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Teaching English with American Volunteers. The Kosciuszko Foundation TEIP Program
In Search of the New: American Volunteers’ Opinions About Their Participation in the Teaching English in Poland (TEIP) Program IWONA NOWAKOWSKA
Maria Grzegorzewska University ORCID: 0000-0001-7701-5612 insd2@aps.edu.pl
Abstract The Teaching English in Poland (TEIP) program relies on summer camps during which native English speakers, American volunteers, teach Polish children and adolescents using the language immersion method – during everyday activities, sports and art classes, and similar occasions. A vital aspect of the evaluation of the program is researching its impact on the young people; however, the opinions of the volunteers regarding their participation and engagement in the program are equally important. The paper aims to recognize the value of the volunteers’ opinions about what made them decide to take part in the program, about the positive and negative aspects of their engagement as well as what benefits and costs connected to participation in the program they notice. The first part outlines the theoretical aspects of volunteer engagement among adults, of which the most important aspect from the perspective of the TEIP is the process of volunteer engagement and the motivations for volunteering. Part two presents the results of a short opinion survey conducted among the TEIP volunteers, along with an interpretation of the results. The summary focuses on the meaning of the study results and the limitations of the described research.
Keywords: leisure time teaching foreign languages teachers volunteering Home
