Teaching Jobs Overseas
International Teaching Jobs
K-12 subjects
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Teaching Jobs Overseas
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Relocating overseas is quite a production, especially if you own a house. With a Fulbright Teacher Exchange your present teaching situation is exchanged with a fellow teacher from somewhere in the world, from 6-8 weeks to a year. After spending 8 years teaching in Europe, this time I decided to go on a Fulbright exchange. Here’s why. As a “Fulbrighter,” you don't have to quit your job, sell your house or make any major changes. And you can still cut your tax bill by deducting all related expenses for yourself and the accompanying family members (air fare, travel gear, etc.). Roxanne Nawara, an English teacher from Rosemount, Minnesota says that one year as a Fulbright foreign-exchange teacher in Hungary left her so invigorated that she took a leave of absence and a pay cut to stay a second year. She would have loved to stay on to teach English there a third year. "Personally, two years was simply not enough," she says. "I had 10 different classes. I loved that challenge of learning, just making English fun." |
For detailed information on jobs with Independent International Schools, British, American and Canadian International Schools, US Government Schools overseas, etc. please read
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Teachers from varying world economic situations will be given a stipend from the U.S. government and you will take your present teacher’s salary with you to wherever you are placed. In many areas of the world (e.g. Hungary) the cost of living is much lower than that in the US so you may even save money. The Fulbright grant will cover your relocation expenses. Besides the status of being a Fulbright Teacher Exchange recipient there are any number of advantages to the program. As we mentioned already, you don't need to quit your job; you retain your salary; job-related travel and assignment expenses become tax-deductible and the contract is only for one year or less. The Fulbright program was conceived in 1945 by J. William Fulbright, an obscure senator from Arkansas. Fulbright envisioned the program as a cultural and educational Marshall Plan that would promote international good will and understanding through the exchange of scholars from the United States and those from other countries. "The immediate stimulus for this program was the dropping of nuclear bombs on Japan," says Fulbright. "It impressed me very deeply that it was perfectly ridiculous to have wars continue. The progress of the human race is very slow. But I thought if we could take the best graduate students, who would later become influential citizens and leaders, and introduce them to the way other people do things, it would be the beginning of a way to avoid disastrous conflicts." The first "Fulbrighters" began their travel in the fall of 1948 in exchanges with China, Burma, and the Philippines. Since then the program has grown exponentially. Approximately 4,500 new grants are awarded every year. More than 186,000 Fulbright scholars (both from the United States and other nations) have journeyed to 130 countries around the world on grants that range from two months to an academic year. Among participants are such Nobel Prize-winning scientists as Joshua Lederberg, Emilio Segre, Charles Townes, James Watson, and Rosalyn Yalow.
The common misconception is that Fulbright is privately funded. In reality, the primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation by the U.S. Congress.
The remainder is supplied by participating countries. In a sense, the Fulbright Program is really 125 different programs under the auspices of the Fulbright Scholarship program. Over the years, the layers of bureaucracy have thickened so we will need some help to go through this maze. The major subdivisions are: 2. THE FULBRIGHT STUDENT PROGRAM. Administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE), in cooperation with the U.S. government. About 450 annual grants for graduating college seniors and graduate students from the U.S., as well as 2,000 from other countries. 3. THE FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR PROGRAM for Scholars/Professionals administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) in cooperation with the U.S. government. It sends in excess of 1,000 people annually to more than 100 countries, where they lecture or conduct research in a variety of academic and professional fields. 4. THE FULBRIGHT VISITING SCHOLAR PROGRAM (for non-US citizens). Nearly 1,000 visiting scholars come to the US every year for an academic year or term. Scholarships are offered in the following fields: |
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 WINNING THE GRANT:
STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS"It's a truly competitive program," said Jochen Hoffman, the chief of the Fulbright Teacher Exchange. "The eligibility factors are such that we are looking not only for qualified teachers, but flexible teachers and good ambassadors for the United States." If you are a qualified educator or administrator at any level between kindergarten and four-year college, you may be eligible (there are a few restrictions). STEP ONE. Verify if you are eligible. http://www.cies.org/us_scholars/eligibility.htm Important: You must meet ALL the requirements listed below!
