The Teach English in Palestine Program (for English Teachers) is a teaching internship program designed for graduate English students and certified English teachers (TEFL, TESOL or CELTA qualified) to share their pedagogical expertise with local inhabitants of Hebron, Palestinian children, youth and Palestinian refugees in the surrounding area, in the West Bank, Palestine. This teaching English opportunity is perfectly suited for anyone pursuing a career as an English language teacher; possessing an interest in Arabic culture and wanting to travel to the Israel/Palestine area of the Middle East. 

This Program differs from other English Teaching Programs run by the Center, and it offers a teaching opportunity specifically for qualified English teachers. There are many qualified ESL teachers, and this program is an opportunity to teach abroad in the West Bank. As a qualified teacher, we value your expertise, and as such you will enjoy all the benefits of our other programs: 3 hours a week Arabic Lessons, accommodation provided by the Center, cultural tours in the local area, but all for a much reduced rate of 250 Euro a month. 

This program of English Language tuition provides international English teachers the opportunity to live in Hebron, Palestine, by working through the Excellence Center (EC). A core mission of the Excellence Centre is to provide Palestinians children, youth and refugees the resources necessary to gain English language proficiency and professional skills, and international English teachers play a crucial role in achieving this goal.

The Excellence Centre in Hebron, West Bank has over 10 years experience in English language tuition. The many long running projects which have served to improve education levels of children and adults in the Hebron area, and provide volunteers with valuable life experience and personal development. Participants of this rewarding Teach English program are able to use their pedagogical expertise to service the ongoing aim of teaching English to Palestinians in the West Bank, with lasting impacts on the local area.

Teach English for Palestine Program
Volunteer in the West Bank

Requirements for the Teach English in Palestine Program

Working as an English teacher in Palestine includes a number of benefits, but also a list of demands. The standard for education is high, so you will need more than just a teaching certificate. While there may be exceptions in certain circumstances, we recommend that English teachers to the program meet the following criteria:

  • Age of 30+
  • Have a bachelor’s degree (preferably in English or education)
  • TEFL, TESOL or CELTA certificate
  • Prior experience in teaching English

However, the following are not required to teach English in the West Bank

  • Ability to speak Arabic
  • Travel experience
  • To be a native English speaker

Arabic Lessons for English Teachers

All participants of our Excellence Center Programs in Palestine receive 3 hours of Arabic classes a week with a Palestinian teacher. On top of this, all volunteers will have plenty of chances to meet many people in Palestine, learn and practice your Arabic skills. English teacher Volunteers can freely choose what kind of Arabic they would like to learn during their time in Palestine at the Excellence Center.

Arabic dialects to learn

From our base in Hebron all English Language Teachers will receive a choice of Arabic dialects to study during the time in the West Bank. As part of your placement, we offer a choice of: 

  • Shami or Levantine Arabic (Amiyya dialect)
  • Colloquial Palestinian Arabic
  • Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)
  • a mixed Program: (Modern Standard Arabic & Shami Arabic)

Help is always on offer if you need advice choosing a dialect.

Teach English for Palestine Teachers’ Responsibilities:

As a fully qualified and experienced teacher, we expect participants to be able to demonstrate an amount of independence in their ability to run classes and produce lesson plans. Naturally at the Excellence Centre there will be fellow international collegues and Palestinian educators who are there to help and support you, to share ideas with. The Center also provides a large amount of learning resources, which all volunteers are very welcome to contribute to.

Some of the responsibilities we expect from our volunteers are listed below:

  • Teach English classes to Palestinian children and youth at the Excellence Center independently.
  • Teach some individual courses to Palestinian students and community members
  • Help the Excellence Center in developing the English curriculum and teaching outlines
  • Produce English teaching lessons
  • Write articles about Palestine, its people, places, and culture
  • Organize some workshops and community development activities on different themes including teaching English, methods, how to write resumes, cover letters and conducting job interviews

During their time in Palestine, teachers instruct English language classes and provide administrative assistance while immersing themselves in the Palestinian culture and daily life. Teach English for Palestine Program participants teach courses focusing in areas such as English for business, TOEFL, IELTS, English for travel, and conversational English.

Teach English for Palestine Program
Teach English for Palestine Program

Eligibility to the Teach English Program

The Teach English for Palestine Program is designed for people with a degree in English or education and between the ages of 25 – 75 years. 

