National Discussion: Working with Volunteers in ESOL Provision

1. National Discussion: Working with Volunteers in ESOL Provision Endeavour House Dundee, Scotland March 14th 2018

2. Today’s Agenda 10:00: Tea/coffee & getting you thinking 10:30: Background to survey & report 11:00 Group discussion on current practice, their challenges and solutions 12:00 Group discussion – Next Steps 12:30- 13:00 Networking lunch

3. Orientation • Toilets  • Emergency Exits

4. Volunteer Tutor Project • Supporting volunteers since 2004 • Provides general English classes to marginalised adults in greater Glasgow • Learners include refugees, asylum seekers, EU migrants, and settled, non-native speakers in the community • We provide groupclasses and individual tuition • Classes take place in community centres, libraries and church halls

5. Volunteer Tutor Project at Garnethill Multicultural Centre

6. ESOL in Glasgow www.learnesolglasgow.com

7. Background to today’s event Volunteers are supported to be competent and confident in their support role to learners Welcoming Our Learners Scotland’s ESOL Strategy 2015-2020 p22 April 2016 - Glasgow ESOL Forum receives funding from Scottish Government’s Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund A commitment to • host two national meetings a year to share practice • 2 examples of effective practice to the National Improvement Hub.

9. Survey – Working with Volunteers in ESOL Provision • 27 organisations responded, mostly from local authorities • 15 completed • 656 volunteers hours a week across 23 organisations • Publicly funded organisations were asked about: • Volunteer Roles • Recruitment • Induction • Policies and Procedures • CPD and support • Retention • Progression • Learner Impact

10. Survey - Overview • Volunteers supporting ESOL in a variety of roles • Volunteers are working mostly with lower level learners • Wealth of experience in supporting volunteers • Organisations make good use of qualified volunteers • Volunteers often currrently are or end up working in ESOL • Organisations offer CPD and would do more if they could • Resources can be a barrier to providing support & ensuring effective policies and procedures. • There are lots of challenges Disclamer – This is not the whole picture (for publicly funded or charity sector)

11. Our Volunteer Roles Group tutor Assistant to a paid/volunteer tutor Individual Matches Teach/ team teach a small group Plan a programme responsive to learners’ needs Plan and deliver lessons Complete related administration tasks Check in regularly with your Development Worker For volunteers who would prefer a supporting role Further develop teaching skills Little preparation Check in regularly with your Development Worker Deliver one-to-one tuition in a public place Plan a programme with learner Plan and deliver lessons Complete related administration tasks Check in regularly with your Development Worker

12. Experience in Working with Volunteers 

13. Volunteer Roles Other roles include: field trips, learner events, work clubs

14. Volunteer Roles • Wide use of qualified and experienced volunteers.  • Volunteers contribute in many ways to meeting demand and assist in both quantity and quality. • Volunteer provision allows necessary level of support can be given to learners, especially at lower levels. • Some organisations expressed reliance on volunteers. • Some organisations use volunteers in a group tutor role, while other operate on a policy that groups are only delivered by paid staff

16. Volunteer recruitment Challenges of volunteer recruitment  • Recruiting suitable volunteers   • Recruiting diverse volunteers • Resourcing issues • Turning down volunteers who are unsuitable for organisations’ requirements

17. Volunteer Induction 12/18 respondents offered an initial induction training, 2 of which are accredited PDA iTESOL courses  Other forms of induction were shadowing on the job training; 1-1 meeting, online 69% said that their induction met most or all of needs – co-ordinators were aware of this and tailored their support Volunteers are usually very enthusiastic about their role

18. Volunteer Policies and Procedures • To define the roles of a volunteer • To have processes in place to support challenging situations • PVG membership: less than half have this in place Challenges with joining the scheme include: • Literacy and ESOL learners are not deemed as being vulnerable by Disclosure Scotland • The cost and time taken to join the scheme.

20. Volunteer Policies and Procedures Glasgow ESOL Forum policies – free to use and adapt.   Please fill in the survey if you do.  http://www.glasgowesol.org/Resources  

22. Ongoing support and CPD

23. Ongoing support and CPD Other useful topics Cultural awareness SQA awareness Pronunciation Using a Smartboard Scottish culture in classroom Engaging and motivating learners Boosting confidence and self-esteem Trauma in the classroom Common CPD topics • Adapting Materials • Working with mixed levels • Planning a programme • Working with literacies learners 

24. Ongoing support and CPD

25. Volunteer Retention Most volunteers stay for at least a year Volunteers that are quick to leave  -can't make commitment -slow to be matched -working abroad Support helps with volunteer retention

26. Volunteer Progression • Skills volunteers develop with Volunteer Tutor Projects contribute to the wider ESOL workforce.  Many volunteers are:   -currently in employment in ESOL   - looking for employment in ESOL Scotland's ESOL Strategy Professional and Workforce Development objectives: • ESOL practitioners are supported to enhance and develop their skills so that they effectively support ESOL learners to achieve their learning goals • ESOL practitioners will engage in career long professional learning to meet the changing demands and contexts in which learners access provision

27. Learners EU migrants, refugees, settled communities Mostly low levels

28. Benefits of involving volunteers

29. Discussion groups Volunteer Recruitment Volunteer Policies and Procedures Ongoing CPD and Support for Volunteers Measuring Impact: Volunteer and Learner Experience

30. Discussion Groups 12 minutes at each topic • What works well? • What are the challenges? • What can we do to support each other? 

31. What's next? What can we do as a group of volunteer coordinators to support each other and our volunteers?  Glasgow ESOL Forum can support by hosting further events and facilitating communication. 

32. What's next? - small group discussion • What can we do as a group of volunteer coordinators to support each other and our volunteers?  1. Short term solutions 2. Long term solutions • What would you include in a national framework, with guidelines for working with volunteers in ESOL? • How can we effectively communicate with each other? • What stage and how do we want to involve volunteers in this discussion?

33. Possible contact sharing

34. Contact:Jo Jarvis jo@glasgowesol.orgKristen Fraley kristen@glasgowesol.orgHelena Porrellihelena@glasgowesol.org

36. Examples of Yellow Certificates

37. The Glasgow ESOL Access Register http://www.learnesolglasgow.com/glasgow-esol-register1.html