Teaching - SRI LANKA Project Information for Teaching Project in Sri Lanka

What does the Volunteer teach?

If you join a teaching program in Sri Lanka, you'll be expected to teach conversational English, not be an expert on grammar! No previous teaching experience or TEFL qualifications are required.

Most Sri Lankan schools are combined primary and secondary, and although twelve to fourteen year-olds usually need the most help, you may be asked to help out with other age groups. You're very likely to be in popular demand everywhere (in and out of the classroom) and you'll probably be introduced to classes with flourishes of flowery language - but don't be afraid . everyone soon comes down to earth!

At first children and teachers alike will be alarmingly polite, but after a few days they'll begin to relax. You're giving them an important opportunity to receive direct help with English conversation - and they take this very seriously. Your immediate and key contact will be the school Principal or the Head of English, one of whom will be your supervisor and mentor, and will deal personally with your specific programme.

The School Timetable

Sri Lankan school days run from 8am-2pm, and are broken down into 8 separate 40 minute periods, with a twenty minute break for "lunch" at around 11am. Volunteers with Projects Abroad are expected to teach 18 hours per week, so most volunteers teach around 4 periods per day, and spend their afternoons preparing for the next day's lessons and sometimes attending a local orphanage or tsunami relief camp to teach yet more English in the afternoon! Projects Abroad have also helped volunteers to set up their own activities in the afternoons; from school cricket teams to "garden school", which runs out of a small community centre near one of our host families, and now has 50 students attending one of six sessions each week!

The main school holidays take place during 10th April to 15th May, 10th August to 10th September and 10th December to 5th January. The dates vary slightly each year but this gives you a rough idea when the schools are normally closed; we recommend that you take your holiday entitlement during these periods. During the main holiday period in Sri Lanka we organize special tuition in selected schools, orphanages or Buddhist monasteries. The classes will usually be smaller and less formal during this period but the pupils who attend are very keen to learn and much can be achieved with them. Moreover since they are less formal you can try different teaching ideas and basically use a lot more initiative.

Voluntary Teaching in Sri Lanka

When your placement in Sri Lanka begins, you will normally spend between three days to a week observing your supervisor, or another member of the English department at your school. The aim of this is to give you a better idea of the standard of English that is spoken by each class, give you a chance to adjust to the school, the heat (!), get to know your supervisor, and give the kids a chance to get used to you so that they can at least try to contain their excitement and let you do some teaching once you get started, instead of following you manically around any room you enter shouting "Teacher, teacher! What is your name?!"

Beyond this introductory period, you have a choice of how you wish to teach. Some schools prefer you to teach alongside a Sri Lankan English teacher, helping them run their classes and organising activities in English that get the kids to practice their pronunciation and listening skills. This can be a good option for those volunteers who aren't so confident in their ability to teach alone. Most schools, though, will ask you to take on your own classes, either alone or team teaching with another volunteer. Team teaching has many benefits; it can help you get over your initial nerves, and can be a valuable aid for classroom control. One volunteer can introduce a new topic and begin the lesson while the second volunteer takes the role of Teaching Assistant, sitting with the noisy or problem kids so that they don't disturb the rest of the class. Both volunteers then play a part in the workshop or activities, and both help with marking.

So, whether you teach in a school, a monastery, or one of our private tuition classes for school leavers, some things are certain; they'll be very grateful for everything you teach them, you'll be made more welcome than you could ever have imagined, and you'll laugh so hard you feel you might sprain something!