Elementary English Education Curriculum & Materials Design Specialist - Volunteer Position - Onsite in Costa Rica

Duration

10 months

Project description

The Costa Rican Ministry of Public Education has requested the support of a Peace Corps Response Volunteer (PCRV) to serve as an Elementary English Education Curriculum and

Materials Design Specialist. The Volunteer will be supporting the implementation of the current English curriculum reform through material design and curriculum development for public secondary schools. The new English curriculum was launched because Costa Rican students needed an updated learning model that reflected the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to succeed as a citizen in the 21st Century. Students were not reaching the expected English proficiency level after eleven or twelve years of instruction. As a result, MEP (alongside PCVs/PCRVs) developed an updated English curriculum that focused on using an action-oriented approach/communicative approach to language learning. In 2016, a cohort of Response Volunteers spearheaded this initiative by collaborating with MEP officials.

The Volunteer will coordinate with the small groups of 3-10 PCVs and Costa Rican English teachers that will be working with national English advisors. First, the Volunteers will assist in the creation of supplementary materials and develop resources including audio, videos, teacher tool kits, student resource kits and dialogue scripts. Secondly, the Volunteers will support a variety of curriculum development initiatives through document revision and provide additional support to the national English advisors as they create a science curriculum for bilingual elementary schools. The goal of this assignment is to continue to strengthen and further the implementation of the curriculum throughout Costa Rican elementary public schools.

Candidates selected for this position will be arriving in Costa Rica together as a group, so while the departure dates for the whole group could change, dates cannot be changed for individual candidates.

Required Skills

• Master’s degree in education - preferably related to EFL, curriculum design and/or bilingual education.
• Research experience skills in the field of education for speakers of another language.
• More than 5 years of public-school teaching experience in the field of language learning.
• Experience in designing or collaborating on primary school curricula for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners.
• Intermediate Spanish. Main counterparts can communicate proficiently in English, but Spanish will be needed to communicate with other staff who are not English professionals as well as for daily life interactions (getting to work, buying groceries, developing local relationships, etc.).
• Proactive, solution-oriented approach to professionalism. Be able to work well with tight timelines and little supervision. Teamwork, flexibility and collaboration are key soft skills for this position.
• Ability and willingness to work independently and in both virtual and face-to-face environments.
• Intermediate skills using virtual platforms like Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
• Willingness to approach the position through the Peace Corps’ philosophy on development.
• High tolerance for ambiguity and high level of flexibility
  
  

Living conditions

Learn more about the Volunteer experience in Costa Rica: Get detailed information on culture, communications, housing, and health/crime statistics in order to make a well-informed decision about serving.

Medical considerations

Before you apply, please review medical clearance and legal clearance to learn about the process.