This is a demanding program in which volunteers will need to draw on their teaching nous and knowledge of the English language, whilst also committing to a long term placement of 8-12 weeks. However, for anyone who does not meet the required criteria; who cannot commit to such a long placement, or simply looking to gain teaching experience, we recommend a variety of other programs which are run by the Center.

Our short-term volunteer programs in Palestine include: 

Volunteer in a Journalism Program in the West BankVolunteer to teach English in Local Schools in Palestine
Volunteer in a Technology Program in PalestineVolunteer in a sport Project in West Bank
Volunteer in Music and Art Program in the West BankVolunteer in Community Development Program in Palestine
Volunteer in Environment and Conservation Program in PalestineVolunteer in a Medicine & Healthcare Program in the West Bank
Volunteer to Teach English in the West BankWomen’s Rights Volunteer Program in Palestine
Volunteer to teach English to Palestinian children Volunteer to teach English to Palestinian Refugees

Benefits of the Excellence Center:

Our English Teachers from all over the world participate in educational, cultural, and community activities during their program. In addition, the Excellence Center arranges many extracurricular activities including trips to the old city, Palestinian family home visits and tours of local industries to name a few. This enables you to see many different aspects of life in Palestine and expand your knowledge of the area.

Below are some of the benefits participants of the Teach English in Palestine Program can expect:

  • Support during the time in Palestine
  • Meetings with Palestinian university, school students and community members.
  • Engagement in some community activities
  • Immersion in Palestinian culture and politics
  • 12 hours of conversational Arabic lessons a month
  • The teaching English Internship in the West Bank Program will provide you the chance to visit unique tourist attractions with a particular native perspective – locations including Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron, Tulkarm, Qalqilyah, Jenin and the Dead Sea in Jericho.
  • Visit nearby cities such as Akko, Herzliya, Beersheva, Eilat, Tiberias, Netanya, Safed, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Masada, Amman, Aqaba, Wadi Rum, and Nazareth
  • Breakfast every day at the Center
Volunteer to Write Articles about Palestine

Where do our International Visitors come from?

In short, everywhere. Here in the Excellence Centre we pride ourselves on our international openness towards people of all nations, religions and cultures. For us, there is no ‘foreigner’, simply people with unique cultural perspectives, from whom we are delighted to share our time and experiences with.

The largest proportion of interns at the Excellence Center in Palestine come from countries including: the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Canada, France, Spain, Belgium, and Switzerland.

Moreover, students from: Brazil, Mexico, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Australia, Japan, South Africa, Singapore, South Korea, Ireland, China, and New Zealand have all taken to studying Arabic in Hebron, West Bank.

Is your country not on the list? Then now is your chance to become a trail blazer and become the first representative of your nation, and join our ever expanding international community.

 

Brief Information of the Teach English for Palestine Program
Place of ProgramHebron, West Bank, Palestine
Program Fees250€ a month – Euro
Age25 and over (demonstrating a degree of maturity and teaching experience)
Minimum Duration8 Weeks
Maximum Duration12 Weeks
Program focus Teaching English in Palestine
Teaching English to Palestinian refugees
Teaching English to Palestinian children
Start and End Dates of CourseFlexible – Participants can specify to suit their schedule
Application DeadlineNo Deadline
Program LanguageEnglish
Days offTwo days a week (Fri – Sat)
Arabic Lessons3 Hours a Week
Many Arabic dialects available
Educational DegreeEnglish Language/ English Teaching,
or a certified EFL qualification (TEFL, TESOL, CELTA)

Important Further Information

The Excellence Center accepts applications year-round. Participants decide when they would like to start and end their programs. We are very flexible when it comes to starting and ending dates. You can join us here in Palestine any duration from 2-3 months.

The program is subject to a fee of 250 Euro a month to cover accommodation and Arabic tuition, among other costs. Due to your valuable expertise, this cost is a lot lower than various other Programs run by the Center.

A real cultural immersion

The Excellence Center aims to achieve social discourse through cultural immersion. Participants in the Teach English for Palestine live with a host family (availability permitting for male participants), visit historical sites and cities in the city of Hebron. The Excellence Center aims to make you feel at home so that you have a positive and enriching time in Hebron, Palestine.

International English Language Teachers have the ability to truly experience Palestinian life. Upon completion of the volunteering period, the Excellence Center will award a certificate and recommendation letter.

