ESC volunteering project in democratic school CoLibri

As we accept new volunteers on January and in June, Interviews are held usually till March (for arrival in June) and till October (for arrival in January).The volunteer will stay for twelve months.

Being part of our community, you will have the chance to:

– Get to know the life in free democratic school and participate on the creating alternative towards the classical educational model
– Participate in different educational workshops for our guides (teachers), teambuilding, summer camps for children, meetings with the Association of the free and democratic schools in Czech Republic, visiting in other free democratic schools in the country etc.
– Spend weekends with families and children attending the school and thus become closely acquainted with the community.

We are a democratic school where children are fully responsible for what they are learning and how. There is no curriculum or scheduled lessons. Children are free to play and follow their inner voice, their passions, goals and aspirations. Staff members act as facilitators, to help children achieve their goals. The school meeting makes all the decisions related to an everyday running of the school. The volunteer will become a staff memeber, who, as a non-Czech speaker, can encourage the motivation of children to learn English and other languages. S/he will most of the time be with children, help them fulfill their goals, whether it means to read a book or help them build a wooden shed. S/he will be prompted to organize workshops, hobby club, etc. based on her/his interests and expertise. They can help with organizing events for the children. They will help us with setting up processes and procedures, and will bring in their uniqueness and enthusiasm.

Profil recherché

What we look for:
We look for an enthusiastic person who enjoys being with children and shares their interests with them. (It would be wonderful if our children could spend a year with someone who has actually experienced the democratic school and lives it naturally. But it is not a condition for acceptance.)
The volunteer is expected to mostly speak English (and other foreign languages) to the children as well as adults, the main purpose of the project is to create an environment where other languages, cultures and characters are present to experience the differences as a natural part of life.
That means, volunteers are supposed to be present at school during the morning programs, including expeditions, as well as during the afternoon programs. They are asked to volunteer for the school six hours every working day, usually from 9:00 till 15:00.
Their activity should come from what each of the volunteers personally likes or masters doing. They can prepare their own demos and projects (games, treasure hunts, presentations, cooking
activities, sport…), help with preparing learning aids and tools, take part in expeditions and so on. Enough time will be granted for preparation of any activities (within the 6 working hours) as well as maximal support from the teaching staff. Volunteers are also invited to join activities with kids as they feel like, try the learning aids by themselves or just watch what is going on in the classroom and make notes. Their feedback might be very valuable for the busy guides.
Regular meetings will be held once a week with the teaching team to discuss possible procedural, conceptual or other issues related to the running of the school. The team works on holacracy which provides a flat management structure that distributes authority and power.