Description
The Peace Corps Volunteer program is often called life-defining by the more than 235,000 Americans who have served. Get the chance to fully integrate into a host country community, where you will live and work on projects ranging from education to business development. Peace Corps Response sends experienced professionals to undertake short-term, high-impact service assignments in communities around the world. Bring valuable skills and experiences to projects in places where they are needed most.
As an English Education Volunteer (also referred to as TEFL Volunteer – Teaching English as a Foreign Language), you will teach and co-teach English as a foreign language at middle school or combined middle and high schools in an assigned community. Through working with teachers and students, TEFL Volunteers help increase English language proficiency and self-confidence. In addition to classroom teaching, Volunteers organize clubs and camps, share resources, develop teaching materials with local teachers, and become involved in community and school-based projects.
TEFL Volunteers peer teach or co-teach alongside an Albanian English teacher, supporting and enhancing the existing English language program with active-learning methodologies. Volunteers teach upwards to ten 90-minute classes per week. After peer teaching during the first year, some Volunteers may start to teach more on their own.
Volunteers may also spend part of their time working with teachers from neighboring village schools to help improve their English and enhance their teaching techniques. They may also conduct teacher development workshops through collaboration with partner organizations and regional/local level education offices. Volunteers also work with teachers and counterparts to improve critical-thinking and problem-solving skills of students, often through after-school activities or English clubs.
Volunteers will likely have ample opportunity to conduct other community development projects, once they are grounded in their communities. The types of projects Volunteers may collaborate on with their community members include, but are not limited to improving the overall quality of life in rural areas, strengthening the educational system, identifying income-generating opportunities, and managing the natural resources. Volunteers will also have opportunities at the local or regional level to participate in youth development efforts/activities through the schools or NGOs, or by taking part in youth-centered projects such as Model UN, Outdoor Ambassadors (an environmental-themed after-school program begun by Volunteers), Girls Leading our World (GLOW) camps, etc.
In the summer, you will be expected to lead camps and other youth development activities in partnership with schools, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), or facilitate youth-centered projects such as Model United Nations, Girl Scouts, Outdoor Ambassadors (an environmental-themed after-school program begun by Volunteers), Girls Leading our World (GLOW) camps, etc. You may develop or participate in summer youth camps, utilize the Peace Corps Albania manuals and handbooks, tutor students in school subjects (possibly English), help develop student government in schools, and/or liaise with projects that foster youth employability. Many Volunteers have found success in collaborating across sectors throughout the summer with Volunteers who live in nearby communities; however, this may not be possible for all Volunteers depending on the geographic location of your community.
Volunteers are placed in communities throughout Albania, excluding the capital city of Tirana. The vast majority of Volunteers will live in rural areas, however, in some rare cases Volunteers may be placed in a few of the larger towns where foreign language schools are located.
The Peace Corps Volunteer program is often called life-defining by the more than 235,000 Americans who have served. Get the chance to fully integrate into a host country community, where you will live and work on projects ranging from education to business development. Peace Corps Response sends experienced professionals to undertake short-term, high-impact service assignments in communities around the world. Bring valuable skills and experiences to projects in places where they are needed most.
As an English Education Volunteer (also referred to as TEFL Volunteer – Teaching English as a Foreign Language), you will teach and co-teach English as a foreign language at middle school or combined middle and high schools in an assigned community. Through working with teachers and students, TEFL Volunteers help increase English language proficiency and self-confidence. In addition to classroom teaching, Volunteers organize clubs and camps, share resources, develop teaching materials with local teachers, and become involved in community and school-based projects.
TEFL Volunteers peer teach or co-teach alongside an Albanian English teacher, supporting and enhancing the existing English language program with active-learning methodologies. Volunteers teach upwards to ten 90-minute classes per week. After peer teaching during the first year, some Volunteers may start to teach more on their own.
Volunteers may also spend part of their time working with teachers from neighboring village schools to help improve their English and enhance their teaching techniques. They may also conduct teacher development workshops through collaboration with partner organizations and regional/local level education offices. Volunteers also work with teachers and counterparts to improve critical-thinking and problem-solving skills of students, often through after-school activities or English clubs.
Volunteers will likely have ample opportunity to conduct other community development projects, once they are grounded in their communities. The types of projects Volunteers may collaborate on with their community members include, but are not limited to improving the overall quality of life in rural areas, strengthening the educational system, identifying income-generating opportunities, and managing the natural resources. Volunteers will also have opportunities at the local or regional level to participate in youth development efforts/activities through the schools or NGOs, or by taking part in youth-centered projects such as Model UN, Outdoor Ambassadors (an environmental-themed after-school program begun by Volunteers), Girls Leading our World (GLOW) camps, etc.
In the summer, you will be expected to lead camps and other youth development activities in partnership with schools, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), or facilitate youth-centered projects such as Model United Nations, Girl Scouts, Outdoor Ambassadors (an environmental-themed after-school program begun by Volunteers), Girls Leading our World (GLOW) camps, etc. You may develop or participate in summer youth camps, utilize the Peace Corps Albania manuals and handbooks, tutor students in school subjects (possibly English), help develop student government in schools, and/or liaise with projects that foster youth employability. Many Volunteers have found success in collaborating across sectors throughout the summer with Volunteers who live in nearby communities; however, this may not be possible for all Volunteers depending on the geographic location of your community.
Volunteers are placed in communities throughout Albania, excluding the capital city of Tirana. The vast majority of Volunteers will live in rural areas, however, in some rare cases Volunteers may be placed in a few of the larger towns where foreign language schools are located.
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Benefits
Health coverage, Housing, Living allowance, Non-competitive eligibility (federal jobs), Stipend, Training
Education Benefits
College Degree
Education Requirements
College Graduate
Desired Languages
English
Other Conditions
Subject to criminal background check