Reviews from former participants 

In 2019, we received our first “Go Overseas Community Choice Awards”, recognizing the Excellence Center’s meaningful and unforgettable impact on the community of international travellers

The Excellence Center in Hebron has now over 10 years of experience, and prides itself on the positive feedback received from over 800 international interns and volunteers to the Center. Reviews of our all our Programs, including from previous English Language Teachers at the Center, can be found through the following links:

Traveling to and from Hebron, West Bank

We know that many participants of the Teach English in Palestine Program, especially those traveling in the Israel/ Palestine region for the first time, naturally have queries on issues such as:

  • How to get to Hebron, West Bank,
  • How to make your way to the Excellence Center once arriving
  • Transportation in the area; which taxi you should take
  • How to cross the checkpoints in the West Bank.

Hopefully all the necessary information about how to get to Hebron, Palestine and the Excellence Center and some useful contact information is provided in these four articles:

For any further questions, you are always welcome to get in touch with us.

 Flying into Palestine

Unfortunately, there are no airports in Palestine; as such it is currently impossible to fly directly into the West Bank. Palestinians use either the airports in Jordan or Egypt to travel abroad. However, international travellers to the Center can fly to Israeli airports and then cross to Palestine. We believe the easiest ways to get to the Excellence Center in Hebron, Palestine are:

  • To fly to Ben Gurion, Tel Aviv Airport (Israel). It takes about two and a half hours from the airport to the Excellence Center in Hebron via shared Taxi.
  • A separate option is to fly to Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, Jordan and then cross the border into Palestine, but this route takes more time and is more expensive.

Safety of our Language Teachers

The region of Palestine has not been stable for the last few decades, there is always unrest and war, sometimes it becomes more volatile and at other times it’s calmer. Nonetheless, each year millions of tourists visit Palestine and the West Bank including Hebron, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jenin, Tulkarem, Nablus and many other cities without any safety issues. Palestinians in general are welcoming and hospitable people. They recognize that the politics of a country and its people may differ.  

Since it was formed in 2011, the Excellence Center has welcomed over 1000 international visitors. These visitors lived and worked in Hebron for a few weeks or months. Overall they did not face any threat nor were they unsafe in Hebron or the West Bank.

Moreover, the Excellence Centre is situated in an area of Hebron which is under the Palestinain authority and in the heart of the city. Our Palestinian host families and the male dorms are located near the Excellence Center too. 

How to get a VISA to Teach in Palestine?

There is unfortunately no way to directly apply for a VISA to participate in the Teach English in Palestine Program at the Excellence Centre before travelling out to teach in Palestine. Upon arrival in Israel, internationals are given a 3 month VISA, applicable to Israel and Palestine. With this VISA, internationals are able to travel freely in the Israel and Palestinian territories for up to a 3 month period.

In general, no prior VISA is needed for Americans, Canadians, and most Europeans in order to enter Palestine. Please refer to the visa exemption agreement. Upon your arrival at the Israeli Airports in Tel Aviv or Eilat, you will be granted a tourist visa that is valid for 90 days which enables you to travel around Palestine and Israel.

Steps to apply to the Teach English in Palestine Program:

  1. Email centre co-founder Rafat Shantir at Rafat@excellencenter.org requesting an application, listing ‘Teach English in Palestine Program’ as your desired program. 
  1. We will send you the application. You will fill it out and send it back to us.

In the meantime, you can contact us via email: Rafat@excellencenter.org , Whatsapp or phone: +972 599-479880. If you have any questions or would you like to know more information about us or our programs please do not hesitate to get in touch. 

After we receive your application:

  1. We review the application with our team (this usually takes a week)
  2. You may be invited to short talk on a Skype call, Zoom or Whatsapp to give you more information and answer all of the questions.

Selections process

  1. We will send you an acceptance letter and a program contract.
  2. Sign the contract and send it back to us.
  3. Pay the fees online in advance.
  4. You are ready to come to Hebron, Palestine and join our Excellence Center family.

Find us online

Whatsapp:+972599479880

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excellence.center

The Excellence Center’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ExcellenceCenter

Excellence Center’s Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/RafatECHebron

Watch us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsQSLdFZWZcBm6Uj0XMYuKg

Visit and Explore Palestine: https://www.facebook.com/ExplorePalestine