Volunteering With The Literacy Pirates

Psychology and Employment Reflection on Work Based Experience Report (1495/1500 words) Part one (511 words) Literacy Support Volunteer I gained work experience volunteering with the Literacy Pirates, an organisation that supports children aged 9 – 12 with their reading and writing. This took place after school at a site in Hackney where the children took part in games, shared & individual reading and writing activities. The sessions are led by qualified teachers. My role as a volunteer was to support the children with their tasks, working in a small group of up to three children. This additional support helped the children to build perseverance and confidence in a safe and inclusive environment. The Literacy Pirates demonstrated a proactive

For example, “OK, let’s find the worksheet, right, what is the first thing that we have to do”. This meant that I never had an issue with a child wandering off because I had ensured they maintained focus and did not get bored and wander off. The Literacy Pirates demonstrated responsibility and integrity by establishing procedures, proactively preventing tricky situations and minimising risk to children and volunteers. I followed the guidelines and as a result, I worked ethically and there were no issues. Part Two (984) Integrity of Diversity and Inclusion Literacy Pirates demonstrates ethical integrity through striving for social justice for young people (National Youth Agency 2004 p.8). This is achieved through supporting those who are struggling with literacy, in a diverse and inclusive environment. This was evident in each session I attended, through the respectful culture that enabled young people of different ages and backgrounds to work together on tasks and games. In addition, my observations of diversity in Literacy Pirates noted that the facilitators, children, and volunteers were diverse in terms of age, gender, race and ethnicity, and

2005). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary By reading books with a broad range of representation, children are less likely to discriminate against classmates. In addition, for children in an ethnic minority, reading culturally familiar texts contributes to reading comprehension because it is easier to understand a narrative if the context is familiar (Hulme & Snowling 2009). Furthermore, children are more likely to engage with reading if they see characters that look like them on book covers. This is significant because, as theorised by Vaughan (1986) the social stigma of being educationally disadvantaged has greater impact on lowering self–esteem for those who are part of an ethnic minority. Therefore, boosting self-esteem might support learning by building confidence because the children see themselves as part of a diverse community where everyone is welcome and equal. Gibbs Reflection: Competence of Teamwork Description Each session volunteers were given the names of which children they would be working