Professional Development and Supplemental Training
Volunteer tutors are asked to provide one on one or small group support to learners which can fall into several Literacy and Foundational Learning categories:
- Adult Literacy
- Numeracy
- Skills for Learning
- Basic Digital Skills
- English Language Learning
When recruiting volunteers a CALP will advertise for volunteers who have skills in these areas. It is unlikely that many volunteers will feel confident to tutor in all five categories. Instead, it is important to consider the learner’s primary intended learning objective and match them with a volunteer tutor who has identified strength in the appropriate Literacy and Foundational Learning category.
As you begin working with the foundational learners in your program you will want to help them identify their primary intended learning objective. The CALP Policy Manual outline the primary intended learning objective for each of the Required Programming categories. For example, the CALP Policy Manual describes an Adult Literacy learner’s primary intended learning objective as the development of reading and writing skills.
Like their learners, volunteer tutors might be interested in skill development. A CALP can offer Professional Development and supplemental training to build skills in existing volunteers.
CALP staff can appropriately scaffold the Professional Development and supplemental training offered to volunteer tutors. The results achieved are two fold (1) modeling of Adult Learning Principles and (2) volunteers acquire skills when appropriate allowing them to accompany their learner on as much of their learning journey as possible. A volunteer tutor’s role may change over time but their support, as a champion of the learner will endure the test of time.
The opportunity to build skills in literacy and foundational learning becomes an incentive of participating in the volunteer tutor program. These can be both large and small-scale opportunities for those volunteers wanting to learn and grow in their role. Internal, self-directed professional development is an inexpensive incentive that is easily provided to interested volunteers. As part of their welcome to your CALP, set volunteer tutors up with a CALP Portal log in. Highlight the resources, discussions and e-Learnings that are available to them.
Also available on the CALP Portal is the Training and Events calendar. Examples of supplemental training topics that may be of interest to volunteer tutors are:
- Assessment
- Instructional strategies
- Lesson Planning
- Learning disabilities
- Plain Language
- Essential Skills
- English language learning
- ESL Literacy / ELL Literacy
- Technology