Sustainable Development Goals
The Project
Don Bosco Technical School, Sihanoukville is requesting a Palms participant to provide:
- Basic English teaching for vocational students and young children enrolled in the oratory program
- Mentoring of the English teacher(s)
The Location
Sihanoukville [known as Kampong Som] province, a coastal village is located in the southwest of Cambodia. The city was named in honour of former king Norodom Sihanouk, and has a population of around 235,190 people.
In recent years, Sihanoukville has seen unprecedented levels of Chinese investment into the city with numerous casinos having opened up throughout the city. As of 2019, nearly 80,000 Chinese live in Sihanoukville, accounting for 90% of the city’s expat population.
The Challenge
- Rapid influx of a changing population and business investment
- Significant building and construction resulting in water shortages and electricity failure
- Cambodian families having to relocate from urban areas due to increasing cost of housing and living
- Increase in organised crime and alcohol fuelled violence
About You
Don Bosco Foundation Cambodia would like the Palms person to have:
- Qualification in teaching English (Primary or Secondary) and/or
- Qualification in TESOL
- Willingness to learn Khmer [local language]
- Adaptability, flexibility and patience
- Cultural sensitivity and openness to working in different cultural context
- Willingness to work with Palms Australia to engage their Australian community to support the placement
How You Will Help
First you must be willing to learn from the local community.
Over the first six months 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.
In the second six months you will be ready and better know which of your skills and what of your knowledge applies to:
- Developing and improving the English speaking and writing of students at Don Bosco Technical School
- Improving proficiency in, and capacity to teach English and,
- Strengthening teachers’ implementation of new methods of learning
Through skill exchange and support, staff directly mentored by the Australian teacher will use their new skills to continually develop their own classroom methods, which will improve teacher quality and student learning outcomes.
Note: The monthly living allowance enables you to live a modest local lifestyle. Based on the cost of living in a particular country, it covers food, your daily commute, communication and other local costs. It is not set to enable you to meet financial commitments at home, such as a mortgage or a personal loan. It will not cover the costs of eating out and other entertainment. Read more about what is covered in our FAQ.