EDUCO: Teach English in Italy at Summer Camps

Reading other tutors experiences before joining Educo gave me reassurance that I would most likely be signing up for a positive and rewarding experience. Unfortunately, my experience with this company was not as pleasant.

Despite the unprofessional experience I had with this company, many reviews of good experiences may be genuine due to the fact that not all tutors receive the same treatment. It's a 50/50 chance of having an unforgettable summer or dealing with unprofessional treatment from the people in management positions.

During my first two weeks of camp I was placed in a unfair situation at a camp involving my camp directors. The situation was taken out of context and the treatment I received from my camp directors were unprofessional and appalling. We resolved the issue internally with the camp directors and myself.
However, despite Educo management's knowledge about the situation, given to them by the camp directors without me knowing, assumptions were made without consulting me with my side of the situation. Educo had not contacted me throughout the following weeks to clarify my part, instead I experienced a string of events that confirmed that I would be treated unjustly by Educo based on misconceptions.

I decided to send a formal complaint to management but sadly no response was sent back to me regarding my concerns. My situation was brushed off as not a big deal and I was left feeling unfairly judged by some tutors and management. My greatest disappointment with this company was false rumors spreading around amongst tutors about my situation.
It took three weeks for someone from management to address the situation with me. The conversation consisted of blame shifting and lack of eye contact from the person from management. No accountability was taken from Educo regarding their lack of communication and unprofessional handling of my situation. Educo failed to mediate a fair resolution. In terms of the rumors, I expressed that only someone from management who is aware of the situation could speak about these private matters with tutors. It was not shocking to me that the response was "not knowing how it could get out to tutors" and essentially brushing the seriousness of it under the rug. It was a defamation of my character and left me feeling uncomfortable.

In summary, my situation with Educo's unprofessional and unfair treatment is one of many other situations that occurred to other tutors. I cannot speak on their behalf but I can speak on what I experienced and give an honest review for others looking into joining Educo. The biggest points to take away with this company is that not everyone receives the same opportunities regarding the location of camps, the amount of camps you are assigned to and the support you receive from management.

I was placed in only two camps throughout a six week period and was told that there aren't many camps to place tutors in as the weeks went by. There are tutors that have been placed in less number of camps and placed on hold for a much longer period of time. My camps were both in Milan so be prepared to not get to see different locations throughout Italy unless you take a personal hold at your own expense. I spent a lot more money on food than expected when Educo placed me on hold twice (with only a €50 stipend per week). Lack of communication was also an issue where I was left on read most times.

The few positives I experienced during my time was the friendly hospitality from my host families and the friendships I formed with some of the tutors. I hope that my situation can be a learning tool for Educo and that no other tutor experiences the same treatment in the future. I believe that Educo has the potential to do better and deal with each situation in the future with more professionalism and transparency.

My summer with Educo was an AMAZING EXPERIENCE. I was blown away by the beauty of Italy, the kindness and welcome of the Italian families and the support Educo gave me and my fellow tutors throughout.

Pros
1. Getting a week of orientation - There was so much information in this week and we got a Manual packed with so much information that at first it was overwhelming but when I tell you you could sell it for 100s of euro I mean it! It has everything - including the terms and conditions if you get confused throughout the weeks what is expected of you. We were also broken up into smaller groups during orientation with specific mentors that have supported us the whole way through (Shoutout to James for always being the other end of the phone for me, especially in my first week of camp when I was suffering from a case of self doubt! #safewithJames - if you get it you are the elite!). I will admit orientation was not my finest hour of teaching but the support from the team helped me to overcome whatever wall I was hitting and I am so glad they were there or I would have gone home! (For reference I am a secondary school teacher as my permanent job)

2. The host families ... need I say more on this one! My families and I are already planning trips throughout this year to meet each other in Ireland, where I can hopefully repay their kindness towards me! I got to go camping in Venice, Lake Garda, a private boat tour of Venice and my last host mother organised for all the tutors to get a private tour of Carpignano Sesia - this included opening the museums and special buildings for us that only get opened once a year! But please don't expect to have mad things happen every day, just sitting with the families for dinner for me was more of a beautiful experience than anything!

3. The safety of Italy! This one is fairly self explanatory!

4. You don't need to have Italian - in fact its nearly better in some cases to have none (or pretend you have none) as some of the students love to test the boundaries of speaking English and Italian in the camps! Of course in the host families it would only be good manners to know a bit at least and put in the effort but that is your own personal choice.

