Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

Home > ECA News > NEWS ARCHIVE - 2002

U.S. Department of State Invites Applications for Fulbright Teacher and Administrator Exchange Program

The U.S. Department of State's Fulbright Teacher and Administrator Exchange Program invites applications from U.S. administrators and teachers at K-12 schools, two-year colleges, and universities who are interested in working abroad during the 2003-2004 academic year.

The Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs administers these exchanges under the Fulbright Program, the flagship exchange program of the U.S. government that promotes mutual understanding between citizens of the United States and other countries. Since the establishment of the Fulbright Program in 1946, more than 229,000 Americans and citizens of other countries have participated.

The Fulbright Teacher and Administrator Exchange Program features direct one-to-one exchanges and offers reciprocal advantages to participating institutions. Schools and communities gain the expertise and perspective of the visiting exchange teacher and, subsequently, share the experiences of their returning faculty members. Approximately 400 educators take part in the program each year. U.S. and international teachers continue to be paid by their home institutions while exchanging classrooms, usually for a full academic year. For the individual educator, this is the ultimate professional development opportunity.

Administrator exchanges consist of reciprocal three- to six-week visits to each administrator's institution. The U.S. Administrator works with his or her foreign counterpart as a team in shadowing and sharing information on administrative duties. There are eight-week seminars in Italy and a six-week seminar in Greece for two-year college faculty and teachers (grades 7-12) of Latin, Greek, or the classics.

Participating countries for the academic year 2003-2004 include Argentina, Benin, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe. Bilateral agreements are currently being sought to conduct programs in Ghana and Togo as well.

U.S. educators interested in participating must be U.S. citizens, have a full-time teaching or administrative position, be in at least the third year of full-time employment (for teaching and administrative exchanges) or in the second year of full-time teaching (for summer seminar participation), and be fluent in English. In some non-English speaking countries, demonstrated fluency in the appropriate language is required. The Presidentially appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board will select participants.

Applications must be postmarked no later than October 15, 2002. Requests for applications, publicity material, and general information should be directed to Ms. Roberta Croll, Outreach Specialist, Fulbright Teacher and Administrator Exchange Program, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Suite 320, Washington, DC, 20024; phone 800-726-0479; e-mail: fulbright@grad.usda.gov; Website: fulbrightexchanges.org.

Media Note
Washington, DC
June 5, 2002

Back to the top