title: Volunteering as a community mother--a pathway to lifelong learning.
abstract: This paper describes a study that was undertaken to investigate the effects of participating in a community volunteering programme (the Community Mothers Programme) on volunteers (Community Mothers). The aim of the study was to investigate if volunteering in this programme acted as a pathway to lifelong learning; did the volunteers recognise the learning of new knowledge and/or skills, and did their participation in the programme trigger them to progress to further education in other settings? A self-administered questionnaire method was used for data collection: 115 questionnaires being distributed to volunteers, with a response rate of eighty-two (71 per cent). Findings show that the majority of the respondents cited the learning of new knowledge and/or skills as a result of their participation in the Community Mothers Programme. Learning appeared to stem from the various training and activities, suggesting an educational process within the volunteer setting. Findings also show that the majority of respondents had progressed to further education. In this instance, therefore, volunteering did appear to act as a pathway to lifelong learning.
authors.affiliation: Holy Faith Secondary School, Dublin.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Molloy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D004496:Education, Continuing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D016487:Parenting; D015397:Program Evaluation; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012923:Social Class; D012944:Social Support; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014838:Volunteers / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*