Co-facilitate Teacher Training and English Teaching Strategies

Activity/project background

District Educational Institutions across Bogotá are public educational entities that serve secondary students (grades 6–11). These institutions are currently implementing national bilingualism strategies supported by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education encourages educators to ensure classroom practices focus on the consistent implementation of institutional pedagogical strategies to ensure effective application in daily teaching. Teachers can enhance students’ communicative competence by incorporating activities such as discussions, debates, and collaborative work, while also promoting active engagement through dynamic methodologies like problem-based learning and critical questioning. It is important to integrate practices that support performance in standardized assessments such as Saber 11, including exercises that develop analysis and interpretation skills. Additionally, teachers should strengthen inferential reading abilities by encouraging students to make interpretations and draw conclusions from texts, while fostering communicative skills across all grade levels. Continuous monitoring of student progress is essential to adjust instructional strategies according to their learning needs.

The bilingualism team has requested four Virtual Service Pilot Participants (VSPPs) with pedagogical experience and relevant knowledge to expand teachers’ opportunities to engage with English through the creation and co-facilitation of English conversation clubs and webinars. VSPPs will contribute with native-speaker accents, vocabulary, and speech patterns, as well as opportunities for intercultural exchange.

The VSPPs will support a 12 week professional development initiative by co designing and delivering weekly one hour webinars on pedagogical strategies and effective English teaching approaches, while also co facilitating weekly conversation clubs to help teachers strengthen their communicative skills in virtual settings. Their role includes creating and adapting engaging PowerPoint presentations that enhance instructional clarity and interactivity, as well as providing feedback on instructional design and presentation materials for both classroom and online use. Throughout the engagement, VSPPs will collaborate closely to monitor progress and identify emerging best practices.
Peace Corps Colombia currently does not place two-year Volunteers in Bogotá, and the small scale of this initiative makes it well-suited for virtual engagement. The organization has previously collaborated with the Peace Corps. They understand that the role of a VSPP is very different than a Peace Corps Volunteer or Peace Corps Response Volunteer.

Engagement and tasks

The VSPP will engage in the following tasks, in collaboration with their host country partners:

• Co-design and deliver weekly 1-hour webinars focused on pedagogical strategies and the effective use of English teaching approaches using platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams
• Co-facilitate weekly 1-hour English conversation clubs with teachers to strengthen communicative competence and confidence in virtual environments
• Design and adapt engaging PowerPoint presentations to support webinars and instructional sessions, ensuring clarity, interactivity, and pedagogical alignment
• Provide feedback and guidance on instructional design, including the creation and improvement of presentation materials for classroom and virtual use
• Collaborate to monitor progress and identify best practices throughout the 12-week engagement

VSPPs are expected to engage on the tasks listed above for an estimated 5–15 hours per week. This engagement is estimated to be 10 hours per week.

Online collaboration will generally occur after 5:00 p.m. Colombia time. Specific meeting times will be confirmed during the orientation process.

The host country counterpart will have access to Zoom, Google Meet, WhatsApp, and email for regular communication and collaboration.

Per the Child Protection Code of Conduct, when engaging online with minors (0–18), two adults must be present.

Optional additional activities

The Peace Corps mission is to promote world peace and friendship by fulfilling three goals:

1. To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2. To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

Goal 1 will be achieved through the VSPP's engagement and completion of the above tasks. The counterpart and VSPP may also choose to identify an activity that aligns with Goal 2. Additionally, the VSPP may identify a Goal 3 activity to implement during their engagement. See recommendations and tools for Goal 3 activities.

Essential qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree in any field

Language: Intermediate Spanish

Experience:
• 1 year of TEFL/TESOL teaching for secondary school students in the U.S.A. or abroad
• Facilitating virtual learning sessions or online teaching environments
• Designing instructional materials and PowerPoint presentations for educational purposes
• Basic proficiency in digital tools for virtual collaboration, including Microsoft Teams and Zoom

Intercultural skills and motivation: Flexible, strong cross-cultural agility, high tolerance for ambiguity, able to work independently, resourceful, creative, and genuinely motivated and capable to serve virtually

Desired qualifications

Education: Master's degree in education, secondary education, or related field or relevant certification: TEFL, TESOL, Cambridge, or similar

Experience:
• Familiarity with Colombian or Latin American educational and cultural contexts
• Teaching at the secondary or university level
• Teacher training or professional development programs

Terms and conditions of engagement

VSPPs will be engaging with the host country partner, in coordination with Peace Corps post staff, remotely from the US. They should have access to a computer, internet, and telephone in order to enable direct engagement with the Peace Corps overseas office and the Host Country Counterpart assigned by the host country partner.

Orientation with the host country partner will be provided, within the designated virtual service hours, during the first week of virtual service via an online presentation and discussion. The host country partner will provide an overview of its organization, the local context, and how they envision collaborating with the VSPP.

The VSPP will have regular check-ins with their counterpart and bi-weekly check-ins with Peace Corps staff. Spending unstructured time with counterparts can be critical to relationship-building and is encouraged through activities such as coffee chats and informal calls within the weekly 5-15 hours.

Engagement safety and security

The VSPP will receive an orientation on Peace Corps’ Child Protection Policy and how it relates to online engagement along with IT security best practices. The VSPP will be expected to follow safety and security guidelines for online engagement to ensure their safety and that of the Host Country Partner and their counterpart, and any beneficiaries of the engagement.

Supervision requirements

The VSPP will report to a designated Peace Corps staff member. The VSPP will be expected to abide by the Virtual Service Pilot Participant and Donation Agreement and Participant Principles of Engagement. The VSPP will also be expected to check in with the designated host country counterpart as assigned by the host county partner.