Volunteering and Empowerment in Secondary Schools

This study explores the rationales for and consequences of voluntary com-munity participation in the life of a school. Thirty-one teachers and vol-unteers from three schools were identified and Jormally interviewed. The six types of involvement reported were found to be more needs-based when participants were asked about the rationales of others. Women reported more personal and social rationales, men more instrumental rationales; personal empowerment was a fundamental consequence of involvement; and the situational characteristics of volunteers were essential to under-standing their personal needs and sources of empowerment. The findings challenge the institutional rationale, support the idea that volunteers can achieve altruistic and egoistic goals simultaneously, and affirm a belief in lifelong education. There is a silence in the educational literature surrounding those who volunteer to work in secondary schools. Community involvement, however, is potentially one of the school’s most valuable resources. An abundance o