Volunteering myths and misconceptions

If you are thinking of doing some volunteer TEFL teaching, you will undoubtedly be confronted with many myths and misconceptions trying to pass themselves off as facts: just ignore them. Here are six of these myths and misconceptions that you should definitely ignore.

1. Volunteer TEFL teachers are sent to the most dangerous parts of the world because paid TEFL teachers refuse to work in such countries. Which countries are safe and which are dangerous is a moot point. However most volunteer TEFL teachers are sent to so-called Third World countries. At the same time, there are many TEFL teachers in paid jobs in these countries as well.
2. Volunteer TEFL teachers are exploited. TEFL teachers who work for voluntary organisations know that they will not be paid a competitive salary. Ordinarily, they are given an allowance to meet the cost of their everyday expenses, e.g., food and transport. They are not exploited because they know from the beginning that they will not be receiving a salary.
3. Volunteer TEFL teachers are inferior to their paid counterparts. A lot of TEFL-qualified teachers who are currently in gainful employment have, at some time or other, done voluntary TEFL work. It is not correct to assume that volunteer TEFL teachers are in any way inferior to those who are in gainful employment.
4. Volunteer TEFL teachers are expected to pay for all their entertainment and travel costs. If this were true, there would be very few volunteer TEFL teachers. A voluntary organization will usually not only pay for the EFL teacher’s flight tickets to and from the host country, but will also provide medical insurance and an allowance for daily expenditures. Free or substantially subsidised accommodation is also provided.
5. Volunteer TEFL teachers have no choice with regards to the countries they are sent to work in. If TEFL teachers are not happy to work in a certain country, they do not have to work there. They can always search for another voluntary organization that does voluntary work in the country of their choice.
6. Volunteer TEFL teachers take jobs away from communities. Some people believe that instead of providing volunteer TEFL teachers, it would be better to fund overseas NGOs so that they can train their own people to teach English as a foreign languagae. This may be appropriate in other areas of education (a moot point), but it will take many years to train a community member to speak English, as well as be able to teach English as a foreign language.

Read more: 7 Alternative Places To Volunteer Teach English As A Foreign Language