About the Organization

The Magic Eyes Barge Program has been taking students of all ages on environmental education focused fieldtrips since the mid 1990s. The program’s vision is: “Working to engage individuals and communities to take active responsibility for environments.” We do this by providing high quality education programs which focus on Thailand’s watershed environments. We facilitate life-long learning using interdisciplinary approaches emphasizing the interconnections between physical, cultural, social and historical aspects of the environment. We work from our floating classroom, a converted rice barge, on the Chao Phraya River and at forest and marine sites around the country. Our programs contribute to education for sustainability. Students are encouraged to work in small groups while interviewing community members, playing environmental ed. games, and carrying out hands on activities. Our staff are all graduates and are a mix of bilingual Thais and international staff. The Barge Program is part of The Prem Tinsulanonda Center for international Education based in Chiang Mai. The Prem Center includes an IB international boarding and day school, visiting schools program, sports academies and an organic farm and cooking academy. Learn more about the Magic Eyes Barge Program and its educational activities here.

Job Description

Be an environmental educator from a floating classroom - a converted rice barge - on the Chao Phraya River, as well as at forests and marine sites around the country. The internship requires a 6 month minimum commitment** in order to fully grasp the program philosophy and educational methodology before the intern will be able to facilitate and create activities that are appropriate to the unique curriculum. While the specific needs of the program evolve, interns who are creative and energetic with a background in youth education/being a camp counselor are encouraged to apply.

The intern will spend the first portion of the internship working with our teaching team, facilitating activities with groups of Thai students (most likely primary aged) on the boat, in the forest or in Chiang Mai. After working on a range of trips as one of our environmental educators you will have gained a sound understanding of the program framework and educational style of the curricula. The intern will then spend time in the Bangkok–based office developing activities and content to implement into the existing curricula. Currently, there is a need for new educational activities based on either a) climate change or b) natural disasters.

Interns would utilize their knowledge and expertise in these areas to create new educational material and activities that will eventually be utilized in the Magic Eyes Barge curriculum or activities. Towards the end of the placement, you will be required to run a training session with the Barge staff to teach your suite of activities/curricula. Finally, we will hold a promotional trip on the barge, with the focus of climate change, where we can trial your new activities with a group of students from international schools in Bangkok. You will leave behind important new curriculum materials that will help to keep our program able to offer such topical material to schools. This is an opportunity for you to gain an experience working in an overseas context as part of an international team, working with students who use English as a secondary language. In doing so, you will gain significant teaching and curriculum development experience while sharing your knowledge with others.

** For a one-term internship opportunity with Magic Eyes, see the "Additional Information" tab. **

# of Positions per term

2

Start Dates

any

Duration of Internship

1-2 terms

Academic Background

Education, Environmental Sciences, Natural Disaster Management

Skills/Experience

Experience working with students in an outdoor setting, such as summer camp activity, camp counselor, Scouts, sports team coaching, etc. Be able to live with relatively little personal space in a residential setting. Able to work long hours. You should be passionate about this experience….sharing the environment with students, helping them become more independent, and want to promote our program’s role as environmental educators. Additionally, you should expect to immerse yourself in the Thai way of life, rather than try to live an expat life during your internship. You will be working mostly with students from international schools (learning in English) from Bangkok, however in some schools 95% of these children are Thai.

Preferred: first aid training

Language Ability

The working language is English, in the office and the classroom. Boatmen on the Barge and the majority of the neighborhood speak Thai.

Other Requirements

Total costs vary depending on how long you plan to be abroad, where you will be living, your personal spending habits, and current exchange rates. The following estimates will give you a ballpark figure for this internship. Get help with the math from our handy Cost Calculator.

IE₃ Program Fee

The program fee* for the first term of any internship is $2950 - $3150. You do not pay tuition in addition to the program fee. Visit your University's IE₃ page for details, costs for additional terms, and campus administrative fees.

*The program fee noted above reflects the anticipated fee increase that will go into effect for the Fall 2010 term and will apply to all terms thereafter.

Estimated One-Time Expenses

Expense Type	Price
International Travel	R/T flight to Thailand $1800. ***Please note that this cost varies widely by provider and when you book your flight***
Visa Fees	$175
Recommended Immunizations	$100-$300. In addition to the recommended routine vaccinations, the following vaccinations are recommended for Thailand: Hepatitis A and B, typhoid, Japanese encephalytis, rabies. Your doctor or health-care provider will determine what you will need, depending on factors such as your health and immunization history, areas of the country you will be visiting, and planned activities. See the Center for Disease Control for more information.

*See Additional Cost Information below.

Estimated Monthly Expenses

Expense Type	Price/month
Housing	Approximately $130 per month
Food	$5-20 per day
Local Transportation	$50
Recreation	$100
Personal Expenses	$100

Compensation

none

Additional Expense Information

You will have an apartment nearby the office (as do the rest of the staff), so there will be no daily transportation costs for work. You will also be able to access the office outside of work hours for free internet, fridge and microwave use. The office area is rich in local inexpensive and safe street food. The area is well connected by express boat to tourist areas along the river and to the skytrain for travel around central Bangkok. If you prefer to travel by taxi as opposed to bus, boat and sky train then your expenses for outside of work travel may be higher.

Are you interested in the Magic Eyes Barge Program but cannot commit to the two term time commitment? Do you have experience taking and editing short films? If you have your own video camera and would like to gain valuable multi-media experience in a progressive educational setting, this is the internship for you. Contribute to the marketing efforts of the Magic Eyes Barge program while accompanying their experiential field trips and activities with video camera in hand. As a filmmaker, use your creativity and skills to capture the interactive nature of the programs. Edit the material for use in podcasts, short videos and memorable DVDs for the students to bring with them after the program.

You will be responsible for filming activities, interviewing students and teachers during the trip and editing your material so that it is ready to be used on our website and linked sites. You may spend some time with the Prem Center website team as needed. You will also share your knowledge so that a staff member can continue to do similar work once your internship has finished.

Qualifications: Need to have and bring your own video camera equipment. Skill in making simple films, in shooting video footage as well as in editing and publishing blogs and podcasts. Intern should have familiarity with working with children. Able to live with little personal space in a residential setting. Able to work long hours.

Cost: Same as for the Magic Eyes Barge Program except the Visa is $35