What kind of programme will I join? Charity schools, private schools or state schools?
Various types of gap-year style travel programmes exist, some of which focus on volunteering/working only with charities, and a great many of these are wonderful! However, before you apply to join us, please note that Gotoco does not intend to offer this project as a development initiative, this is simply a TEFL training experience and the key beneficiary is you. Your involvement will impact people through educational mentorship and cultural exchange - however you are not joining us for purposes of development.
We work with a broad selection of programme types, these can include charities and foundations, but also private language schools, and state schools, and various other types of private or international schools, + more! Wherever you come, you will be helping in lots of ways, contributing to cultural exchange and language learning for locals and most importantly - learning things yourself. Our programmes are about you, the person that might be most helped by your participation in all of this is you. Our programme is not focussed on volunteering or voluntouring - we are simply seeking to show you the world, show you your potential, and inspire you to venture out into global careers or teaching careers. We are a TEFL training programme, with coursework and a TEFL practicum - please join us if that excites you.
Gotoco's intention is to open up free/funded travel opportunities for budding teachers and people that are keen to see what career options lie open for them in teaching and/or global intrepid career building! We focus on sourcing partnerships with a broad array of institution types, we select these partners based on their willingness to offer good & TEFL-relevant teacher trainee opportunities, in supportive settings - with good vibes, that adhere to the high standards required by our programme designers, managers and contracts. So please know that it isn't one of our goals to only work with charities, though we have a few that we champion! We don't accept requests for specific programme types/hosts, it isn't the intention of this programme to specifically/only work with charities.
But I want to work in a charity!
If you are very keen to work in an international development/charity setting, then good for you, thats very admirable!! It can be a great thing to do! We recommend you pursue that interest.
In such cases, we recommend that you apply through a different programme that specialises in this, you can find a list of potential programmes here. It is the norm for opportunities in that sector to charge volunteers into the thousands of pounds, accordingly these projects are usually associated with quite intensive fund-raising. When researching these roles, please be reasonably cautious that you are not engaging in unhelpful practices, such as orphanage tourism, explainer here (this is not to say that all orphanage work-experience is to be avoided, there are fantastic ones everywhere, but please be cautious as there have been some issues...) Additionally, please be respectful and avoid the many pitfalls that are rightly derided on this Instagram - "Saviour Barbie", please avoid at all costs getting caught up in saviourism. See this blog for some guidance.
What to do next!
For further reading/mulling, please read the volunteer pledge of an organisation we admire, linked here. It is great to read this in advance of travel, so that you join for the right reasons and truly engage in two-way cultural exchange - by respecting your new home on equal terms.
...And please be very serious about your TEFL/TESOL training, pre-reading, lesson-planning etc. It is important that you play as helpful a role as possible in classrooms around the world - so be trained as best as possible.
