This Saturday 5th October is World Teachers’ Day and here at Lattitude HQ we would like to take the opportunity to thank all of our teaching volunteers, past and present, for all their wonderful hard work over the years!
For many of our volunteers, their teaching experience with Lattitude is merely the beginning of their teaching careers. Some people begin a teaching placement specifically with a teaching career in mind, while others simply want to help out those in need and end up falling in love with the profession along the way.
One such returned volunteer is Chantel Thomson, who worked as a teacher in Vanuatu with Lattitude back in 2010. Although Chantel is now set on becoming a teacher – with a Masters in Comparative Education and some valuable primary school support teaching work experience under her belt – this was not always the case. When asked whether her time volunteering with Lattitude helped her to get to where she is now, her response was unequivocal: “Without a doubt! For one I would not be following the career path that I am now on, and that would be a shame, because I love it.”
Not only can a stint volunteering as a teacher abroad help you to identify teaching as a future career path, it can also help you make sure you get there. Chantel explains: “since returning from my placement, with a renewed confidence and acceptance of myself, I was able to get every job interview that I went for.”
But what about those returned volunteers who decide they don’t want to pursue a career in teaching? Although many people do go on to become teachers, there are many returned Lattitude volunteers who follow other paths. Due to the varied and versatile role of teachers, there are many skills that can be applied to other jobs. Think back to your teachers at school. What with teaching, lesson planning, marking, after school clubs, parent/teacher meetings and general counseling of any issues that a child might have, it is amazing that they even managed to even have a life outside of the school gates. So all of these skills and responsibilities that you experience as a teacher can serve you well in a host of different careers.
Returned Lattitude teacher, Rakesh, is living proof of how some teaching experience can go a long way in the business world. Now working in Property Investment for Henderson Global Investors, Rakesh is certain that his experience of teaching maths and PE in Malawi in 2012 has helped him to get to where he wanted to be. He explains, “Having a volunteering placement on my CV is looked upon favourably in job interviews and is also a great talking point. The experience 100% helped me to get to the position I am in now and has helped me to grow as a person (as much of a cliché as that is).”
If you are thinking about volunteering or are considering a career in teaching, click here for more information about our voluntary teaching projects around the world.
