Comments on: Changing the Volunteer Culture http://www.volunteermaine.org/blog/changing-the-volunteer-culture Maine Conversations about Volunteer Management Mon, 6 Oct 2008 16:38:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Anne Schink http://www.volunteermaine.org/blog/changing-the-volunteer-culture#comment-275 Anne Schink Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:31:50 +0000 http://www.volunteermaine.org/blog/changing-the-volunteer-culture#comment-275 What an interesting idea. Today I was listening to a program on public radio where the speaker, Parker Palmer, talked about the factors that had created the greatest atmosphere for school success in the face of tightening regulations for testing of students. A study had done a very controlled study of the factors that contributed to school success. They compared everything, from physical facilities to curriculum, and found only ONE factor that really affected the outcome: he called it 'relational trust'. That means that a community, in this case schools, that is built on trust and caring relationships is significantly more successful for children. This really shouldn't surprise us, because a caring adult is a very important factor in children's sense of safety and security. As Penny points out, we have wandered so far away from our own good intentions, while we are building awareness of risk, that we have lost sight of the importance of bringing trust and caring to our organizations. What an interesting idea. Today I was listening to a program on public radio where the speaker, Parker Palmer, talked about the factors that had created the greatest atmosphere for school success in the face of tightening regulations for testing of students. A study had done a very controlled study of the factors that contributed to school success. They compared everything, from physical facilities to curriculum, and found only ONE factor that really affected the outcome: he called it ‘relational trust’. That means that a community, in this case schools, that is built on trust and caring relationships is significantly more successful for children. This really shouldn’t surprise us, because a caring adult is a very important factor in children’s sense of safety and security.

As Penny points out, we have wandered so far away from our own good intentions, while we are building awareness of risk, that we have lost sight of the importance of bringing trust and caring to our organizations.

]]> By: Penny Kern http://www.volunteermaine.org/blog/changing-the-volunteer-culture#comment-273 Penny Kern Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:13:43 +0000 http://www.volunteermaine.org/blog/changing-the-volunteer-culture#comment-273 Thank you for you compliment. Welcome to our blog. Penny Thank you for you compliment. Welcome to our blog.

Penny

]]> By: Stacey Derbinshire http://www.volunteermaine.org/blog/changing-the-volunteer-culture#comment-272 Stacey Derbinshire Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:42:36 +0000 http://www.volunteermaine.org/blog/changing-the-volunteer-culture#comment-272 I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future. Stacey Derbinshire I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.

Stacey Derbinshire

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