If you have no problem with all of the above you qualify to file an application. The first page is a short application requiring the most basic of information from the applicant, plus a small area where you must provide a synopsis in approximately 50 words your personal/professional goals as related to the exchange. At the bottom of the first page (Aii) there are three little boxes: Approve, Disapprove and Abstain. Your strength as a candidate apparently lies in these 50 words. The biggest challenge at this point is to write a cohesive synopsis using only 50 words! Here’s how: 1. Start with a free form letter, cover the important points: personal and professional goals. The following pages ask for more information about yourself and your family, your school, and your school duties. STEP FIVE: Write your essay. Then comes an essay to be written on no more than two additional pages. The essay choices are very simple - provide a narrative picture of yourself or describe your future career plans and goals. Do not go if you have a secret agenda. If your real goal is different, be it travel, establishing business contacts, or preaching your religious or political views -- stay at home. You will save yourself from major disappointments. REGIONAL OR PROFESSIONAL? As a teacher, you can either base your proposal on educational ideas or you can select a regional approach; or combine them. The regional approach involves a specific cultural or linguistic group or region. For example, if you teach Political Science in High School and you have a professional interest in the government system of Japan and its relations with the US, build your proposal around this theme. Obviously, your choice of countries will be then limited to Japan. A focused approach will give you a big advantage over those who beat about the bush. Many applicants do not seem to understand why exactly they want to go to a particular place except for general talk about “expanding their cultural horizons” and “learning the language.” To evaluate your chances, look at your essay from the committee’s point of view. Ask yourself:
The problem with so many candidates is that they seem to be talking exclusively about themselves, forgetting that the spirit and nature of the Fulbright is helping others. The heading on the Fulbright Teacher Exchange web page is “Promote International Understanding.” The other extreme is to present yourself as a missionary with the vision to save the world. Don't do that, you will be rejected! So, pick your country and prepare a convincing essay explaining why you want to go there. Make it clear why you will be an asset for both schools or why a teacher from that country should experience the United States. Explain the benefits of the exchange. Show why it will be good for YOUR school and the people working here.
This was the closing third sentence of my 50 word synopsis. Because the candidates’ essay will be read and compared, you want to sound mature, well-prepared, and responsible. Knowing where you want to go, how it will benefit both schools and why it is a good idea is exactly what proves this point. Writing 250 words on “expanding your cultural horizons” will make no impact on the committee members who more than likely have extensive knowledge of the world. Question: “But I do not want to limit my chances by eliminating the other options! I would prefer to keep all doors open.” This is what we suggest when you look for an overseas teaching job. The Fulbright selecting committee does not work this way, however.
Once you are interviewed as a candidate, you can change your mind about your top three countries and who will be accompanying you on the exchange. There is nothing wrong with this and you are allowed to do so. But this will be AFTER you have been interviewed and before the committee begins to match candidates. The whole process takes several months so begin early. Your application package must be in the mail by October 15 of the year BEFORE the year you plan to go overseas. I mailed my packet on the morning of October 15th. The next I heard from the Department of State was a letter mailed to me on November 10 acknowledging receipt of application, setting up a peer review and identifying any documents missing from my packet. I supposed that I had passed the initial cut. The next correspondence from the regional interviewing committee arrived on November 24 identifying my interview site as Portland State University and affirming an appointment time. If you have done your homework properly while preparing your synopsis and essay you do not need any special preparation for your interview. I pushed all thoughts of the meeting out of my mind. I woke up, put on a suit that I had bought in Greece and left an hour early. My husband didn't even know that I was interviewing. Dr. McCrohan, who served on the committee for Fulbright Scholar Awards, says,
"The Fulbright committee places a great deal of emphasis on how proactive each candidate is in learning more about the institutions and county to which he or she is applying."
The committee looks at who you are as a person, as an educator and as a type of ambassador to the United States -- as a combination of professionals. They will look at you and see what you represent. If you feel you need to practice to become a better candidate look over the questions I was asked (below). You should have a good idea of who you are and be comfortable representing yourself. There will be no questions on how you handle discipline in the classroom!
For an average year CIES receives over 3,000 applications from Americans seeking teaching grants. Out of that pool, about 1000 people are awarded Fulbrights. So your chances are about 1 in 3. On the student side of the equation, your odds are about 1 in 6 or 1 in 7. These are AVERAGE numbers, the actual situation will depend on your country selection, because awards are given on the basis of what's available in each country. For my qualifications, there are 2 placements in Latvia, three in South Africa and 60 in the UK. The competition for popular destinations is stiff while less traveled countries offer better chances.
