Habibi Center considers 3 main aspects when accepting volunteers:
Professionalism
The Habibi Center has a minimum age requirement of 22. Our students are between 13 and 19 years old so, for this reason, we feel the need for our volunteers to be mature enough and to present themselves in a professional way. Even with adult students, romantic relationships between volunteers and students are absolutely prohibited.
The project takes volunteering very seriously since it deals with minors – many of them being unaccompanied, which might increase their vulnerability even more. Therefore, we expect open-minded volunteers able to respect and accept any cultural differences with the youth. Moreover, volunteers should be flexible and handle different sorts of attitudes – distraction in class, detached behavior towards both teacher and classmates, unpunctuality –, which might be linked to students' traumatic development. Finally, due to the age and situation of vulnerability and instability of the youth, Habibi Center does not allow volunteers to freely take and/or publish photographs with the students.
The Habibi Center is a Smoking, Drug, and Alcohol-Free zone. It is also unacceptable for our volunteers to present themselves to classes with a hang-over nor to cancel classes due to a late night out. Furthermore, we ask volunteers to refrain from discussing their private life with the students (specifically: romantic and sexual life or subjects related to the consumption of alcohol, drugs or smoking). As mentioned above, many of our students are unaccompanied minors, therefore we play a big role in their personal development. Therefore, we have the responsibility to be good role models.
Minimum of 8-week commitment
Through our years of experience, we have realized that short stays do not favor any of the parts involved in the center. The first and most important aspect we need to consider is the care of the emotional health of the students. Many students do not usually process adequately the idea of meeting someone new, building a close relationship within a few days, and then losing that daily contact abruptly. The second aspect is that it's not easy for the permanent teachers to have to deal with the emotional sadness of the students after any, both short and long-term, volunteers' departure. We ask for volunteers to commit to a minimum of 8 weeks.
English teaching skills
The hunger of students for learning has increasingly become more and more demanding since the start of the center. This is excellent news but it also implies that the teachers must be ready to face the high expectation the students have. For that reason, we give priority to volunteers with teaching experience in the English language.
What will you be doing?
You will definitely be teaching different English levels!
Don't worry though, we have all the materials and with a little preparation and guidance, soon enough you will be teaching on your own.
At the Habibi Center, we teach a variety of levels, ranging from Literacy (Phonics) up to Upper-Intermediate.
Level 0: Phonics / Literacy
- This class is for illiterate students. In this class, we teach 1-4 students how to read and write.
- This class is very hands-on and involves a lot of repetition.
Level 1: This class is for beginners.
- In this class, the teacher follows the first book from our set of teaching books.
- The students learn things like the verb 'to be', the verb 'to have, possessive pronouns and adjectives as well as other basic grammar and vocabulary. Flashcards, exercise worksheets and practice book copies are already prepared and readily available for the teacher to use.
Level 2: This class is for pre-intermediate students.
- In this class, the teacher follows the second book from our set of teaching books.
- The students learn the Past - regular and irregular verbs -, Future, and Present Perfect Tenses as well as further vocabulary.
- Flashcards, exercise worksheets and practice book copies are already prepared and readily available for the teacher to use.
Level 3: This class is for intermediate students.
- This level focuses on higher grammar, reading and comprehension, and listening activities.
- Exercise worksheets, and practice book copies are already prepared and readily available for the teacher to use.
- There are also some reading/writing and listening activities available.
Level 4: This class is for upper intermediate students or students who have passed the PET exam with B1.