5. Friends for life and new experiences. Because I was 23 when covid started I missed out on a lot of travelling so this was my first time properly away from home without my family with me. I was petrified but I had no need to be! Educo is an amazing place to meet new people from all walks of life and parts of the world and make life long friends, as I have this year!

6. Travel is sorted for you from one camp to another - PLEASE NOTE this does not include the weeks you have been put on hold or your first and final travel to San Remo / home but this was and is made very clear to all tutors before you arrive and during orientation - just be sure to listen and write down all the important info so you don't get confused.

7. Sophia. The woman is a superwoman!! I am incredibly grateful for her quick, kind, helpful responses. She has always been quick to respond with information not just with me but everyone. Even when I was back in Ireland she was able to answer questions and give me support when I needed it (and mind you I always forget about times so the messages came late and she still answered which I was very grateful for.) Sophia is a lady through and through and I am very grateful for her support - it eased a lot of nerves throughout this process.

Now for me, the list of positives goes on and on and on but there is only one negative but really this can be seen as a positive too - it just depends on your attitude.

Being on hold. Although the concept is difficult to get your mind around it simply means that you will not have a camp for one week, now it was made very clear to us at orientation (again write everything down as I did if you are prone to forget like I am) that you can book time off and be on a voluntary hold or it could happen that Educo doesn't have a camp for you. It is NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. I would just have a budget put aside for this week just in case before I even set foot in Italy. I wasn't put on hold through my six weeks but my week 7 was suppose to be but I went home early due to family reasons. Don't look at this negatively - look at this as an opportunity to travel and enjoy the beautiful country. Again it was said at orientation that Educo would TRY to get you in one of their two Educo apartments but that was NOT guaranteed and you would get 50 euro to put towards food but what you do in that week is up to you Educo can't be responsible for that (makes sense though because if it was the case we'd all be charging unlimited Spritz and room service on them!!) So like I said, have that budget. You could also use this time to go back to a host family. Yes, the concept does seem like you're inviting yourself over but the host families tend to be really chill about it and you could offer to teach a lesson or two of English to the children or even contact a camp director - thats what both the camp director in Montichiairi and Carpignano Sesia offered !! You will never be left on the streets you just have to use common sense and look for solutions not reasons to get annoyed.

Like I said it is down to who you are a person! Do you like children? Do you like to work and be part of a team? Do you have a positive mindset and can you go with the flow? If all these are yes then sign on up but if the answer is on then walk away because the days are intense and long, the teams need to be strong and the children pay a lot of money to attend the camps so they deserve their money's worth but the rewards are so worth it not just for you but for the memories the children get after the camp!

I am so grateful to Educo and the amazing Sophia, Charlie, Kuba, James and Daniella for all the kindness and support they have shown me through my time and I cannot wait until next year to be back with them!

This experience was not what I expected it to be, especially considering the rave reviews found here on go overseas, which is where I found this company. I would like to explain my low rating beginning with the overall positives and moving on to what I perceived to have truly diminished my experience.

The Positives:

As the previous reviews state, Italy is a beautiful country. I had a host family my first week and they were absolutely amazing! Staying with a host family helped me get situated in Italy as they shared their knowledge with me and welcomed me into the family. I believe that they will be lifelong friends, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have met them. The camps are genuinely lovely, I loved working with Italian children and had great experiences at these camps. My two-week camp in Sanremo was held in a beautiful venue by the beach. As well, our camp director (shoutout to Anna!) was lovely and made my experience there a positive one.

The Negatives:

The low review comes from, what I feel, was a lack of honesty, transparency, and communication on the part of Educo. A lot of my complaints would not be complaints if it wasn’t for the lack of information received going into the program and while working for Educo.

1. Laundry. This one may seem trivial; however, I think it plays into my main points about information and communication. From the first week of orientation I had little to no access to a washing machine and this was something that I wish had been made known to me from the beginning. I had a host family for only one week, and luckily they had laundry. The other weeks I was put in a flat (that was grimy with black mold in the kitchen and one of the bedrooms and that had exposed wires throughout), as well as a bed and breakfast. Both places were not equipped with laundry, and the 50 euro food stipend (which I will get to) was not enough to cover both food and a laundromat. The possibility of not having access to laundry should have been communicated to us from the beginning, as I would have set aside a budget for it. This would not have been the biggest deal if I had only known in advance and been able to make plans accordingly.

