Mayatan high school graduates receive both American and Honduran high school diplomas. Our students come from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, and nearly half receive financial aid of some sort.
Teaching at Mayatan
Mayatan Bilingual School presents an opportunity for native English-speaking teachers to live and work in a tightly-knit Honduran community. Teaching at Mayatan can be both highly challenging and highly rewarding; if you are interested in joining our community, we request that you carefully review the information below before submitting your application materials.
All primary grades (1-6) have two sections of around 22 students each. Teachers are responsible for planning and carrying out lesson plans for each section. English Language Arts classes are Reading and English (grammar and writing).
Who We Are Looking For:
Mayatan hires competitively for our teaching positions.
At minimum, all of our teachers must possess a bachelor's degree, have experience teaching or tutoring in some capacity, and demonstrate a dedication to living and working abroad for at least a year. While we accept candidates from any background and life stage, we strongly prefer candidates with teaching degrees, certification, and classroom experience in their subject area. Because our foreign teachers teach in English, Spanish language skills are not required.
Teachers commit to a minimum of one year teaching kindergarten, a primary-level grade (1-6) or a range of subjects at the secondary and high school levels (7-12). Being a teacher at Mayatan Bilingual School is for independent, self-guided, self-reliant individuals who are capable of making the best of limited resources and adapting to circumstances. It is a full-time commitment, not a vacation, but it can be more fulfilling than even the best days off.
Teaching Responsibilities
Teachers work in either primary (K-6) or secondary (7-12) levels. There are about 20 foreign teaching volunteers at any given time, although this changes with enrollment and as our high school program expands. Please see our curriculum page for more information.
Although you will find support from your academic school director and your fellow teachers, you will often have to guide yourself. Some courses will have reliable textbooks and curricula; others, particularly at the secondary and high school level, will involve new textbooks or no textbooks at all and will require the teachers to decide upon what is taught.
Primary school teachers will teach a classroom by themselves for most of the day. They will have up to 25 students, per school policy. Some grades have one classroom and teacher, and others may be split into A and B sections who team-teach by dividing up subjects. Kindergarten and first grade teachers have Honduran teaching assistants. The other grades have Honduran counterparts to teach certain classes in Spanish, such as Civics. Primary teachers have their own classrooms. Expect to plan for at least 5 different class periods a day, although team teachers may teach two sections of the same class. Primary school students have breaks for recess and lunch.
Secondary and high school teachers will teach one or more subjects and may share classrooms. Students take a variety of courses at a time (often 10+), and teachers often wear multiple hats to cover this. For example, one teacher may teach literature, anthropology, and art history; another will teach multiple science or math classes; another may teach grammar; and still another may teach a math subject, and online courses.
Expect to plan for at least 4-5 different class periods a day; you may also supervise online courses from the University of Missouri High School. All of secondary school has a lunch break at the same time, and teachers may have several free periods during the day. Some secondary and high school classes are taught in Spanish by Honduran teachers.
All teachers must grade student tests, quizzes, activities, and homework assignments; create lesson plans; record attendance; complete report cards; perform homeroom, recess (primary), and lunch duties; write year-long plans; meet with parents when requested; and complete student evaluations, report cards, and progress reports.
Student Population
We have an economically and socially diverse population of 420+ students. While we highlight our scholarship program on this website, we would like to emphasize here that over half of our student body pays full tuition. We have poor students, middle-class students, and students who are wealthy by Honduran and American standards.
Mayatan is one of the few spaces in Honduras that brings together children from different class backgrounds and unites them socially and under the same cause. We teach students that they are in it together, that they are worthy no matter where they come from, and that they are all capable of success. We foster relationships that go beyond the extreme class segregation that is prevalent throughout Honduras.
Instruction in Spanish
Escuela Mayatan expects foreign teachers to teach in English and we require that you speak English while at school in your interactions with students.
Contract Extensions
In the spring, our Academic Directors will meet with each teacher to discuss the teacher’s plans for the next year. We encourage teachers to remain more than one year and will provide additional salary for the second year!
We look forward to having you join the Mayatan family!
