Teach at our school in Rio de Janeiro

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The Escola Casa do Mar (ECDM) hosts 10-15 volunteer English teachers at houses in Santa Teresa and Vidigal, teaching 120 students, free of charge, at 4 sites across the city.

Please read the full program description here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PvaA07wlfPokQf6zOpDD6YLWCXMk3JW1OOl1xR3_T4Y/edit?usp=sharing

You will make a meaningful contribution in three low-income favelas, and appreciate the great sense of community. "Tamo Junto!"

Sharing a beautiful house with a dozen of your fellow volunteers, you’ll live in community, united in a shared mission, and eager to enjoy the beach, go out to dance, and embrace life in Rio.
Live at our charming villa in Santa Teresa, Rio's bohemian, hilltop neighbourhood. Or live inside Vidigal, Rio’s safest favela, at Casa do Mar, a glass-fronted house opening out directory onto the rainforest, and uninterrupted ocean views.

This is truly a volunteering experience, as opposed to a working experience, with plenty of time to explore the city and shift into vacation-mode. You will not be expected to do any class prep or admin work outside of class hours. We employ two long-term teachers (including a now-fluent former student), who know all our students well, providing much needed continuity to our classes. By teaching in our classes, you allow us to bring down student:teacher ratios (1:3 is our goal), speeding up our students' progress by making the lesson more student-focused. While there is no pressure to design classes yourself, we greatly value the ideas that come from the 10-15 volunteers who stay with us each month from all over the world, and we are always excited to improve our curriculum. Our classes are 100% free for all favela residents.

Outside of the school, we have wine & cheese nights, churrascos, movie nights on the outdoor projector, weekly trips into nature (Parque Nacional do Tijuca; surfing at the beach; hikes, and much more), alongside trips to the opera, samba and baile funks (favela parties). Everyone is invited to everything, there are no cliques. And just being you is enough.
An important component to our Teaching Director’s job is to determine how each volunteer can be best used in the classroom, depending on their language proficiency and teaching experience. She also plays an important mentorship role, facilitating conversations between volunteers after class as they discuss what went well and what could be improved for next time. Many of our volunteers have extensive experience working or volunteering in theatre, art, music, and sport. But others have never before taught in a formal setting.