2. Money. As previously stated, we received a 50 euro stipend during the weeks we were not placed with a host family. A stipend that, after the first week of being in Educo provided accommodations, I had to chase the company down for. At first, this was apparently my mistake-as I was told that I needed to hand in my receipts in order to receive the next stipend. However, after handing in my receipts and emailing questions to the financial department, I received neither the money I was promised nor answers to my questions. Five emails later, I still had no response. A week and a half later, I finally received my stipends but still no answer to my questions. I had to pay a lot out of pocket over these last weeks and, if I had known this would be the case, I would have better prepared for the possibility of spending a lot of my own money.

3. Communication. The lack of communication was a constant issue for me while working with Educo. The head of human resources, Sophia, was one of the only management contacts given to us. However, since she was dealing with so many tutors, it was evident that she had neither the time nor the means to properly address each tutor’s needs. But, because this company was apparently founded in 2006, my sympathy waned considerably. There should be more people and/or departments to reach out to, answer questions and put out fires (of which there were many). Instead, many of us got last-minute information, answers, and for some, nothing more than radio silence.

The information sessions during training week gave the impression that Educo would cover almost everything, never leave you hanging, and be quick with solutions should difficulties arise. Much of this did not come across as true, and because of the initial impression given at orientation, I ended up frustrated and sorely disappointed by my interactions with Educo. Yes, the camps were fun, and Italy is beautiful, but the stress of dealing with this company worked to diminish my overall experience at an exponential rate. As a result of all the above mentioned, I made the decision to quit early and I can not, in good conscience, recommend this company.

P.S. This low review also comes from conversations had with fellow tutors and friends whose experiences with Educo were quite a bit worse than mine and completely unacceptable. However, I will leave their experiences for their own reviews so as not to put any words in their mouths.

EDUCO is simply amazing! It was such an enjoyable experience from the moment I landed in SanRemo to complete orientation right until my last camp.
I was very lucky with my host families as they were all very honest, diligent and caring people. They treated me with great respect and were so caring towards me each week!
Regarding the camps, they were such an enjoyable experience! From the helpers to the children to the outstanding camp directors …. I really enjoyed every camp I completed! Of course some were more difficult than others but I loved each of them for different reasons !!
If you are even contemplating this programme for the next year, I would say go and do it! You won’t regret it!

Firstly, I want to say that EDUCO has a lot of potential. I also think at one point, in former years, they may have been a great company to work for.

I’m not going to leave a scathing review. I did very much enjoy my time in Italy and I liked working at the camps and meeting friendly people. But I do think it is important to address the rather serious issues in a comprehensive review.

Let’s start with the positives.
Pro 1:
Orientation week, while long, was fun. I liked all the mentors (Charlie, Daniella, Kuba, and James) and my group (all 40 of us) got along very well. You can expect to know how to sing multiple camp songs at the end of training week. You can also expect good accommodations and meals. The 200 euros covers everything that week.
Pro 2:
If you have read much about EDUCO, you will know that we (the tutors) stay with host families. They are often the best part of the whole experience. I only got to stay with a family for one week in my month long stay, however, I really enjoyed living with them for that week. You are always given your own bedroom, and they are given money to buy you food. You are well taken care of.
Pro 3:
transportation to your next camp is always covered. You don’t usually get a direct train (which sometimes results in missed connections as trains in Italy are always late) but you will never have to pay for your ticket (unless you are going on a personal trip of course).

Pro 4:

You may get to see lots of Italy. It definitely depends though. In my three weeks I went from Sanremo, to Milan, to Sanremo again, and then back to Milan. Don’t ever expect to be near Rome, Florence, Venice, or Sicily- but it could happen!

Pro 5:

You get to meet lots of nice, friendly people and the camps are fun.

Pro 6:

The EDUCO training manual is great! You have tons of games and songs at your disposal right there in an organized book.
The workbooks for the kids are also pretty good.

Now onto the cons..

Con 1:

My impression of EDUCO is that they are a VERY disorganized company. From not giving transportation/camp details for the Saturday until Friday evening, to having to message HR again and again to get an answer about
placements, transportation, payment, etc., to people being laid off with NO notice because there are “no more camps”.

Con 2:

You may get placed in a flat instead of a host family. The flat in Sanremo is in a state of disrepair and has black mold and a shower that is falling apart. For over a week my roommate smelt burning and we worried about an electrical fire because of the exposed wires. When we brought this to HR, nothing was done. There is also no wifi or laundry in the Sanremo flat. There are only 1-2 keys in each apartment (sanremo and Milan) but there can be 4-5 people in each flat. In Sanremo, the key was lost by a fellow tutor, so we had to climb through our window from the street for multiple days. In Milan, I was locked out of the apartment for three hours and slept on the floor.

