Start date
August 3, 2026

End date
October 16, 2026

Duration
12 weeks

ELIGIBILITY: Must be at least 18 years of age. Must be a U.S. citizen.

Activity/project background

District Educational Institutions across Bogotá are public educational entities that serve secondary students (grades 6–11). These institutions are currently implementing national bilingualism strategies supported by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education encourages educators to ensure classroom practices focus on the consistent implementation of institutional pedagogical strategies to ensure effective application in daily teaching. Teachers can enhance students’ communicative competence by incorporating activities such as discussions, debates, and collaborative work, while also promoting active engagement through dynamic methodologies like problem-based learning and critical questioning. It is important to integrate practices that support performance in standardized assessments such as Saber 11, including exercises that develop analysis and interpretation skills. Additionally, teachers should strengthen inferential reading abilities by encouraging students to make interpretations and draw conclusions from texts, while fostering communicative skills across all grade levels. Continuous monitoring of student progress is essential to adjust instructional strategies according to their learning needs.

The bilingualism team has requested four Virtual Service Pilot Participants (VSPPs) with pedagogical experience and relevant knowledge to expand teachers’ opportunities to engage with English through the creation and co-facilitation of English conversation clubs and webinars. VSPPs will contribute with native-speaker accents, vocabulary, and speech patterns, as well as opportunities for intercultural exchange.

The VSPPs will support a 12 week professional development initiative by co designing and delivering weekly one hour webinars on pedagogical strategies and effective English teaching approaches, while also co facilitating weekly conversation clubs to help teachers strengthen their communicative skills in virtual settings. Their role includes creating and adapting engaging PowerPoint presentations that enhance instructional clarity and interactivity, as well as providing feedback on instructional design and presentation materials for both classroom and online use. Throughout the engagement, VSPPs will collaborate closely to monitor progress and identify emerging best practices.

Peace Corps Colombia currently does not place two-year Volunteers in Bogotá, and the small scale of this initiative makes it well-suited for virtual engagement. The organization has previously collaborated with the Peace Corps. They understand that the role of a VSPP is very different than a Peace Corps Volunteer or Peace Corps Response Volunteer.

Engagement and tasks

The VSPP will engage in the following tasks, in collaboration with their host country partners:

• Co-design and deliver weekly 1-hour webinars focused on pedagogical strategies and the effective use of English teaching approaches using platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams
• Co-facilitate weekly 1-hour English conversation clubs with teachers to strengthen communicative competence and confidence in virtual environments
• Design and adapt engaging PowerPoint presentations to support webinars and instructional sessions, ensuring clarity, interactivity, and pedagogical alignment
• Provide feedback and guidance on instructional design, including the creation and improvement of presentation materials for classroom and virtual use
• Collaborate to monitor progress and identify best practices throughout the 12-week engagement
  
  

VSPPs are expected to engage on the tasks listed above for an estimated 5–15 hours per week. This engagement is estimated to be 10 hours per week.

Online collaboration will generally occur after 5:00 p.m. Colombia time. Specific meeting times will be confirmed during the orientation process.

The host country counterpart will have access to Zoom, Google Meet, WhatsApp, and email for regular communication and collaboration.

Per the Child Protection Code of Conduct, when engaging online with minors (0–18), two adults must be present.

Optional Additional Activities

The Peace Corps mission is to promote world peace and friendship by fulfilling three goals:

• To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
• To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
• To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
  
  

Goal 1 will be achieved through the VSPP's engagement and completion of the above tasks. The counterpart and VSPP may also choose to identify an activity that aligns with Goal 2. Additionally, the VSPP may identify a Goal 3 activity to implement during their engagement. See recommendations and tools for Goal 3 activities.

Essential Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree in any field

Language: Intermediate Spanish

Experience:

• 1 year of TEFL/TESOL teaching for secondary school students in the U.S.A. or abroad
• Facilitating virtual learning sessions or online teaching environments
• Designing instructional materials and PowerPoint presentations for educational purposes
• Basic proficiency in digital tools for virtual collaboration, including Microsoft Teams and Zoom
  
  

Intercultural skills and motivation: Flexible, strong cross-cultural agility, high tolerance for ambiguity, able to work independently, resourceful, creative, and genuinely motivated and capable to serve virtually