Volunteer Educator

We are looking for young migrant or refugees (18-30 years old) who would like to share their knowledge, skill, story or culture with local communities by delivering workshops or talks.

Start the supervised online course within the RAISE program in 2023, get connected to your VE-Trainer and create your own workshop! We will get back to you as soon as you applied for the course by sharing some information about yourself, background and ideas for the workshop in this application form.

The key benefits:

  • Improve your presentation skills
  • Learn how to build, structure and deliver your own workshop
  • Receive the Youthpass and Certificates
  • Share your knowledge with others
  • Become a part of the EU-wide Volunteer Educators Community
  • Get individual support from a certified and qualified trainer
  • Build your own network across cultures and with similar interests
  • Upskill in what you are passionate about
  • Improve your English

Your activities as a Volunteer Educator include:

  1. Take our online questionnaire to help us tailor our online course to respond to your aspirations and needs
  2. Take the e-course on your own time, and your trainer will be there to assist if you experience any blockers. 
  3. Your time investment is estimated at 40 hours of learning (depending on your customised learning plan), reflecting with your trainer and co-working in groups.
  4. Deliver your own workshop with the support of the e-VELP team and your trainer!
Apply now

What? Why? When? How? Who?

Transparency is key before taking up a new educational journey. Thus, we collected all the answers for you in one place. Scroll down to find all the information you need about the role of a Volunteer Educator (VE), the benefits and the level of commitment!

 

What does the course contain and how is it structured?

Please have a look at this course plan example to get an idea about our recommendet learning structure: https://evelp.teachsurfing.org/ve-course-overview/

You will learn within 5 chapters

  • how to put together your workshop proposal
  • how to develop your pedagogical skills
  • how to enhance your communication and intercultural skills
  • how to develop your marketing and networking skills
  • how to create the perfect workshop content

In each chapter you will do quizzes and submit assignments.

  • about workshop methods and how to structure a workshop
  • how to plan and execute your workshop
I am interested in delivering a workshop on a specific theme. How and where will I do that?

Please check out the “Journey-Grafic” on the top of this page.

For participating within the RAISE program to get an individual learning plan and a special guidance with the option to travel to Romania: Please fill in this Google Form and we will get back to you asap. It is great if you already know your workshop topic. In that case you don’t need to identify your existing skills, knowledge & attitudes, you can start learning

What are the criteria to become a Volunteer Educator (VE) within the RAISE program in 2023?

To become a Volunteer Educator (VE) you need to be a migrant, refugee or asylum-seeker, 18-35 years old and residing in an EU country. You should have an average level in reading, writing and comprehending English in order to take the e-VELP course and prepare your own workshop. Of course, it’s an important bonus if you are personally motivated to improve your skills, become a part of a bigger EU network of VEs, and share your passion with others.

Volunteer Educators (VEs) will deliver workshops to members of the host community or members of their ethnic community, or ideally, both! Of course, in order to be able to offer workshops to the host community, VEs should have good knowledge of the local language or be fluent in English. Basically, as a VE, you can prepare a workshop on anything that you are good at, and we will be there to support you! For example, you can give a workshop on how to write poetry, learn how to draw or how to play chess. However, if it’s a workshop that requires deep knowledge on the subject by the VE, we would prefer that you have studied or worked in that field before.

Will I get any support during the course?

As a Volunteer Educator (VE) you will be supported by one Volunteer Educator-Trainer (VE-T) who will help you materialise your best workshop idea.

What are my responsibilities as a Volunteer Educator (VE) within the RAISE program 2023?

To become a Volunteer Educator (VE), you need to take an online course – the e-VELP course – that has a duration of about 40 hours. Additionally, you will be provided support by a Volunteer Educator-Trainer (VE-T) to guide you on how to create and facilitate workshops. By the end of this process, you will be able to deliver a high-quality workshop and live the experience of being an educator for others.

