Summer School 2025 Volunteer Role at UWC ISAK Japan Summer School
Dates: July 16th–August 2nd, 2025 (Students will arrive on July 20th and depart August 1st)
Position: Volunteer counselor
Deadline*: January 13th, 2024 23:59 (JST) – Click here for the 2025 application form
Volunteer Benefits: Transportation cost to Japan and the UWC ISAK campus. Room & Board for the entire stay on campus (housing, meals).
UWC ISAK Japan offers a unique volunteer experience for adults (must have at least graduated high school by July 2024) who enjoy working with children in a diverse school setting. Our short course (“ISAK Summer School”) focuses on three core components: “Leadership”, “Design” and “Diversity”. Summer School brings in middle school students with a diverse background and is seeking energetic volunteers who can work with the students during our 13-day summer program held at our beautiful campus in Karuizawa, Japan.
Counselors’ role in the program:
As a counselor, you will have the opportunity to assist with various tasks throughout the program and work closely with students and teachers:
- Residential: Act as a residential counselor in student dormitories, co-facilitate daily small group meetings, guide students to practice leadership throughout their experience
- e.g., help students organize and clean their spaces, provide emotional support and encouragement / coaching, create spaces for students to share their experience, serve as a role-model of school culture
- Community: Join other team members to discuss feedback and improve the summer school experience in real time, make decisions that affect the community as it develops, take on unforeseen challenges and responsibilities as they arise
- e.g., attend staff meetings, gather and share feedback from student perspective, guide students during off-campus activities, plan and adapt to changes and new community needs
- Academic: Assist experienced educators to plan and deliver program content. Help students to engage in challenging, project-based experiences. Provide language support to aid students’ comprehension and engagement. Share your own expertise during planning and delivery.
- e.g., assist with curriculum design and lesson planning in advance of the program, guide students in understanding course objectives and content, facilitate lessons and experiences in collaboration with other team members
If you are interested in the position, please
- Respond to the counselor interest survey here (note: response includes upload of resumé/CV in PDF format)
- Send any requests for additional information to our Summer School Office at [email protected]
Safeguarding
All employees must adhere to and ensure compliance with the School’s Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy at all times. If, in the course of carrying out their duties, a teacher becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety or welfare of children in the School, they must report those concerns to the DSL (Designated Safeguarding Lead) or DDSL (Deputy Designated safeguarding Lead) immediately.
Program Goals (these apply to students and team members alike!)
| Participants will Practice | Participants will Experience |
| Bringing attention to what is important for themselves and for others | Learning new things about themselves, and connecting with others |
| Taking action, independently and collaboratively, based on what’s important | Accomplishment, large and small, and feeling empowered to do more |
| Approaching others with empathy, seeking understanding in their environment and community members | Creating a diverse environment that acknowledges and understands different values and opinions |
| Applying design thinking and leadership principles to create change in themselves and their communities | Being innovators who can bring tangible growth for themselves and others based on what is important and needed |
*Recruitment Timeline
All dates JST, all deadlines 23:59 PM JST on specified date
-
- November 25th – Team positions open, UWC ISAK posts listing on website
- January 23rd – Application period ends
- December-February – qualified applicants notified of progress to round two, interview requested
- February 14th – Results are shared
- February 21st – Deadline for acceptance of offer, waitlisted notified as appropriate
- March 1st – Formal welcome to the team and preparations commence
** We are currently planning to hold Summer School on the UWC ISAK Japan campus in Karuizawa. We will work closely with local health authorities to ensure we are taking the utmost caution and employing virus prevention best practices. Our final safety measures will be determined by the up-to-date circumstances as we approach the start of Summer School in July.
***We are committed to an equitable, diverse, and inclusive UWC ISAK Japan Summer School Team. We welcome applications from all qualified persons. We encourage members of visible minority groups; persons with disabilities; persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity and expression; and all those who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas at UWC ISAK Japan to apply.
More Information
- Address Japan USD Month
