WorldTeach works closely with Ministries of Education worldwide in a number of its country programs.  The WorldTeach Chile Ministry program partnership with Inglés Abre Puertas is a variation on the typical WorldTeach program model, given that the Chilean Ministry of Education is highly involved in the overall administration and management of this program.

 

WorldTeach will provide pre-departure and supplemental in-country support for volunteers; however, upon arrival in Chile, the Ministry, and not WorldTeach, is responsible for the overall management, training, support, and administration of the Inglés Abre Puertas volunteer program.  Volunteers will report directly to the National and Regional Ministry, National Volunteer Center, and Inglés Abre Puertas officials and staff.  WorldTeach has successfully used a similar model previously in its partnership with the RARE Center for Tropical Conservation.

 

In the fall of 2003, WorldTeach was invited to partner with Inglés Abre Puertas, a program of the Chilean Ministry of Education, by sending fifteen volunteers to teach English during the second semester of the 2004 school year.  Volunteers taught grades K-12 in public schools in the country's fourth largest city, Antofagasta.  This one-semester pilot program was followed by a full-year pilot program for the 2005 school year, ending in December 2005.
 

In 2007, WorldTeach began a new partnership with the Chilean Ministry of Education's Inglés Abre Puertas program.  This new opportunity is coordinated through the National Volunteer Center.  

WorldTeach is excited to continue providing volunteers to the Ministry of Education’s 2008 Inglés Abre Puertas program.  WorldTeach has been chosen to dramatically expand the number of placements in Chile's Bío-Bío (VIII) and Los Ríos (XIV) Regions. 2008 also marks the first year volunteers have the option to teach for a full school year (March through December) or a semester (July through December). WorldTeach volunteers are currently teaching at public and semi-public schools in small to medium-sized towns in the country’s Regions VIII and Regions XIV, between six and twelve hours south of Santiago. A few semester volunteers in 2008 also received placements in the O'Higgins (VI) Region, just south of Santiago.

The volunteer’s main function in the school community is to motivate students to learn English and to create new opportunities for both teachers and students to practice the English language on a regular basis. The volunteer provides students with the opportunity to realize the value of communication in English and is a vital source of motivation for learning a foreign language.

1. Working as an English-language teaching assistant to one or more English teachers: The Inglés Abre Puertas volunteer program uses a model in which volunteers work with one or more co-teachers in order to split large classes into smaller groups of about 24 students.  During a typical 90-minute class, the volunteer and co-teacher see each group for 45 minutes and then switch, so that all students benefit from the opportunity to work with a native English speaking volunteer, particularly focusing on listening and speaking comprehension activities to supplement the Chilean English teacher's curriculum.

2. Organizing and implementing extracurricular activities for the school community:  Since motivating students and creating opportunities for practicing English is a key goal of the program, volunteers will devote the rest of their full-time commitment to extracurricular activities both at their schools and in their communities. 

Placements and Housing 

Volunteers will be placed throughout Chile's Bío-Bío (VIII), Araucanía (IX) and Los Ríos (XIV) Regions. 

Within these regions, volunteers will most likely be working in small to medium-sized cities like Chillán, Los Angeles, Temuco, Angol, Nueva Imperial, and Valdivia. Inglés Abre Puertas will match volunteers to teaching sites according to the needs of the schools and the experience and interests of the volunteers. Volunteers will live with host families selected by the Ministry of Education, relatively near their school campuses. Host families provide an important entry into the community and a unique cultural learning opportunity. Host families will be compensated monthly by the Inglés Abre Puertas program, to cover the costs they incur supporting a volunteer in their home.

Within this zone, there is a wide variety of teaching conditions. Volunteers may be placed in schools that range from large, under-funded public schools with limited resources to semi-public schools with more resources available. Depending on the size of the school, volunteers will likely work with several different grade levels.  Although WorldTeach volunteers in past Inglés Abre Puertas programs have been typically placed in small to medium-sized cities like those listed above, placements in 2008 included a few smaller towns and more rural placements in surrounding areas as the Inglés Abre Puertas program expands.

• 9-month program: Volunteers will depart in mid March for 2-3 weeks of in-country orientation and training with Inglés Abre Puertas in Santiago, prior to beginning the first semester of teaching in the South.  Teaching begins in mid/late April and ends in late November/early December, with short breaks for school vacations.
• 5-month program: Volunteers will depart in mid July for 2 weeks of in-country orientation and training in Santiago, prior to beginning teaching the remainder of the academic year.  Teaching begins in mid/late July and ends in late November/early December, with short breaks for school vacations. 

The US$2,990 (semester) or US$3,390 (year) cost of the program covers pre-departure information and materials, round-trip international airfare from a designated U.S. departure city (likely Miami), supplemental overseas health and emergency evacuation insurance, supplemental in-country WorldTeach field staff support, and after-service support and networking.

Stipends are provided during the months of teaching, with room and board provided throughout your term of service. All stipends and host family payments will be made by Inglés Abre Puertas, directly to the host families and volunteers. The volunteer stipend is approximately US$150-170 for every month they teach. The stipend is not a salary, and is intended to help volunteers meet basic daily living costs at the local standard of living. It will help cover the costs of public transportation to and from school, bottled drinking water, toiletries, etc.

The Ministry of Education/Inglés Abre Puertas has the following requirements for all applicants to its program:

• Be native English speakers or use English in their everyday language, and have received their K-12 or undergraduate education in English
• Hold an undergraduate degree
• Be aged between 21 and 50 years old (exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis)
• Have experience teaching or working with children and a genuine interest in assisting English teaching
• Basic Spanish proficiency and/or be willing to complete a Ministry of Education-provided online Spanish course prior to departure
• Be mentally and physically capable of teaching children
• Have experience living or traveling in another country, preferably in the developing world
• Have an interest in Chilean culture and living in a developing country
• Be highly committed, responsible and flexible, and possess a spirit of public service

• Essay #1 should be modified to read: “At this point in your life, what is your motivation for wanting to be a volunteer teacher with the Chilean Ministry of Education's National Volunteer Center? What personal goals do you aim to achieve by participating in the program? What contributions do you hope to bring to the community in which you will teach and live?"

For more information, please write to info@worldteach.org.

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