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85%Overall
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Program Description
WorldTeach - Volunteer Teaching in Ecuador
Description
WorldTeach has been invited by several different types of schools and institutions throughout Ecuador to provide English language training. Although teaching placements vary widely by city and host institution, the majority of WorldTeach volunteers in Ecuador teach English in university or community classes with adult students. Most volunteers will live and teach in cities and large towns since English is not yet taught widely in the countryside.
Volunteers are usually responsible for teaching 20-25 hours a week, in addition to allotting time for planning lessons, holding regular office hours, developing new language instruction materials, and coordinating activities such as setting up and running an English club for students or other teachers. Class size varies widely throughout the placements, as do the type of students and their level of English. Volunteers may teach university students, faculty and staff, and/or open-enrollment classes for members of the local community. In addition to their teaching responsibilities, volunteers are also encouraged to actively participate in community life and engage in additional activities or projects of interest.
Qualifications
* Bachelor's degree required
* Native English speaker
* Comfortable working in cross-cultural environments
* Independent worker
* Good people skills and organizational skills
* Flexibility and creativity in problem solving
* Teaching or volunteer experience
* Interest in international education and development
* Willingness to live with a family
* 25 hours ESL service required before departure (after acceptance to the program).
Ratings and Reviews
0 of 0 people found this review helpful
WorldTeach extender loves this program!
100%Overall
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Review from a 2 year WT Ecuador Volunteer
90%Overall
Rating
I knew upon graduation that I wanted to spend at least a year abroad. A friend told me about WorldTeach, and although admittedly teaching made me nervous, I decided to apply.
I was placed in a medium-sized city on the coast and initially taught English at a trade school. The demographic of my students ranged from adolescents to working professionals. It was not a course that was mandatory; therefore, my students were there because they wanted to be.
After my year with WorldTeach ended I knew that I was not yet ready to leave. I loved my students, had a great volunteer internship at the local hospital, and was not yet ready to leave my host family. I applied for an extension and after it was approved, I got the chance to work help pioneer a new site in my city.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Great... Until it's not.
50%Overall
Rating
WorldTeach Ecuador was great for training. Orientation can be tedious but is very informative, it runs all day (8-6) five days a week. Afterwards, you return, exhausted, to your Quito homestay families. Or, on some days, go and get a Pilsner with some of the group. By the end of it, I felt over prepared. I felt like I knew how to teach, plan without a curriculum, and had a wonderful support group of friends. I think Worldteach Ecuador is a great organization until something goes wrong.
Less than three months into my year I was terminated. Not because of my actions, but because WT had problems within my school. My university is slightly corrupt, like most places in Ecuador, and I understood the decision until I wasn't given another placement.
Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador, was my only option. A person from my group terminated because the situation at the school was so terrible there, he was unable to teach. I was not willing to give up my dream of living in the Andes to move to the big and sweaty city (not to mention dangerous) and have to fight to be able to teach. When I said no to Guayaquil I was terminated.
I paid over $5,000 for those three months. I got to keep my return ticket back, and luckily, found a job on my own. I stayed in close contact with my WT friends and watched as they attended midservice and end of service. I have been in Ecuador for 1.5 years now, living and working at a school without the help from WorldTeach.
And I wish this was an isolated incidence. I have watched as this has happened multiple times in the new WT groups.
I would have never come to Ecuador without WorldTeach , and for those who didn't have problems, it was a great program. For those of us who did, however, it was $5,000 for a month long ESL course.
39 of 54 people found this review helpful
yo <3 WT
100%Overall
Rating
I feel WorldTeach is a really wonderful option for someone wanting to go abroad and volunteer in a 3rd world country for the first time. The support of World Teach is outstanding in the US and then out in the countries where the vols are. The orientations you are a part of really prepare you for all that you are about to witness and interact in. They truly prep you and continue to support you with checkins throughout. And even after your stay is over, the WT Alumni group is very close knit and well organized, updating you on new countries WT is working with and even announcing jobs that are available in WT's US offices and abroad. WT was my first experience in a 3rd world country and I continue to be so grateful for them. I met some really incredible people in Ecuador thanks to them.
The experience of coming to Ecuador with WorldTeach changed my life in amazingly positive ways. This type of program is for anyone who is dedicated, wants to teach, wants to integrate into the local community, but is also looking for support from an awesome in-country staff. Wonderful program!