Case study: volunteering

One of the ways you can ‘think globally and act locally’ is through volunteering. The University of Reading (ISLI) has partnered with the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust to provide English confidence support for Medical Support Workers (MSWs).

Listen to the experience of a global medical graduate who participated in the scheme.

The English course was designed for refugee MSWs to support them with everyday English communication skills for their professional working lives and also to give them the confidence to express themselves with colleagues, patients, and the wider community. The participants fed forward their needs and requirements and the UoR volunteers facilitated a learning environment that helped the MSWs achieve their specific learning goals while gaining confidence in the process. Combining social constructivism and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the participants constructed their own knowledge acquisition by enthusiastically requesting specific objectives and content. The learning environment focused on addressing the daily tasks/activities and situations that the participants encountered at the hospital. They also requested that the course cover cultural knowledge. This provided the participants with a greater awareness and ability to understand their social environment, respond accordingly, and become active global citizens in their own communities.

The course enabled the participants, regardless of nationality, to assist and help each other progress in their English Language learning while simultaneously improving their confidence and social skills in a second language.

Call to action

Listen to Leslie and Laura talk about their experience of volunteering on this scheme. They are both members of the International Study and Lanugage Institute (ISLI) at UoR.

“We highly recommend volunteering as global citizens in the wider community. Not only did this course impact our lives as well as those of the participants, it was also presented as a case study in the UoR’s successful application for University of Sanctuary status. This specific volunteering experience encouraged other university colleagues to facilitate other language learning opportunities for refugees and the wider community. The time spent volunteering is rewarding and inspirational and above all enjoyable. 

Professionally it gave us the confidence to teach other professionals and opened conversations that we would not have had otherwise, heightening our awareness of global displacement. It also strengthened cultural ties in the community, provided us with a sense of contributing to society, and facilitated  friendships.”

Leslie Lust and Laura Connolly, Lecturers in ISLI

If you’re interested in finding out more about volunteering, and philanthropy in general, take a look at the See Also links below, and you can read a report on a project carried out by undergraduate student, Frances Hudson, on student perceptions and definitions of philanthropy at the University of Reading.