In Curriculum requirements and subsequent civic engagement, Henderson, Brown, and Pancer argue that “learning institutions should demonstrate the benefits of volunteering to students before using certain approaches to enforce it by attaching a certain threshold to its successful implementation,” alluding to views held by many people regarding the exercise.[1] While students are supposed to engage in activities that demonstrate their ability to understand issues taking place in their surrounding environment, training them about the approaches they can use to overcome challenges in their surroundings paves the way for the realization of different objectives in the learning environment. With an increase in the number of mandatory volunteering programs in high school, many students have developed mixed feelings towards an exercise that is supposed to help them understand the nature of activities taking place in their surrounding environment.[2] From this realization, creating an enabling environment where students can willingly enlist in volunteering programs will have a significant impact on their perspectives towards life.
Thematic Context
Volunteering programs have a significant impact on the attitudes held by individuals towards life. Importantly, students interact with different cultures and learn about their way of life, an aspect that improves their tolerance towards varied opinions on topical issues. Likewise, the programs expose learners to real-life problems where they can apply the knowledge gained in class to solve the issues affecting the lifestyles of individuals. Through the different interactions held by learners in the community projects and work programs, students anticipate gaining many skills such as communication etiquette, among others. Besides, students can take part in decision-making processes where they can understand the challenges that hinder individuals from making informed outcomes in the workplace. For this reason, encouraging students to engage in different volunteer programs instead of forcing them makes them view the exercise as an opportunity to learn and enhance their skills.
Based on the significance of interactions between individuals, there is a need to recognize the role of volunteering programs on one’s perspectives towards life. Besides acquiring the much-needed skills in the workplace, one can build a healthy relationship with potential employers and benefit from the increased probability of securing a job with different corporations. In the modern workplace, employees are expected to embrace diversity and tolerate other people’s opinions regarding a topic of discussion. Although individuals can circumvent the rules of existence, there is a need for learning institutions to consider the needs of the students. In so doing, students can gain valuable insights that contribute to their perspectives towards activities in the corporate world. By introducing mandatory volunteering, schools can exploit the programs to achieve their interests because of the inability of many families to afford a college education.
Rhetorical Analysis
High school education is the backbone of the learning process because of its impact on the thought process of students. At any given time, the high school environment exposes learners to a situation where they can learn from their relationships with other people. Because of its intimate nature, high school education sets the agenda for individuals and helps them pursue a specific path that defines their adult life. Henderson, Brown, and Pancer believe that exposing learners to volunteer programs at this stage enables them to connect with the outside world and widen their scope about life. While volunteer programs are essential, the approaches used to enforce the exercises interfere with their effectiveness, an aspect that distracts individuals from learning about the experiences of other people. For instance, encouraging students to volunteer in countries such as Vietnam, they understand the challenges faced by the natives and develop viable approaches that solve the problems by learning their cultural practices. For this reason, volunteering influences the thought process of individuals and provokes their thought process, which in turn contributes to positive outcomes.
Many countries have community work placement programs that allow students to contribute to the growth and development of societies. During their interaction with other people, the students learn about the importance of adhering to the law and the approaches that can be used to solve problems affecting people’s lifestyles. Likewise, volunteering programs offer a real-life experience to learners outside the classroom context where they visualize the concepts taught by their instructors and how other people are using the insights to enhance their quality of life. Costello, Homberg, and Secchi opine that the coercion tactics used by learning institutions may undermine the effectiveness of the volunteering programs because of their impact on the student’s perspectives. By making the programs mandatory without considering the thoughts of the learners, institutions might fail to accomplish their desired objectives because of their inability to shape the student’s thought process. Therefore, by considering the views held by the learners, institutions can achieve their expected results and create an enabling environment where individuals can become responsible citizens in their life after school.
Resolution of Perspectives
Learning institutions should create a supportive environment where students can willingly volunteer and express their interests to learn. By considering the different family backgrounds, the volunteer programs should suit every student and eliminate any possibility that could interfere with the learning process. In many instances, individuals are supposed to contribute towards their extended stay in far-away communities, where they are expected to interact with the locals and learn from their daily life experiences. While observing their cultural practices is not enough, individuals should interact with the locals and help them fulfill their life obligations. This way, learners understand the importance of appreciating other people’s input and recognizing their efforts to achieve their desired objectives. In the same vein, understanding the changing needs of individuals allows individuals to embrace diversity and appreciate the differences that make the human race whole.
Evaluating the approaches used by learning institutions to execute these programs raises numerous red flags that explain the mixed reactions among students and other education stakeholders. On one side, there is a population group that believes volunteer programs are an essential aspect of the learning process because of their ability to shape the learners’ perspectives towards various subjects taught in class. On the other side, critics fault the approaches used to enforce the programs because of their ability to undermine the effectiveness of volunteering. From this observation, creating a balance where students are allowed to voice their concerns before being exposed to the programs enables the school administrations to make informed decisions, which reflect on the need for individuals to advance their knowledge and benefit from the human exercises. Therefore, learning institutions should be encouraged to review the approaches used to enforce volunteer programs to accomplish the desired milestones.
Conclusion
Creating an enabling environment where students can willingly enlist in volunteering programs will have a significant impact on their perspectives towards life. Exposing learners to platforms where they can exercise their creativity and learn from their mistakes enables a country to shape its next generation of leaders. At any given time, volunteer programs introduce learners to a challenging environment where they encounter different situations that require them to make informed decisions. Unlike the learning environment where mistakes can always be corrected, an error outside the classroom setting can affect people’s lives and affect the performance of an organization. By learning these insights, it becomes possible for learning institutions to shape their students and encourage them to make decisions that have a positive impact on their life after school.
