The English Opens Doors Program in Chile

Project Description

The English Opens Doors Program is supported by the Chilean Ministry of Education and the United Nations Development Programme – Chile. The Program works to improve English-language education throughout the Chilean public school system by providing teacher training, instructional materials, language competitions, English immersion camps, and study abroad scholarships for university students.

The National Volunteer Center recruits native English speakers to come to Chile and work as teaching assistants in Chilean classrooms. Volunteers teach and encourage the study of English while living with Chilean host families and interacting with members of the local community. With this year, we are now up to 1,641 volunteers in our program’s history..

Free Volunteering had an excellent response from willing volunteers last year, with our website receiving a lot of interest in this volunteering opportunity. The people at The English Opens Doors Program have just announced the 2013 calendar for volunteers and have just notified us that they are welcoming applications immediately:

Volunteer Information

Volunteers participating in the English Opens Doors Program receive the following: home-stay with a Chilean family, meals,  health insurance, TEFL training, access to an online Spanish course and a participation bonus of 60,000CLP (about US$120) for each month of completed service. The Program does not charge volunteers a fee for participation.

What do volunteers do?

Volunteers teach alongside a Chilean head teacher in either municipal (public) or particular subvencionado (semi-private) schools. Volunteers are placed all throughout Chile, and work with students ranging from quinto básico (5th grade, approximately 10-11 years) to cuarto medio (12th grade, approximately 17-18 years). The volunteer’s main responsibilities are

• To focus on improving the students’ speaking and listening skills
• To motivate the students to take an interest in learning English
• To share their culture with the students, thus broadening their worldview
• Volunteers should expect to spend 25 hours a week in the classroom and another 10 hours each week leading an extracurricular activity. Each volunteer has the flexibility to determine what specific extracurricular activity they’d like to lead with their students.
• Additionally, volunteers participate in English Camps, Debates, Public Speaking Competitions, Spelling Bees, and other initiatives of the English Opens Doors Program.

The Fundamental Responsibilities of each EODP volunteer:

• Act as an ambassador for their home country and for the Chilean Ministry of Education. As such, to be responsible for their personal conduct and behavior as well as their level of professionalism at all times.
• Be proactive in exercising their judgment in regards to their personal health, safety and well-being.
• Regard their students, colleagues, host family and fellow volunteers with an attitude of mutual learning, cooperation and respect.

All volunteers must:

• Be a native or near-native English speaker.
• Have completed a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university and be between 21 and 35 years old.
• Be mentally and physically capable of teaching children.
• Have experience living or travelling in another country.
• Have an interest in Chilean culture and living in a developing country.
• Be highly committed, responsible, and flexible.
• Have access to sufficient funds in order to cover personal expenditures throughout the duration of the program.

Volunteers will receive:

• A program completion bonus of CLP 60,000 (approximately $120) per month served.
• Accommodations and meals with a host family.
• Pre-departure information and support.
• Airport transfers to designated accommodations upon arrival for volunteers who arrive on official program start dates.
• Assistance obtaining a Chilean I.D. card.
• Round-trip transportation from Santiago to the regional placement site.

Additional Information

We are currently looking for qualified individuals who might be interested in coming to Chile to participate in one of our Volunteer Service Initiatives in 2013. For more information about this volunteer opportunity please visit our website at www.centrodevoluntarios.cl.

Feel free to contact us at voluntarios@mineduc.cl should you have any questions. We sincerely appreciate your time, consideration, and support.

Location

Chile

Contact

Website: www.centrodevoluntarios.cl

Email: voluntarios@mineduc.cl