Job Discussion Forums

[shrewsyj]

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone's had any experience with this organisation? I'm very interested in this voluntary programme teaching buddhist monks in Laos:
http://www.gvi.co.uk/pages/projectDetail.asp?expedition=120

I'll be a newly CELTA-qualified teacher by this summer but don't have many teaching hours under my belt, so I thought this would be a useful way to gain some experience before applying for jobs elsewhere.

Grateful for any opinions or experiences people have of this organisation as I don't wanna give all my cash to some dodgy scheme!

Thanks

[squindia]

wow it looks like it would be amazing experience. I doubt its a scheme but are you in contact with anyone from the organization?

It seems a bit pricey to me. I'm volunteer teaching for 1 month here in India and I only have to cover costs of my flight plus $1000usd for room and board and in country support (as they phrase it).

Maybe this org can put you in contact with past participants?

Good luck!

squid

[Stephen Jones]

People who work for free have always seemed to be crazy to me, but now we have lunatics who even pay obscene sums of money to work.

For the $1,000 squindia's paid, and the $1,500 shrewsyj wants to pay for the privilege of working, you could have stayed in either India or Laos for three months and got blasted.

[phantombedwetter]

[squindia]

[MO39]

Phantombedwetter's comments make a lot of sense to me, but they don't apply in a situation where there are no English schools in the first place, most likely because the inhabitants are too poor to pay for English classes or live in isolated communities, like the monks in Laos mentioned by the OP. But before plunking down a bunch of money to pay for GVI's program, the OP should do lots of in-depth research into this outfit.

[Justin Trullinger]

Life is complicated. To pay money to teach, if your students do, or would be able to, pay to study could potentially have the effect that some of you are talking about.

I volunteer with some regularity, though, in addition to my professional (paid) teaching and teacher training work. I'm not "undercutting" anybody by spending a little of my spare time improving the quality of education for a few Ecuadorians, either through an underprivileged school or an adult education community center. I would be putting an undue burden on those organisations, though, if I expected them to feed and house me just because I do that. Since I live here, I feed and house myself. If I didn't, what would be so wrong about paying someone to hook me up with accomodation, which I would pay for, during my stay?

That said- I've heard of plenty of volunteer "opportunities" that do little except line the pockets of unscrupulous directors. People who volunteer, teaching for nothing and potentially paying, when students are also paying...well, there's one born a minute. At least.

Though Ecuador, where I live, is loaded with "volunteer opportunities," some good, some bad, some in between, I haven't seen this effect the lives of paid teachers at all. It's simply irrelevant- the students who volunteer teachers are teaching, and the students who paid teachers are teaching are from different worlds. "Volunteer" students pay nothing or next to nothing, and can afford barely that. Paying students are from the economically privileged levels of society, pay for an expensive service, and expect to get it. (Meaning that they expect their teachers to be paid professionals, amongst many other expectations.)

I've heard a lot about how volunteering affects the lives of teachers negatively- I have to say, though, in latin america at least, I can't see any evidence that this is true, nor imagine any reason why it would be.


Best,
Justin


PS- I'm not criticising your interest in getting blasted- I still do if I feel like it, and did more when I was a bit younger and singler. In terms of a positive experience, though, it really doesn't compare well with getting to know a community, and positively contributing to it. Just my two cents worth.

[Surfdude18]

There are two points to be made here.

1. If the school really is in the back of beyond and rustic and whatever, then fair enough. It's reasonable to be volunteering or even paying to do so.

2. However, there are examples, especially here in China, where very wealthy schools play on the "China is so poor" nonsense to entice volunteers over. My old school took us to visit another school outside Wuhan where the teachers were volunteering. I couldn't believe it when I saw how grandiose and wealthy the school was. The students lived in houses that were like mock georgian terraces. This stuff undercuts the normal ESL market and helps keeps wages low.

[Serious_Fun]

[shrewsyj]

thanks so much for all your thoughtful advice everybody, i never expected to get this many responses! I'll definitely take everything you've said into consideration.

All the best,
shrew