Becoming a Volunteer ESOL Tutor

We invite applications as a volunteer ESOL tutor on an ongoing basis and from anyone who has good communication skills, at least upper intermediate level of spoken and written English, and who is committed to helping asylum seekers, refugees and isolated members of the resident minority ethnic communities gain confidence and improve their ability to participate in everyday life in Glasgow through improving their written and spoken English skills.

No previous teaching experience is required as we provide full training, it is more important that you are an empathetic and reliable person who is able to give 1-3 hours per week to support an ESOL class in the community or meet with an individual learner. We aim to provide a sense of stability for often vulnerable learners which is why we ask for a minimum commitment of 6 months after completion of training. Ideally though, you should be available for about a year.

You should be generally prepared for some amount of travelling to the locality of your learner. Most asylum seekers and refugees are housed in the outskirts of Glasgow so that only few placements are available in the city centre. Often, learners will stay in the north of Glasgow, in Pollokshaws, Knightswood, Toryglen, Govan, or Pollok. You should also be happy to be placed either as a classroom assistant in a community based ESOL class or as a one-to-one tutor. Some placements involve home visits and although we do not expect every tutor to be happy to undertake home visits, we do need tutors who would be happy to do so.

We are particularly looking for prospective tutors who have some weekday daytime availability for tutoring, as well as for tutors who themselves have settled in Glasgow (asylum seekers, refugees, members of the ethnic minority population). However, everyone is welcome to apply!

How to apply

If you wish to apply, please read through the information leaflet, have a look at the training course outline, and then complete the application form, equal opportunities monitoring form, and send both, together with your CV, to the Volunteer Tutor Project Co-ordinator.

If you are a CELTA or Trinity TESOL qualified tutor, or are currently studying towards this qualification, or if you have an English teaching qualification from abroad, you can apply for the fast track training course. Course outline, application form and equal opportunities form for this course can also be downloaded.

Please send your completed forms and CV to Deborah Boekestein, Project Co-ordinator, Glasgow ESOL Forum, Applejak Studios, Room 300, 113 St. George's Road, Glasgow G3 6JA, deborah@glasgowesol.co.uk

What happens next

Once we've received your application, we will acknowledge receipt. We will then invite you to an open evening where you will have a chance to find out more about the project, speak to volunteer tutors, the trainers who will be running the training course, and the project co-ordinator. After this open evening, 20 applicants will be offered a place on our next training course. After the training course, we will help you find a suitable placement with a learner or a class. You will have access resources in the form of a well stocked teaching resource library, to regular workshops for volunteer tutors, regular newsletters, an online forum, and, of course, to advice and support from the project co-ordinator.