At the moment, we are building an Artificial Intelligence Coaching Tool that will make this course as tailored to you as possible. Therefore, before starting to take the course, you will fill in a short questionnaire to receive your customised learning programme.

    • After taking the course (approx. 40 hours) you will be asked to review the e-course elements that you skipped at first based on the suggestion of the AI tool. After doing so, we will have a short talk to tell us what you think about the AI tool. The review and feedback phase will take approx. 4 hours.
    • When you complete the course, you will be able to deliver your own workshop and get the Vilnius University certification.
  • Optional: Some Volunteer Educators (VEs) will have the chance to join a professional, four-day training in Romania in May 2023, where they can provide their workshop to an international audience, alongside other VEs from across Europe.

What’s the point of the Artificial Intelligence Coaching Tool?

The AI coaching tool will customise the course content based on your individual experience and needs. Before starting the course, you will complete a short questionnaire that the tool can estimate which chapters of the course will be relevant to you and which can be skipped. This tool helps you save time and energy.

Do I need to test the course as a Volunteer Educator (VE)?

No, this course has been public for the past year, and has already been tested and approved. What we want from you is to tell us what you think about the AI coaching tool that we added on the e-course.

Can I take the e-VELP course whenever I want?

As part of the RAISE program, you need to take the course in  2023. To complete the course which also includes giving feedback on the AI tool and hosting a workshop will need a time commitment of approx. 45-60 hours based on your individual pace in the range of two months.

Without the RAISE program you can start and finish the course whenever you want and in your individual pace. We recommend a maximum period of 2 month to have a quality workshop as a result. However, if something blocks you in between you can proceed later anytime.

Will I have to redo the e-course after the testing phase of the AI tool?

No. You will only need to take the classes as suggested by the AI tool, and then invest about 4 more hours to explore the rest of the content of the course to tell us whether you think you missed something important. You could also work through the skipped chapters if you like.

How many hours do I need to invest on average?

For the course we estimate you’ll need about 40-60 hours and a maximum of 5 hours helping us test and improve the AI coaching tool.

  • Do the questionnaire to receive your individual custom learning plan
  • Read and reflect the course content
  • Taking quizzes
  • Doing assignments
  • Co-working with your VE-Trainer
  • Hosting the workshop
  • Review the skipped chapters and join feedback session for the RAISE tool

depending on your individual level and pace.

Do I need to be an expert on a specific topic to participate as a Volunteer Educator (VE)?

No. We believe that each of us has something to share no matter if you learned it from university or if life taught you it. In the beginning of the course, you will learn how to assess your skills and define your workshop topic.

When (approximately) will the workshops be delivered?

It depends on when you can start and how fast you complete the course and find a host organisation where you can offer the workshop. We estimate a period of 2 months between starting the course and delivering the workshop. The workshops within the RAISE program should be delivered in the first half of 2023. Some workshops can be delivered in the live training in Romania in May 2023.

I don’t have a permanent residence in Cyprus, Germany, Romania or Italy. How can I still participate?

You can still take the e-VELP course in general and within the RAISE program to receive your individual learning plan and special guidance. To complete the course by delivering your workshop you will learn how to promote your workshop to host organisations across Europe to finally host it to an audience (either online or face-to-face). You could also join the live training in Romania but you would need to bear the travel costs on your own.

Will I deliver the workshop online or face-to-face?

If you are located in a city with organisations whose communities match your target group, we are sure you will find organisations that will be glad to host your workshop. During the VE course, you will prepare all the promotional material and be able to identify and communicate with potential host organisations. If there is no target audience in the place you are located, you can also find your right audience online. The e-VELP team can be there to help you connect to the right organisation.

Can I take the online course from my mobile device?

Yes, but for some activities, like preparing the workshop content or writing a workshop proposal it will be necessary to have access to a desktop computer. If you don’t have access, please contact the e-VELP team so we can connect you to organisations that might help you out on this.

Do you have examples of former workshops and participants?

Yes of course! Please check out these pages and channels: