Volunteer Work, Informal Learning and Social Action

Abstract

Volunteer Work, Informal Learning and Social Action. Edited by F. Duguid, K. Mundel, and D. Schugurensky. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 2013. 258 pp. ISBN: 9789462092310.A great deal of scholarship exists on the connection between work and learning; however, much of this scholarship takes formal education and paid employment as the primary area of analysis. Literature on learning is overly saturated with the study of formal education, that is, institutions ranging from elementary schools to universities. One presupposition is that learning happens primarily in schools. Another is that it is easier to research learning in formal institutions than in the elusive dynamics of everyday life. Perhaps the presupposition is that learning happens primarily in schools. Or perhaps it is easier to research learning in formal institutions than in the elusive dynamics of everyday life. While some degree of attention has been paid to learning in non-formal educational settings, including adult education programs, workshops, and the like, very little research has been done-comparatively speaking-on informal learning. Similarly, academic literature on work tends to focus on paid employment. Although people devote great amounts of time and energy to household work and volunteer work, these areas have not attracted much research interest-again, comparatively speaking. If these two bodies of literature (informal learning on the one hand and volunteer work on the other) are marginal in the literature on education and work, it is not surprising that very little has been written on the connections between informal learning and volunteer work.The book Volunteer Work, Informal Learning and Social Action, edited by Fiona Duguid, Karsten Mundel, and Daniel Schugurensky, constitutes an interesting attempt to address this deficit. The book takes a close look at a cross section of volunteer work, and the depth of informal learning that it yields. The volume is well organized and flows well, encompassing eleven chapters that move the reader through theoretical analysis, empirical research, and practical recommendations.Schugurensky's introduction to the book provides a brief history of volunteerism and discusses current dynamics of volunteer work and learning in the context of the "knowledge economy." Particular attention is paid to tacit learning (learning that occurs unconsciously and unintentionally), raising provocative epistemological questions and outlining some of the challenges faced by researchers. The first chapter, co-written by the three editors, goes deeper into the themes discussed in the introduction and presents a solid conceptual analysis that sets up the overall framework to better contextualize the realities examined in the case studies. The second chapter, by Susan Stowe, analyzes data on volunteer work and informal learning in Canada and in other countries, and helps us to interpret that information in the context of contemporary economic and social policies.The subsequent chapters focus on case studies, which are organized in three areas of volunteer work: community service, community representation, and community development. Service (Chapters three, four, and five) includes activities like delivering meals to seniors, coaching sports teams, driving children to music camps, helping in a food bank, teaching local language and culture to new immigrants or to migrant workers, coordinating a toy drive, or organizing a festival. …