Conclusion
 The combination of these four beliefs creates
tutors who feel inadequate yet who function independently because they are
motivated and because they believe there is no one better volunteering for the
job. These beliefs are traced back to the nature of the program: the volunteers
have been told that they are essential to literacy provision, and they are not
aware of other educational opportunities for their learners. Public opinion on
the state of education in Canada may lead these tutors to consider their
program as a necessary alternative. Faced with well-publicized, alarming
figures on the scope of "illiteracy" and its impact on the adult
learner, the tutors believe that what help they can offer is necessary and must
therefore be good enough. Because the organization promotes people from tutors
to coordinators within the ranks of the program, little extra training is
available that would help the program examine alternate systems of literacy
education. Because specific training cannot be given to each tutor for each
specific learner, tutors must trust that their common sense and their own
skills are enough.
All of these beliefs interact to allow the tutor to keep the match outside
the supervision of the organization. This is not a good situation for the
tutor, the learner, or the organization.
Recommendations
Several suggestions can be made on how to respond to this system of beliefs:
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Tutors should realize from the start that they are accountable to the
organization. The organization needs to provide ongoing training, require extra
training as tutors take on new responsibilities, and forge closer links with
specialists who can serve as consultants.
-
Tutors need to learn about the adult education sector and about the
variety of ways of offering adult literacy instruction.
-
Tutors need to recognize that their efforts have an impact on the
learner's life and future aspirations. This should foster accountability to the
organization and a desire to seek help for the learner and ongoing training for
themselves.
More research is necessary to understand how tutors in the volunteer sector
believe and behave, given the economic importance of volunteer work in Canada,
and the fact that the volunteer sector is a significant provider of adult
literacy. However, volunteer programs need to be able to examine, in an
objective manner, the functions and outcomes of their activities before any
research can be proposed. Unfortunately, volunteer organizations often lack the
financial and personnel resources necessary for research projects. They also
often have a distrust of formal research. Despite these obstacles, more
research is needed. Programs can benefit from the results. The organization
involved in this study is currently evaluating their one-on-one tutoring
program in light of the findings, and are working toward improving the training
and support of their tutors. Ultimately, they hope to offer a better service to
their learners.
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