Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program for Academic Year 2022-2023
Deadline: March 31, 2022

This year the Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program (Fulbright TEA) will focus on developing media literacy skills for secondary school teachers.

The program will bring approximately 44 secondary-level teachers to the United States for a six-week program in January or September 2023. The timing of the program is subject to change, depending on conditions in the host communities.

Topics of seminars include recognizing bias/propaganda, stereotypes, and misinformation; strategies for improving students’ critical thinking, analytical, and communication skills; how media literacy promotes civic engagement/ the role of media in society; fostering cyber safety and digital citizenship in the classroom; and technology training.

The program will also include a practicum of at least 40 hours with a U.S. partner teacher of English, social studies, history, civics, communications, or journalism in a U.S. secondary school near the host university to actively engage participants in the U.S. classroom environment. Cultural enrichment, mentoring, and support will be provided to participants throughout the program. Program description and application form can be found here.

Eligibility:

Current secondary-level, full-time teachers of English, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), social studies, civics, history, media studies, and math or science at institutions serving primarily a local population are eligible for the program. Applicants must hold at least a Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent, have completed at least five years of full-time teaching by the start of the program, and have experience or demonstrated interest in the field of media literacy and critical thinking. Secondary-level teachers include both middle and high school teachers serving students between 12 and 18 years of age. Teachers responsible for teaching additional grade levels must teach middle or high school students more than 50% of their work time in order to be eligible. The most competitive applicants will have shown evidence of leadership in their schools and the region.

Please note that while teachers require the English and academic skills for courses that may be considered upper level university in the U.S., the Fulbright TEA program is scaffolded so both teachers with less familiarity with media literacy and those with some experience in the field are welcome to apply.

Educational administrators (such as representatives or officials of the Ministry of Education) and school administrators who do not teach at least fifty percent of their time, full-time teacher trainers, university faculty, private English Language tutors, and teachers from schools primarily serving expatriates are not eligible. Applicants must reside and work in the country of citizenship at the time of application and of program participation.

The TEA fellowship is fully funded and provides:

• J‐1 visa support
• A pre‐departure orientation held in participant’s home country
• Round‐trip airfare to and within the U.S
• A Welcome Orientation in Washington, D.C.
• Academic program fees
• Housing (generally shared with other program fellows) and meals
• Accident and sickness medical insurance coverage
• Transportation to the teaching practicum school (if necessary)
• A daily allowance for meals and incidentals during the academic program
• A book/professional development allowance
• A baggage/shipping allowance (domestic and international)
• A Closing Workshop in Washington, D.C.
• The opportunity to apply for alumni small grants.

Interested teachers must apply online: https://fulbright.irex.org/Account/Login

Please complete your on-line applications by March 31, 2022. All your questions should be addressed  to Rasa Baukuvienė at BaukuvieneR@state.gov