peer group is important. |
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Close to 200 colleges and universities offer academic programs on nonprofit and volunteer sector management. They are usually master's degree programs, but not always. American Humanics sponsors undergraduate programs, as well. If you are looking to push out the professional development window, consider taking a course at one of these colleges. A full list resides at http://tltc.shu.edu/npo/. Thank Roseanne Mirabella, of Seton Hall University for keeping up with this list.
| Interested in assessing volunteer and
staff relations in your program?
Looking for help from an expert? Get help with one of the Volunteer Program Evaluation Series. |
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