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Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program (TEA)

Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program (TEA)

Photo: Byron Reyes, Fulbright TEA fellow, 2022

The Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) program is a six-week exchange program at a U.S. university for secondary school teachers who teach English, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), math, science, and social studies, including special education teachers of those subjects.

The 2024 call for applications in Guatemala is open
from January 5, 2023, to April 14, 2023

About the Fulbright TEA program

The Fulbright TEA program consists of general academic seminars focused on new teaching methodologies, student-centered learning, content-based instruction, lesson planning, and instructional technology training for teachers. Intensive English language instruction will be offered to those teachers in need of additional practice. The program also includes a practicum of a minimum of 40 hours with a U.S. partner teacher in a secondary school near the host university, to actively engage participants in the U.S. classroom environment. Cultural enrichment, mentoring, and support is provided to participants throughout the program. The Fulbright TEA program provides participants with practical resources they can use in their teaching as well as skills to train trainers.

Selected participants should expect to travel to the United States in either January or September 2024. (Applicants should indicate their preference.)

Who should apply?

To be eligible for the Fulbright Tea program, applicants must meet all the following requirements: 

  • Guatemalan citizens who currently live and work in Guatemala. Candidates from rural areas will receive priority consideration.
  • Current secondary-level, full-time teachers of English, English as a Foreign Language (EFL), math, science, or social studies, including special education teachers of those subjects. Teachers from public institutions receive priority consideration. Applicants do not need to teach the subjects in English but must themselves be fluent in English.
  • Able to demonstrate sufficient oral and written English language proficiency to participate in professional seminars and give presentations in U.S. schools. This will be tested. Note: If you have a recent TOEFL exam, please provide the scores in your application.
  • Possess at least a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent.  Note:  The Profesorado de Enseñanza Media (PEM) is the equivalent of a technical, not a bachelor’s, degree and is not accepted.
  • Have completed at least five years of full-time teaching by March 2023.
  • Be teachers with demonstrable evidence of leadership in their schools or communities.

Note:  Secondary-level teachers include both middle and high school teachers who work with students approximately 12 to 18 years of age. Teachers responsible for teaching additional grade levels must teach middle or high school students more than 50 percent (50%) of their work time to be eligible.

Applications that do not fulfill all requirements will not be reviewed.

How do I apply?

  1. First, review the above carefully to confirm you meet all preliminary program requirements. If so, we invite you to apply by April 14, 2023, at this link: https://www.irex.org/project/fulbright-teaching-excellence-and-achievement-program-fulbright-tea .
  2. Begin preparing to take the TOEFL exam. If selected, you should expect to take it in March 2023.
  3. Interviews: A shortlist of candidates will be selected to be interviewed in late March 2023.  Interviews are approximately 20 minutes in length and conducted in English.

Note:  If you are not contacted to schedule an interview by April 15, 2023, you have not been selected to continue to the next stage of the selection process.  Applicants not selected for interviews will not receive a notice of non-selection.

  4.     Pre-selected fellows must take the TOEFL exam. The cost of the exam is covered by the program.

  5.     Final selection of Fulbright TEA teachers is made by the William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB), an independent, Presidentially appointed board with oversight responsibility for all Fulbright academic exchange programs.

Program Components

Teachers selected to participate in the Fulbright TEA program will:

  • Participate in advanced undergraduate or graduate-level classes at a U.S. host university.
  • Observe classes, co-teach, and share their expertise with U.S. colleagues in U.S. secondary schools.
  • Participate in an online professional learning community with other participants to share best practices and other elements of host and home country educational systems
  • Take part in other educational and cultural activities during the program in the United States.
  • Upon returning home, teachers are expected to share the knowledge and experience gained in the program with teachers and students in their home schools and within their communities.

English

Participation in the Fulbright TEA program is primarily open to teachers who demonstrate English language proficiency by scoring at least 450 on the paper-based TOEFL or 45 on the internet-based TOEFL. The minimum required scores represent an intermediate level. Applicants do not need to have an existing TOEFL score to apply, but they should prepare to take the test. Again, finalists will be scheduled to take the test in March 2023.

Key Dates

Fellows will travel as members of one of two cohorts per the following timeline:

  1. January 5, 2023 to April 14, 2023 at 16:00 hours:  Call for applications is open in Guatemala.
  2. Mid-March 2023:  Interviews take place. Pre-selected fellows take the TOEFL exam.
  3. September 2023:  The William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB) confirms selection or non-selection of fellows.
  4. January – March 2024:  Cohort 1 of Fulbright teachers participate in their program in the United States.
  5. September – October 2024:  Cohort 2 of Fulbright teachers participate in their program in the United States.

Housing

Participants will live in assigned housing on or near the host university campus.  Note:  Dependents are not permitted to accompany participants in the program.

Finances

Each Fulbright TEA participant receives a maintenance allowance during the program to cover expenses such as supplies for classes, household items, personal items, medical co-payments, and cultural and other activities. Also included in this allowance is a daily stipend to purchase groceries, meals at local restaurants, or food from on-campus dining services. Costs associated with housing, required program activities, and other program-related expenses are paid in advance by the Fulbright TEA program and may vary by host university.

More questions?

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