Internships
New Call for Applications!
Students, graduates and alumnae/alumni from all subjects of the University of Education Karlsruhe can now apply for an internship in the decolonial project “Bi-directional tandem-teaching and learning” for autumn 2025/2026 (October to January) by 1st December. (Late applications will be considered until 15 December.)
Students (with a teaching or education background) from other universities can also apply and will be considered for vacant places.
We have 4-6 places on offer for the next Team XIV. Interviews will be held before the end of the year (all applicants are interviewed). Places not filled will be (re-) advertised in April 2025.
Our partner school and colleges in the capital Vientiane are:
Sunshine School (2 places)
Vocational Education Development Institute (2 places)
Lao-German Technical College (probably 2 places, to be confirmed)
Length of Internship
Autumn: October 2025 to January/Feb/March/April 2025, depending on your wishes or needs (3,5 months is the regular duration)
Tandem-work is conducted in the subject of English. Sometimes you may also be invited to tandem-work in other subjects if your other qualifications and the partners’ other interests overlap.
Find further information on our cooperation partners in Vientiane and reports by previous volunteers on this blog, or enter the name of the institution in the search window, or select the tag from the “Tag list” or use the tab “Partners” or look at these presentations by former volunteers:
Living_Working_in_Laos_Sunshine_School
Please note: There is no automatic “match” between your study degree and the partner institution. In fact, most of our volunteers so far have been students enrolled in the primary teaching degree, and applicants-turned-volunteers from other universities have come from different educational backgrounds. We will find out with you in the interview what a good match for you could be if you qualify, so if you do not know which institution to opt for, just enter “any” and then we will find the right one together with you.
Application form and general information for PH students:
https://www.ph-karlsruhe.de/studierende/dashboard/bewerbung-fuer-ein-auslandspraktikum
Application by external students, graduates, or alumnae/alumni:
Send your personal letter of motivation (not a Chat GTP one) and C.V. to Isabel.Martin@ph-karlsruhe.de and Paulina.Banaszek@vw.ph-karlsruhe.de by 1 December (15 December at the latest).
Q&A
The following PH staff and volunteers of Team XII and Team XI.5 are available for your questions if you need assistance to decide on your application or potential partner institution. However, there is no need to decide on a particular school at this stage.
International Office: Paulina.Banaszek@vw.ph-karlsruhe.de
English Department: Isabel.Martin@ph-karlsruhe.de
Sunshine School: marie.pogerth@gmx.de, leona.kemmer@gmx.de
VEDI: antonia.eiser@stud.ph-karlsruhe.de, patricia.fromkorth@stud.ph-karlsruhe.de
LGTC: christian.tabler@stud.ph-karlsruhe.de, alexa.uenal@stud.ph-karlsruhe.de
Financing: In order to cover the cost of the flights, PH Karlsruhe students can apply for a scholarship (“PROMOS Reisekostenzuschuss” or DAAD “Lehramt.International”), or apply to the International Office for a travel grant. For more detailed information please contact the International Office. Living costs on-site are mostly largely covered by the Lao partners (accommodation, VISA, lunch, sometimes bicycles and WIFI.). Details will be explained once we have a new Team XIV and start preparing.
This aside, living costs in Laos are quite low by comparison with other programmes or countries, and what distinguishes our programme from others is the individual mentoring you will receive all the way through: everyone helps with absolutely everything you need, and your partners will look after you like family.
Qualifications:
Minimum: B.A. degree (or finishing it soon)
ISP (Integrated Semester Practicum) experience is an advantage, but not a necessary condition for your application if you have gained teaching expertise in other fields, e.g. as an English tutor for pupils, sports coach for children or teacher of German or another language for immigrants.
As secondary students at PHKA take classes in didactics only in their Master Degree (unlike PHKA primary students), it would be advisable for you to apply once you have gained more experience in and knowledge about teaching unless you have other teaching experience.
Quite a few volunteers do this internship after finishing their Master Degree and before starting their “Referendariat”, as this is a pleasant way to bridge the gap and avoid winter in Germany.
It helps to have visited Prof. Martin’s seminar “Global English(es), Global TEFL & Global Citizenship Education” for first orientation in teaching internationally, interculturally, and decolonially, but again, this is not a necessary condition.
Health:
You should have a robust health and stomach.
Credit: EuLA students can receive credit for their stay at our schools/colleges/partner-universities, e.g. for the BFP (“Berufsfeldbezogenes Praktikum”). For detailed information please visit Dr. Steffen Wagner of the University of Education Karlsruhe in his office hour and submit the necessary forms before departure.
Student research/ Bachelor and Master theses within this project:
Research results are published on the blog in the “Language Education and Global Citizenship” and Decolonise your Mind series and also under “Research” (“Full-texts“). Many volunteers write course papers or theses in this project, and quite a few write more blog posts about their experiences and (un-)learning than required.
Immigration: There is an official immigration protocol which must be observed and takes a few months of preparation. Details are outlined in the interviews. For this, we have the continued support of both the Lao Embassy in Berlin and the German Embassy in Laos.
General information
Visit the websites of the Auswaertiges Amt and the German Embassy in Vientiane or the English newspaper Vientiane Times.
Interns need to register for their stay in Laos within the Elefand System (Elektronische Erfassung von Deutschen im Ausland), as requested by the German Federal Foreign Office.
We look forward to receiving your applications or hearing from you about your questions!
Prof. Dr. Isabel Martin (English Department)
Paulina Banaszek (International Office)
Lao partners Sunshine school, VEDI & (to be confirmed) LGTC
November 2024
Text by I. Martin
Poster by S. Hadatsch & S. Bieger
Photos & collage by S.M. Bilger (Team X)
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