ABDF

The ABDF will do its utmost to ensure that teachers are qualified, both in terms of training as well as personality, for teaching in a developing country-type of environment. Qualifications might include most or all of the following:

Teachers must have professional qualifications. In lieu of such qualifications, the candidate must have a verifiable work history in the field. For example, working as an English teacher for the United States Peace Corps might constitute such a work history.

Details: This is a serious opportunity. Candidates must be qualified or have a commiserate amount of experience teaching. The ex-Peace Corp volunteer is a good example of this type of experience. But perhaps more important of all, it is vital that the teacher enjoy his/her work, understand its value to the students, and take the job seriously. This is NOT one of those work-while-you-vacation assignments where you pay to play with the orphans on the beach for a couple of weeks under the guise of teaching English.

Teachers must be qualified to teach English, and will follow the Sri Lankan syllabus.

Details: This work is primarily about teaching English, although teaching English can happen in a variety of ways. However, be aware that national testing is paramount in Sri Lanka; it’s the only way students move up in the education system. Therefore it is vital that English classes follow the course syllabus laid out by the Ministry of Education. Yes, in many ways this can be “teaching to the test,” but that is the unfortunate reality of the situation. Think of it as a challenge to teach to the test, but using inventive ways of doing it. Sometimes restrictions prove to be the greatest motivation for imagination and innovation! In addition, outside the “regular” English class, there will be wide opportunity to create and implement additional classes and /or activities that emphasis English; drama, speech club, even English medium sports teams!

There are three qualifiers to this:

First, if a candidate is qualified to teach another subject (science, math, etc) but not English, s/he may be placed in an English Medium program to teach this subject in English, again, according to the Sri Lankan syllabus.

Details: As mentioned above, there are many ways to teach English, especially spoken skills. As with English, all subjects are tested annually in national exams. Therefore, like English, there is a syllabus for each subject in each grade level. We will supply you the syllabus for your subject ahead of time.

Second, if the candidate is qualified to teach other teachers up-to-date methodologies, s/he may be placed part time as a teacher, and also plan and execute seminars and workshops for area teachers part-time.

Details: Generally speaking, there are two types of English teachers. There are the old timers who were educated before the Sri Lankan government implemented their policy of teaching in the local language and getting rid of English medium classes, and those who were educated after, and who only recently got their certificates. Both groups have problems.

The “old timers” were educated in a very British old-school style. They learned through memorization and repetition. Back then there was little emphasis on communication skills, beyond proper pronunciation. The emphasis was on grammar and vocabulary. Creativity and imagination was discouraged. Obviously English fluency is much more than being able to properly pronounce “w” and identify the predicate nominative. The vast majority of these teachers are unfamiliar with modern teaching methods, especially when it comes to spoken English. On top of this, they are an aging group, and in ten years you’ll probably find few of them still working.

The new teachers lack in both teaching experience (including methodology) and often have English skills inferior to the old-timers. They were educated in their native language (Tamil of Sinhala) and English was very much a second language. While often taught as children by the old-timers, they nonetheless frequently have problems with communication; pronunciation is oft times poor, and while they too can pick out the predicate nominative, that doesn’t mean that creating English communication comes easy.

What does this all mean? It means that there is a serious need for native English teacher to teach English to the kids, but also to teach the teachers how to teach. The Sri Lankan government, having realized the mistakes of their past education policy, particularly with regards to language, is pushing changes to make their system more “modern.” The problem is that there have neither the resources nor know-how to do so. This is why such a candidate would be so valuable for this project.

Third, if the candidate has “non-Academic” subject teaching qualifications (music, art, drama, sports, etc) s/he may be placed in an English Medium program to create, carry out, and/or expand arts or sports programs for the student body. Note that facilities are often very limited and the successful candidate might have to bring his/her own supplies or purchase them in Sri Lanka.

Details: Again, more than one way to teach English! There will ample opportunities to create after-class programs wherein English is spoken. Normally such activities are not popular, as they are seen as distractions from studying for the national exams. However, if they are done in English in such a way to convince people that they will ultimately help the kids with the test, then any such programs would become very popular indeed!

As noted, there are few school resources for extracurricular activities. Many items are available in Colombo, but you will probably have to buy them yourself; many schools have budgets that barely cover the electricity bill, let alone basketballs and such. Some things you may have to bring from home. For example, if you want to try and introduce Baseball (good luck!) you’d have to bring your own equipment. Or if you want to put on plays, you may have to bring scripts from the US and photocopy them here.

Please note that just because you aren’t specifically qualified to teach English, or might not be interested in specifically teaching English, it doesn’t mean you can’t be an enormous help to the kids. So if you can, please consider joining up!

Teachers must be willing to adhere to the excepted codes of conduct and dress while engaged in school activities.

Details: As mentioned before, the educational system in Sri Lanka has many aspects left-over from colonial times. One is the relationship between students and teachers. Students always stand when a teacher (or any adult) enters the room, and when they answer a question. Teachers are always addressed as “Sir” or “Madame.” As a result of this over-formalization of the classroom, many students are actually intimidated by their teachers for no reason. This is often to the point where they are afraid to ask for help with their studies. Obviously this gets in the way of effective education and communication. In fact, students sometimes get down on the floor and touch the teachers’ feet as a sign of respect and to ask for blessing, as if the teacher were some sort of deity. It can be a bit unnerving and embarrassing, but you will have to learn to get over it.

In general, teachers are not encouraged to be “friends” with their students, or take an interest in their personal lives, although this is slowly changing as educators begin to realize that education should be a holistic experience. You will be given all the details on your arrival at the school.

Men must wear dress shoes, slacks a dress shirt; ties are not necessary, but encouraged.

Ladies, you will have to wear a sari. You will be assisted in the purchase and draping of your saris by female staff members until you get it down. Think of it as a fun challenge; Project Director Bennett Hinkley knows several Western women who really enjoyed going sari shopping with female friends and had a good laugh learning how to put them on.

Teachers must be willing to volunteer for a minimum of six months, concurrent with the Sri Lankan academic school year. In special cases teachers can be given shorter assignments, but this can only be determined on a case-by-case basis, primarily for those with a special or urgently needed skill set.

Details: As we all know, consistency is important in education. Therefore showing up at a school for a few weeks (as with many other teaching programs) and then leaving never to return does nothing to help the students.

In order to be effective, candidates must be willing to teach for at least two full terms; ideally for a full school year.

The new school year begins in January, unlike in the States. There are three terms per year, each lasting about three months, with vacations raging from 2 weeks to one month in between. Thus they have year-round schools similar to that some school districts in the US are starting to use. The school year for 2010 runs thus:

January 4 – April 9: class

April: Approximately two week vacation around April 14th, the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.

April 22 – August 06: class

August: most of the month off. Some schools run reduced summer programs.

September 07 – December 10: class

December: Most of the month off.