Students' Perceptions of Volunteering during the First Two Years of Studying a Social Work Degree.

Abstract

There are benefits to volunteering for both the community and the student undertaking the volunteering, it can help to enhance the students understanding of the area they are moving into, or it can show them where they do not want to work. It can assist the student to connect with the community and develop an awareness of the society around them. In most social work programs in Australia there is no practical experience until the last half of the program. This study wanted to identify if social work students undertaking volunteer work during the first two years of their course, found it helped to enhance their understanding of their studies, as well as human service work in general. The findings support that volunteering in the first two years of the degree would to enhance student learning.