Just get out of their way! Enabling young Kiwis to make a difference

Sir Peter Jackson said that New Zealand is not a small country but a large village. Being a villager requires an active form of citizenship that involves collaboration, contribution, interdependence, and reciprocity. These traits are particularly important for New Zealand with its reliance on volunteers, generation after generation, to provide essential services through school boards of trustees, fire brigades, surf life saving clubs, St John’s Ambulance, and jury duty. This importance of volunteering is highlighted in The New Zealand Curriculum, which has participating and contributing as one of five key competencies. With this emphasis on and need for volunteering, what are some practical ways to foster and nurture a culture of contribution, particularly for young people?