Evaluering van 'n opleidingsprogram vir vrywillige werkers betrokke by 'n gemeenskapsprojek

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The Department of Occupational Therapy of the University of Stellenbosch has beeninvolved in the development of the Volcano Community Project in the Ravensmeadarea since 1994.A needs assessment conducted in the area has led to the indentification of thefollowing problems:• there are no after school care services in the area;• limited opportunities for individual attention to learners because of a high learnereducator ratio;• high incidence of substance abuse amongst the youth;• children loitering in the streets in the afternoon; and• a quarter of all grade one learners in the area repeat their basis year of school.In order to address the abovementioned problems it was decided to recruitunemployed youth within the community as voluntary workers. This group ofvolunteers received training in the execution of pre-planned developmentalstimulation lessons that they then present to grade one and two learners who haveproblems. The volunteers undergo a training programme in order to equip them tohandle the learners.This project is still in progress and it needs to be evaluated in order to gaininformation which would help to improve the programme as well as the managementthereof. The aim of the research was to establish the impact of programmeparticipation on the voluntary workers and that was done by looking at the following:• what the strengths of the project are;• what the weaknesses of the project are; and• which suggestions there are to improve the project.Qualitative formative evaluation research was the paradigm within which theresearch was executed. Interviews were conducted with the voluntary workers andthe following themes/patterns emerged from the data:Strengths of the project:Turnabout in the lives of the voluntary workers; improvement of self-knowledge;development of skills; work satisfaction; and guidance by the students.Weaknesses of the project:Schools where this project is in progress and facilities available at these schools;management of the project; and the group of voluntary workers.Suggestions regarding the project:Encouragement; management; and other logistics.The researcher took each of these main themes and with the help of process/impactrubrics data was interpreted. From these rubrics factors were identified andrecommendations made which may contribute to the improvement of the project forexample feedback after completion of the task is very important and should be veryspecific for an individual. Possibilities for the broader application of findings are alsosuggested.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University