Volunteering and teaching abroad is a wonderful way to give service, integrate with a local community, learn new skills, meet new people and enjoy a cultural immersion experience like no other. The rewards of becoming a volunteer teacher are infinite. You’ll get to share your knowledge with others and expand your horizons through your international experiences.
Top Rated Opportunities
Apply to Become a Volunteer Teacher Overseas
You can find placements with local and international organisations that pre-arrange your teaching placement so you can maximize your time abroad. Most offer guaranteed placements, housing, visa and travel assistance, included insurance, and pre-departure and local support for all teach opportunities.
Classroom experience and foreign language knowledge are helpful, but usually not required for most programs. But we highly recommend you consider taking a TEFL course which helps you to become a confident language instructor.
How teaching benefits children
If you’d like to teach disadvantaged children, choose from one of the many worthwhile programs and make it happen! Any help, care, love and attention you give, no matter how skilled or unskilled, helps. Make a difference – get involved! Children want to learn because the end result will be greater opportunities in life for them, whether career-wise or, for the luckier ones, possibly getting into a better university. Most organisations make donations to some of the poorer schools. Sometimes they also sponsor children’s education or provide money directly to schools. Organisations also buy necessities, food, books, uniforms, computers and teaching aids for kids – and this is only possible because volunteers have chosen to do a voluntary project!
What to expect
Teach conversational English and/or Music, Drama, French, German, Arts and Crafts or Sports, in nursery, primary and secondary schools, with delightful children who are very keen to learn. Most projects are totally flexible. You’ll assist a teacher for up to a week and once you gain confidence and feel comfortable in the classroom, you’ll be able to become involved in lesson planning and take classes on your own. You’ll have freedom to utilise your own creativity to bring different forms of teaching and ideas into the classroom! For example, you may create real-life situations, games and other activities and conduct them in the English language.
What do volunteers gain?
Valuable skills, or improve the skills you already have. Experience in how to interact with children and yet retain authority, a boost to your confidence, and the satisfaction of knowing that you are making a huge difference to the children and their abilities.
What if I have never taught English before?
No experience is needed for most voluntary placements. Although TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) experience can be useful it is certainly not a requirement. If you are new to teaching, check out our quick guide to teaching English abroad on the basic technique used by most TEFL teachers around the world.
TEFL teaching is easy to pick up unlike standard teaching at home. This is because TEFL teaching methods tend to follow an established routine with lots of repetition and question and answer rather than explanation.
This makes it easier for new teachers because you will be using the same general method for all your first classes, although the words will change. In fact experienced teachers new to TEFL methodology may find drilling and repetition requires some unlearning of Western teaching methods.
What other opportunities are there?
During the school calendar there are extra-curricular activities which volunteers help with alongside local teachers. This could include supervising the national exams, helping with sports days, presentations and the annual English summer camps which are popular.
FAQ
Language
Most placements only require English, but be. sure to learn some of the basic phrases from the country you are going to.
Duration
Stays of over four weeks are recommended, although some companies do offer short term placements.
Will I have free time to explore?
Absolutely as there is no teaching at the weekends and schedules permitting you may finish classes Friday morning. There is a lot to see and do and organised tours can be booked where teaching programs are based. Most volunteers don’t stay near their school at the weekends, instead they usually head off in a group.