Volunteer Teach in Chile - (past program)

Time of my life and great experience to live and work abroad! Would highly recommend this type of program for anyone looking to take-off and start in a new country. If you take advantage of all the programs have to offer, like optional Summer/Winter programs you will ensure a better experience by seeing more of the country, volunteering with other groups and learning different dialects/slang from different regions.

I attended the English Opens Doors Program with WorldTeach and the Ministry of Education in Chile during the 2007-2008 academic year. Teaching in Chile was a wonderful experience! The guidance, support and structure of the WorldTeach program was extremely helpful, and the organization is very professional. I have recommended teaching abroad with WorldTeach to many of my friends and colleagues. I would recommend this organization over and over again! It was truly a wonderful experience to volunteer abroad, and were I to do it again I would most definitely go with WorldTeach!

My decision to join WorldTeach Chile was to see if I wanted to continue on the teaching track and do so in a part of the world I had yet to visit. However, I got so so much more out of the experience than I could have ever expected. South America was a relatively "scary" place in my mind before I arrived and having WorldTeach as a support and structure really made diving into it much a much less nerve racking feat. My year as a volunteer teacher in a suburban public K-8 school and living with a host family was one of growth, reflection, and learning. The most valuable part of the experience were the deep connections with other humans I made whose influences continue to resonate with me today.

Different classroom culture that I didn't feel prepared for - but I think that's part of the culture shock. It's also difficult finding a host family that you're a good fit with. However, the experience overall was great. Difficult, but great overall.

The training is top-notch, the in-country support (via a Field Director who knows the country better) is priceless. They took a dozen of us from zero to Competent Teaching in 2 weeks. I can't imagine having done it any other way.

(Actually, I can, because we worked alongside volunteers from other programs who didn't have WorldTeach support, and they had a really hard time.)

A+++++

I would recommend teaching abroad as a volunteer if you already have successful work experiences to build on. You will need to already know how to take initiative and make plans with little guidance. You will also need to know how to prioritize tasks, and be able to build positive interpersonal relationships. I would give this advice of already being prepared probably for any program.

The Worldteach program in Chile was a very good choice. Worldteach provides effective in-country support and the experience of living with a host family and working in a public school was well designed and very important for my professional career.

WorldTeach Chile prepared me well for my assignment with a month of in country training that included leveled Spanish classes, cultural lessons, and preparation to teach in a student centered classroom. Once with my host family, I was living in Concepcion which was six hours away from our program director in Santiago. However, I was well supported by other teachers at my school and my family took good care of me. My program director checked in every few weeks, visited to make sure all was well, and was readily available when I needed help. Overall, the program was well run and I gained valuable skills in Spanish, teaching, and living abroad that I still use today. I was eager to live in another country, but appreciated the structure and support of this program from correspondence before we left to prepping us for reentry into the US. I highly recommend this program!