Con 3:

Hold.
Being placed on hold means you don’t have work for one week, but you will be given a free place to live (Sanremo or Milan) and a 50 euro food stipend. You may be placed on hold for longer than one week, so don’t expect to always have work. This can be a pro or a con I guess. But most people I’ve talked to don’t view it as a pro so I’ve put it in the cons.

Con 4:

There were not enough camps this summer. The prices were raised for July, so camps backed out. This led to too many tutors with nowhere to go. Multiple people were just told to go home, others were put on hold.

Con 5:

Communication.
EDUCO is bad at communicating with their staff. Like I mentioned above, you will get camp details for the next week the day before. You also shouldn’t expect very quick replies as the office is OVERWHELMED. They need more staff in the office.

Con 6:

Training week was way too long. It could have been done in 3 days. I would have liked to learn how to teach English as opposed to constantly practicing my singing.

**This is only my personal experience. I will let fellow tutors share their own and fill in anything that I’ve missed. I do not wish to come off as bad mannered or too abrupt. I am only speaking the truth as it applies to my own experience with EDUCO.

Where do I even begin. Applying for Educo was a last-minute decision that ended up being one of the best summer adventures of my life - from exploring small towns in Emilia Romagna and beautiful coasts in the south of Italy, biking along medieval villages, driving past abundance of olive trees in Imperia to trying local flavours in Napoli, visiting an abandoned city in Basilicata, and getting the opportunity to live with Italian host families that turned out to be an experience that made the summer magical and thrilling.

What I love the most working with Educo is the creative and collaborative culture that it has wherein ideas are encouraged, feedback and support are all given, and training is provided. Educo trains and prepares its tutors with the necessary skills needed before deploying them to the camps and the mentors during orientation were all amazing! In addition, Educo takes care of everything - from transportation tickets between camps to accommodation to ensuring your safety and keeping tabs on how you're doing.

The heart of the summer for me though were the kids. Every camp is a whole different experience in itself but is just as rewarding and being able to receive feedback from the kids and from the parents make everything worth it. You don't need a theatre or drama background to apply for Educo. If you have the heart of a child, energy that is contagious, creativity, and the willingness to make an impact on the lives of the kids, then you're all set! At the end of the day, I realized that it is all about encouraging kids to develop this love for learning and helping them realize as well that learning English can be fun

It's been a year since the camps and I'm back in Spain now and I still meet up with some of my co-tutors and I even saw one of my host families when they visited Spain. I keep in touch with all the host families that I've lived with - sending each other photos and videos and all - and they're all just as lovely. Grazie Educo!

I had the opportunity to work for Educo last Summer and it was a great experience. I work as a language assistant in Spain throughout the year and this was a great way for me to make money during the summer. I was very nervous as I personally didn't know how I would do with the theatre aspect. But the orientation was amazing. It was an intense week but they fully prepared us for camp. They also provide us with manual that is heaven sent!! I got the chance to stay with host families and it was an amazing experience. The families were so kind and welcoming. You will get to see parts of Italy you probably have never heard of. I stayed mostly in the North in quiet towns. I loved it because it was parts of Italy I probably never would have traveled to if not for Educo.

I applied for this program pre-pandemic and was sad to not be apart of the program in 2020. After postponing a year I finally got to go in 2021 and had the most incredible experience. As an adult in America I am always constantly stressed about where I need to go, what I need to do, and planning planning planning but EDUCO took care of everything for the summer. It was like the biggest sigh of relief. At orientation I was immediately impressed at their curriculum. As a theatre teacher in California there are so many teaching programs that rely on me to create my own lessons. EDUCO has every minute of your lesson planned out with great detail and highly qualified staff to teach the materials to you. They will not send you out into a classroom without feeling fully prepared for what lies ahead.
As far as the summer went, it was the best experience. EDUCO plans planes, trains, and all transportation for your travel days. They coordinate host families and who is picking you up where and when. The host families are the best part. You become a part of their family. The worst part about the whole summer is saying goodbye to these amazing people, just to turn around in a few hours in a new city to meet another amazing family. I went to places such as San Remo, Sardinia (!!!!), Milan, Breno, and so many more as well as traveling on my own to Rome, Genova, Naples, Capri on the break week in the middle of the summer.
I also got the dream experience of meeting the love of my life. In each camp you are paired with another EDUCO tutor and always bond and become friends and great colleagues. But sometimes, you get paired with your soulmate.