Location: The reception area was Portland State University’s History Department (obviously, you will have a different location). There were several couches placed around a coffee table. The arrangement was welcoming and comfortable. - coffee, juice, cookies, etc. A hostess was there to greet us. Tip. Definitely arrive before your scheduled interview time. Make sure you know where you are going. Although I am from Portland, I still had trouble finding the building and the room.
If family members will be accompanying you overseas, it is advised to bring them if they are under four years of age. This is primarily so the committee can see if the family is supportive of your decision. A fellow applicant had his three children with him. All the children introduced themselves with “Me llamo ---.” He told me they spoke no other Spanish and they had prepared saying this for a month. The smallest boy said,
“I'm going to go on an airplane!” When asked where he was going he responded,
“I'm going to South America!” The overall effect was a family right behind the applicant. There were about 20 applicants interviewing in Portland. Our hostess told me that one year there were 60 candidates so they had to have many teams interviewing at the same time. In the end, there isn't any competition between you and your fellow candidates. You are all in it together and hoping for a placement depending on your individual situations. The possibilities for placements are individual. It is highly unlikely that the candidate next to you is looking for an elementary position in South Africa (or whatever you have in mind for yourself) so do not view your neighbors as competitors. There is no reason to be intimidated by the other applicants. We spoke about how far each one of us had traveled to get to the site and discussed the weather. At 9:30 the chairs from the interviewing teams collected the applicants one by one. I was the fourth to be collected so I was left alone in the room for a few minutes. The hostess came right over and sat with me, which I thought was very kind, so that I wasn't alone. I was met by my regional committee chair and shown to a room where two other professionals were waiting. They introduced themselves and were extremely cordial. I felt at ease immediately. There was a pitcher of water on the table. The committee members were professionally dressed. I was perhaps a bit overdressed, as I wore a suit, but I felt comfortable with this decision. As my first country choice was South Africa, my panel all had (rather extensive!) Experience in Africa.
They were well informed about my qualifications and work situation. What impressed me the most was how well this team worked together.
Not once in the thirty minutes did one interrupt the other. They inspired questions from one another. Below are the actual questions I was asked. They will give you a good idea of the interview and why it is important to prepare for it well in advance -- when you fill out your application form.
You should know that the committee will not make the final decision if you should be awarded a grant or not. As we mentioned earlier there are several layers of bureaucracy. However, the committee will write a detailed report on you. HOW they write it will determine whether your application will be a success. So take the interview very seriously. My committee was very calm and patient with my answers. But do not test their patience. They are responsible for sending a report back to Washington D.C. and therefore must make as detailed a report as possible. They took many notes throughout the interview. I made continual and friendly eye contact with everyone on my committee. This is extremely important. Do not flit from one face to the next. Hold your eye contact in a sincere and honest manner.
My panel put me at ease immediately and throughout the interview. Only once did I hesitate before answering to really think through the question. My panel was waiting with such expectancy that when I looked around and saw all three faces staring at me, I completely lost my train of thought. I had to ask them to repeat the question. If you need time to think through a question, take it. If you need the question repeated, ask. It is better than saying something stupid. The panel will have more respect for you as a candidate if you are honest and clearly trying to formulate your thoughts. When the committee compiles their report on you they will remember your strong answers. If you say something stupid it will be on the report, too, but the fact that you were quick with your answers will not give you any credit. In summary, I felt like we were all striving for the same goal. At the end of my interview, the head of the committee said, “Do you see the color of this Fulbright booklet? It is purple. And purple is the color of passion and that’s how I feel about the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program.” It was a moving closure to our meeting and he probably wouldn't share this information if I hadn't been accepted. I don't think that my committee was exceptional in their devotion to the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program. Of course the worst part about any interview is after the interview. One spends the rest of the morning thinking of all the other ways the questions could have been answered.
On February 4th I received a letter from the U.S. Department of State. “The peer review committee has recommended you for exchange. We are currently in the process of matching applicants and will notify those candidate for whom we find matches beginning in March and continuing through the end of May. If you have not been matched by June, we will send you a written update concerning your status.” |
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