Sustainable Development Goals
The Project
The English Teacher-Mentor volunteers at Maubisse Parish Catholic School play a key role in strengthening the quality of English language education within the Maubisse Parish. The roles focus on modelling effective, engaging, and student‑centred English teaching practices for local teachers, demonstrating approaches that build foundational communication skills while upholding the school’s Catholic ethos. Through sustained mentoring and classroom‑based support, the volunteers help develop the capacity of local teachers to independently deliver English lessons that align with the updated curriculum.
In addition to supporting pedagogical improvement, the role contributes to addressing the school’s current shortage of teachers, helping maintain continuity of learning and supporting a more stable teaching workforce. Teachers mentored through this role are better equipped to assist students who struggle with reading in any language, contributing to improved literacy outcomes.
Overall, the roles strengthen teacher capability, enhance student learning opportunities, and fosters a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment across pre‑secondary and secondary levels.
The Location
Timor-Leste is one of Australia’s nearest neighbours and the poorest country in our region but has much to offer in terms of beauty and adventure. Despite nearly 400 years of neglect during the Portuguese colonial period, Japanese invasion and Indonesia’s occupation from 1975 -2001, Timor Leste is now a new vibrant democracy enjoying its independence. Governance systems are being established and rebuilding of infrastructure destroyed by Indonesian backed militias in 1999 – 2000 is happening.
Maubisse Parish is situated in an historic town in the hills 70 km south of Dili, in Ainaro Municipality, Timor-Leste. It is a popular tourist destination and a weekend visiting spot for people from the capital.
The Challenge
Timor Leste is a young nation where 59 percent of the population is under 25 years of age. Among the many challenges facing the government are how to ensure all children receive an education from primary to high school. The Catholic schools—especially parish-run primary and secondary schools—provide access to education for children in remote villages where government schools are limited or under-resourced. The Parish School of Maubisse serves children from low-income and rural communities.
Despite reforms in Education, the sector still grapples with teacher shortages, the need for better training, and limited resources. English is taught as a key foreign language and recent changes prompted the need for a volunteer English Teacher-Mentor who could support the teachers in navigating the recent changes introduced by the Ministry of Education.
The Maubisse Parish has 3 pre-secondary and secondary school English teachers, but they need a mentor to be able to implement changes in the curriculum. Having an English teacher-mentor will also ensure the school will deliver Catholic education of quality.
About You
Palms participants for this placement will need to demonstrate the following qualifications, skills, and attributes:
- Formal training in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
- Native English speaker university graduate.
- Proficiency in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, other basic computer functions and ability to transfer this skill.
- Training expertise across design, delivery, implementation, and assessment.
- Experience teaching in low resource or multilingual classrooms
- Ability to design simple learning materials
- Familiarity with Timor-Leste’s education context
- Ability to work collaboratively within a team in community contexts
- A commitment to teamwork, coaching, and mentoring others
- Patience, adaptability and flexibility in responding to diverse challenges.
- Cultural sensitivity and openness to engaging within a different cultural context.
- The ability to cope with cultural isolation and different living standards
- Commitment to serve in Maubisse for 12 months working with limited resources and facilities
- Willingness to engage their Australian community in promoting the work of the host organisation and their role.
How You Will Help
First you must be willing to learn from the local community.
Over the first several weeks you are asked not to change anything or suggest a change to operations. During that six months you will take the time to learn language and cultural mores from a local counterpart willing to mentor you. You will also start a register of the strengths of the current personnel and the assets in the community/country that might be used to achieve the goals of the assignment.
You need to commit to clarifying why things are done the way they are rather than presuming from your own cultural lens to outline what is missing. So, you need to ask questions to enable you to learn from your hosts, rather than in ignorance make suggestions about how things can improve. Palms training will prepare you for this approach.
From then onward, your responsibilities are to:
- Strengthen Local Teacher Capacity
This role strengthens local teacher capacity by supporting teachers to plan simple and effective English lessons, sharing practical strategies suited to low‑resource classrooms, and co‑teaching while gradually handing over responsibilities to ensure growing confidence and independence.
- Develop Sustainable Teaching Resources/Methods
This role develops sustainable teaching resources and methods by creating simple, reusable materials such as flashcards, worksheets, and reading texts; training local teachers to adapt and produce their own resources; and organising materials so they remain accessible and usable long after the volunteer’s departure.
3.Mentor teachers in encouraging participation from shy or struggling students by demonstrating how to use games, songs, role‑plays, and group work.
- Support Literacy Development Across Languages
This role supports literacy development across languages by helping teachers understand how Tetun and Portuguese literacy underpin English learning, sharing practical techniques for teaching reading and writing to students with low literacy, and encouraging multilingual approaches that value and build on students’ existing language strengths. The volunteer also mentors teachers in encouraging participation from shy or struggling students by demonstrating how to use games, songs, role plays, and group work
- Ensure Long‑Term Sustainability
This role ensures long‑term sustainability by gradually transitioning from leading to supporting and then observing, identifying and preparing a local counterpart to take over English activities, and documenting lesson plans, resources, routines, and evidence of change including stories and outcomes from trained facilitators and participants to maintain continuity and strengthen ongoing practice.