Hiring a language teaching assistant
Enrich your language lessons: language assistants support class teachers in the classroom and motivate pupils to actively speak the foreign language. They also bring cultural diversity into the classroom and facilitate half-class and group work.
Overview
For whom
- Swiss upper secondary schools (baccalaureate upper secondary schools, upper secondary schools, vocational schools and vocational baccalaureate schools)
- Swiss schools in Singapore, Spain, and Colombia
Duration
- Schools in Switzerland: 10 to 12 months
- Swiss schools abroad: 6 to 12 months
Where
- At your school.
What we fund
- Placement of assistant teachers
- Financial contribution to salary
What to do
- School principals determine their needs and apply for the placement of language assistant teacher(s)
Deadlines
- Application deadline: 31 January
- Start of work: Start of school year or 1 September
In detail
Create an international learning environment at your school by hiring a language assistant from abroad. These young professionals support the teachers by speaking their native language and thus promote authentic language learning. You can also join forces with partner schools and share a language assistant.
Added value
For the school:
- Creating an attractive international learning environment.
- Good examination results for pupils.
For the teachers:
- Support in half-class or group lessons.
- Teaching in pairs (team teaching).
- Assistance for the preparation of lessons.
- More time to cater to pupils' individual needs.
For the pupils:
- Reduce speech inhibitions through informal oral language use.
- Individualised support.
- Lessons related to pupils' lifeworlds due to smaller age gap
- Getting to know other cultures.
Requirements
For the schools
- Schools in Switzerland at upper secondary level (baccalaureate upper secondary schools, upper secondary schools, vocational schools and vocational baccalaureate schools)
- Assistantships at schools at other levels can also be arranged on request.
- Swiss school, currently in Spain, Colombia, and Singapore.
- Your school employs the assistant teacher for between 10 to 12 months from the start of the school year at a minimum gross salary of 3’200 CHF; we contribute to the salary costs.
For the language assistants
- Enquire about the requirements for applicants for language teaching assistance in Switzerland
Funding amounts
- 8’000 CHF (per person and school year) for schools in Switzerland with a regular workload of 12 hours/week and for Swiss schools in Singapore
- 4’000 CHF (per person and school year) for smaller workloads in Switzerland and for Swiss schools in Spain and Colombia
Procedure
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1. Plan assistant position and secure funding
- Determine in which language and for how many lessons you need an assistant at your school. You can select the native language of the assistant teacher and state a preference for a country of origin when registering your requirements. We only place Swiss schools abroad with Swiss language assistants whose mother tongue is German or French.
- Clarify whether all the people involved at your school or at the cantonal level are in alignment and whether you can issue an employment contract to employ the assistant teacher. It is not Movetia but the school or the canton that is the employer.
- Make sure you have the necessary financial resources.
- If necessary, look for a partner school in the neighbourhood with which you can share the assistant teacher and clarify the responsibilities, especially the coordination role.
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2. Submit notification of requirements
- Submit a notification of requirements online. Meet the deadline at the end of January or contact us if you need more time. Please note that a notification of requirement is binding. You will receive a confirmation e-mail.
- When registering, please indicate the desired language, the profile of the school and the area of responsibility of the future language assistant. You can also indicate a preference for a country of origin. Based on this information, we will search for a suitable assistant.
- If several schools share an assistant position, only one application is required.
- You will need approx. 20 minutes to submit the notification of requirements. Watch the explanatory video and the explanatory texts in the online tool.
- You can save your details temporarily and complete them later.
- The person appointed by you in the requirement notification will receive informative system messages for each placement stage.
- You can get an overview of the status of your positions at any time in the online tool.
- We will inform you about the allocation between February and the beginning of May.
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3. Select assistant teacher and conclude contract
- You will receive an application dossier from a suitable teaching assistant for each position. Exception: For Spanish and Italian language assistants, you will receive several applications to choose from.
- Your school or the canton regulates all legal matters with the language assistant in a contract or a decree.
- If the recruitment process is not successful, we can provide alternative application dossiers if the waiting list permits. Please contact us in this case.
The school also appoints a mentor to provide the language assistant teacher with professional and personal support. They are the contact person for the assistant teacher during their stay at your school.
The checklist with the most important steps in the placement process can be found in our guide to the placement process
Britische Sprachassistenzlehrpersonen gelten seit dem 2021 als Drittstaatsangehörige. Für ihre Anstellung habe wir einen speziellen Leitfaden erstellt.
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4. Carry out assistance period and claim funding
- Language assistants start work at the beginning of each school year or at the beginning of September. Exception: At the Swiss school in Singapore language teaching assistantships start every six months, i.e. additionally in January.
- To help language assistants get off to the best possible start, we recommend supporting them with finding accommodation, administrative tasks, and dealing with the authorities. We provide you with extensive material for this purpose.
- Shortly before the start of the school year, we organise a one-day seminar in Bern to prepare the language assistants for life in Switzerland and their work as assistants. Language assistants who will be working at Swiss schools abroad attend a corresponding seminar in Bern in June.
- The language assistants have rights and obligations in accordance with the employment contract or decree. If the employment relationship cannot be maintained for the agreed period, we will endeavour to find a solution together. We will not reclaim any funding paid out once the position has been taken up.
- The funding amount will be paid to your school in November of the same year or to the canton if it has employed the language assistant. Requirements are the signed contract or order that you send us via the online tool.
- We conclude the assistantship with an interview with the assistant teacher.
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5. Spread the word
- Your experiences are valuable to others. Therefore, write a short news article for your institution. Make sure you mention the Movetia funding. We provide the logo and text modules.
- Share the content widely via your institution's channels, e.g. newsletter, social media, blog, etc. Thus, you will present your institution as an innovative, open-minded an attractive employer. You will also stimulate professional exchange in the education sector.
- Contact us to increase your reach, e.g. by placing a magazine article on our website.
Q & A
Does Movetia contribute to the salaries of language assistants?
Yes, we pay the amount in November of the calendar year in which the placement has taken place. An exception applies to assistantships at the Swiss School in Singapore starting in January. In this case the amount will only be paid out in the following year.
How many dossiers will I receive for an assistant position?
As a rule, you will receive one application dossier. Only for Spanish and Italian language assistantships do we provide two to three dossiers to choose from. We can only provide alternative dossiers later if the waiting list allows for it.
