Looking back at the relationships mentioned in the volunteers’ learning (Table 1), it becomes evident that learning about confl ict management, learning how to undertake specifi c tasks independently and in a team, as well as learning about one’s capacity were prevalent in relationships with colleagues. Personal relationships with other EVS volunteers helped individuals with career orientation and to learn how to live with other people. Similarly, locals helped volunteers with the later, as well as learning that occurred with respect to values and culture.
Relationships with users further led to learning about values, empathy, fl exibility, communication skills and provided volunteers with greater meaning, and contributed to strengthening their motivation and strive to making a difference in others’ lives. In unspecifi ed relationships, learning related to identity, career, skills and the performance of tasks, intercultural, adaptability, empathy and autonomy occurred. Therefore, there was no denying that relationships held a role in aiding volunteers towards implicit learning outcomes: projecting, believing in, executing, refl ecting upon and fi nally, embodying the learning.
Implicit, signifi cant learning that scored the highest in the relationship categories in our data are: undertaking tasks you never thought you would / could do; learning Danish; and learning to accept differences in cultural norms and traditions.
Upon refl ection, a pattern emerged bridging all the learning to the highest scoring implicit signifi cant learning of all: “Thinking that ‘I can.’” It seems that all learning, whether autonomous but also through relationships contributed to this central aspect, which produced several offshoots that relate back to what researchers have described as learning (beyond skills) in volunteerism: greater confi dence in oneself, increased autonomy, and maturity. This ties back to an expansion, building and strengthening of the “self ” as described by both Merriam & Clark, and Rogers. However, the added contributions of relationships manifested through what Albert Bandura determined as central to his social cognitive theory: “self-effi cacy belief ” – “people’s judgments of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performances” (Bandura, 1986, p. 391). With this view, successful experiences build on self-effi cacy beliefs whereas failures undermine and weaken it.
Self-effi cacy is born out of four main pathways that either produce triumphs or self-improvements (Bandura, 1995):
1. Mastery experience (victory in performance or victory in overcoming adversity, thereby increasing belief in the value of commitment).
For instance, Marieta’s life at home was highly controlled by her parents. The variety of her mastery experiences resulted in higher confi dence; she felt stronger. Taking the bus, learning how to ride a bike, developing communication skills while working at a non-profi t café, becoming more open to a Danish culture that she perceived as
“frivolous” in the beginning – all of those resulted in a greater belief in her own capacity. One of the outcomes of these subtle changes infl uenced her commitment:
“It (describing a diffi cult moment) was connected with my room.
I said I cannot live here anymore. Otherwise I will just leave the project... I didn’t want to leave the project because – It would be diffi cult for them to fi nish this year that is up till the middle of
July... they need people to work here. I could not just. I knew how important I am for them. And I could not leave the project.”
– Marieta
2. Vicarious experience (belief that arises through observati on of successful pursuits by social models).
Mary found strong support from her Danish boyfriend. A lot of her observations about personal and societal values, and how she can be a part of the host culture stemmed from her interactions and relationships with her signifi cant other:
“She (referring to her friend) said she felt unhappy. And she went and bought something and that made her happy. And I always felt the same. But – I cannot do that now you know. I go out to the shops, oh shopping... It was such a big part of my life. My friends were here and I just realised. None of that was important... I can be happy on so litt le... And my boyfriend is very existenti alist... I sti ll feel able to, we both know that the most important thing is that we are talking. That we have love. … He is always reassessing himself. And – that is also changed I think as well. Meeti ng someone so... And we make a diff erence and we have family around us... A part of being here in Copenhagen and a part of my EVS made me realise how much – I always thought these things but it enforced them from the environment I have been in.
– Mary
3. Social persuasion (including verbal persuasions).
Dominika came across as a very refl ecti ve person. She had had a number of implicit learning experiences that led to self-discovery, but her belief in her potenti al and understanding of herself (expansion of skills, abiliti es and self) in many ways came from her interacti ons with colleagues (superiors) at her working place:
“With my supervisor, with my colleagues I had a lot of talks. And they showed me where, where I have to – deal with diffi cult char-acter trait. Where it is diffi cult to work or live with me, so, they refl ected me in the work, so I can change in a good way. They help me to grow, and I got aware of a lot of things where I have never thought about that before.”
– Dominika
4. Physiological states (strengths and weaknesses, including strains, pains, stress and moods).
One of the vivid examples on how physiological states infl uence the development of self-effi cacy can be seen through Mary. Though she admits that before her EVS she was less of an emotional person, she clearly says how with the development of the project, she learnt a lot of about her own stress levels. It seems that emotional ups and downs (however, not without a support of signifi cant others) triggered a more mature and confi dent approach:
“You are ridiculously unhappy. You don’t show it to anyone at work but you are so unhappy when you come home. Talking about it.
But you have to do something. But you know I was not able to.
I am not very good at. I try to avoid confl icts. But then I end up having a bigger confl ict from it... and that is when I left the café.
And then I told them all. THEN. So then I had to talk about it. And
I talked to my manager…” – Mary
Bandura provides the ultimate frame for what we deem the decisive outcome of implicit, signifi cant learning: “Thinking that ‘I can.’”
Through his understanding, and through our EVS volunteers, without a fundamental belief in their capacity to create an outcome (go through the learning, whatever it may be), there could be no motivation, no action, and essentially, no learning. All implicit learning outcomes therefore serve as to ascertain, improve or transform the self into a learner who is effective and “can.”