ThaiNGO

Thrival Academies Program Leader- Thai Applicants Only

at Rustic Pathways

Please apply at:  http://jobs.rusticpathways.com/apply/KHWoHBA8xV/Thrival-Program-Leader-Thai

Rustic Pathways is a student travel organization which offers the world's finest experiential education, community service, foreign language, and adventure programs. We provide superior quality travel and service in some of the most welcoming countries around the world. Rustic Pathways demands professionalism and integrity across all of our operations, insists on quality in all aspects of our programs, and places strong emphasis on the safety and well-being of our students and staff. We empower students through innovative and responsible travel experiences to positively impact lives and communities around the world.

Thrival Academies is an emerging network of study abroad public high schools providing students from underserved communities access to education overseas. The program is grounded in personalized learning and immersive education through project-based learning, homestays, and community exchanges. Thrival Academies believes that international education is central to what it means to be an educated person in the 21st century and strives to make it accessible to all students in America, regardless of race or class.

History of Thrival Academy: Oakland and Thrival Academy: Indianapolis

Currently, there is a Thrival Academy in Oakland and one in Indianapolis, which is new this year. During the 2016-2017 school year, Thrival Academy: Oakland traveled to Thailand for three months. Rustic Pathways is the implementation partner for the Thrival Academy programs. Rustic Pathways plans and implements experiential education activities in the USA before students travel to Thailand as well as during the entirety of the 3.5-month experience in Southeast Asia. This includes all of the students’ food and accommodations, travel logistics, risk management and emergency response, as well as community-based excursions focused on specific issues which form the basis of the Thrival academic curriculum.

During the 2017-2018 school year, there will be 20 students from Oakland and 20 students from Indianapolis in Thailand at the same time.

About the Program Leader Position

We are looking to hire a team of qualified program leaders to set-up and implement the Thrival Academy:Oakland and Thrival Academy:Indy programs on the ground in Thailand. The ideal candidate is excited about this unique and demanding position.They connect well with Thrival students. They are ready to help students learn deeply from community-based exchanges. They are professional and service-minded when dealing with clients/Thrival teachers. They are very organized and can track a budget and manage logistics with little oversight.

The commitment and responsibilities for this position are as follows:

October, November, December 2017

• Be trained on Thrival’s approach to education in order to understand the purpose behind the experiences you will be setting up and delivering.
• Name the competencies you will need to develop in order to support students and manage this program. Create a plan to develop them alongside Rustic Pathways’ Thrival Program Coordinator. This includes training in cultural competency and preparation to work with diverse groups.
• Take part in a staff training alongside the other Rustic program leaders as well as Thrival staff.
• Become trained on Rustic Pathways approach to safety and risk management. Learn how we vet our vendors and community partners.
• Lead Groups programs with Rustic Pathways in Thailand or other locations in Southeast Asia to become acquainted with the company, it’s mission, staff, systems, and processes.
• Assist in setting up experiential learning activities such as homestays and exchanges with community members. This will include communicating with communities we have worked with before as well as with new communities. Communities need to understand what it is that the students will be studying when they visit and how students will learn about that issue from the community. The community should have an active role in shaping the experience. It is important for communities to understand Rustic Pathways’ safety vetting process as well. You will visit and stay in these communities in person in order to build relationships.
• Be trained to manage logistics and budget in accordance with Rustic Pathways Thai team and internal systems.
• Work with Program Coordinator to build out schedules for the entire semester from January to April.
• Work with Program Coordinator to contract additional Thai translators if necessary and manage any preparation work associated with students’ Thai language course depending on client’s needs.

January through April 2018

• Orient Thrival teachers and students to the program, the base, and the culture.
• Act as a mentor to students each and every day.
• Help students understand the issues they are learning about through connections to your experiences and the experiences of community members.
• Keep students safe and respond to emergencies
• Oversee the students’ extra-curricular activities or free time
• Translate or coordinate Thai translators when necessary
• Coordinate Thai language curriculum with outside teacher depending on client’s needs
• Support all community exchanges and homestays
• Safety vetting
• Planning schedule
• Booking logistics
• Creating budgets
• Preparing homestay families and community members with whom students will have exchanges
• Rooming arrangements
• Checking-in with students during homestays
• Supporting students during their exchanges and homestays
• Manage the budget by documenting costs
• Manage travel logistics like bookings for vans, flights, hotels
• Supervise students after school, evenings, and weekends

Job Qualifications

• Professional Experience
• Experience leading culturally responsible, experiential student travel, or other educational programming.
• Experience managing logistics and budgets.
• Experience working with communities on issues of environment and human rights. A background in development preferred.
• Experience teaching Thai to foreigners or Thai/English translation preferred.
• Experience working across cultures. Experience with issues of diversity, identity, and bias.
• Experience fostering the academic, social, and emotional well-being of students.
• Demonstrated experience developing strong interpersonal relationships, problem solving, decision making, and resolving differences of perspective.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Academic work in the fields of education, politics, development preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Fluency in English and Thai. Additional fluency in Isaan preferred.
• Basic computer literacy.
• Cultural Fluency. A proven ability to work across cultures and other lines of difference as a part of diverse teams.
• Strong organizational skills.
• A strong understanding of and demonstrated interest in environmentmental and human rights issues affecting Thailand.

Certifications

• CPR/First Aid required
• Wilderness First Responder certification (candidates without this certification should apply if they are willing to become WFR certified)

Please apply at:  http://jobs.rusticpathways.com/apply/KHWoHBA8xV/Thrival-Program-Leader-Thai