The Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching (Fulbright DAI) invites teachers for a semester-long program in the U.S. beginning in January 2021. The program will provide international educators from 17 countries with a professional development program at a U.S. university. The program includes academic coursework, leadership training, instructional technology seminars, and opportunities to observe, co-teach, and share their expertise in U.S. elementary and secondary schools. Each participant will also complete an individual or group project relevant to their practice.
Participating teachers will be placed in groups of 16-20 at U.S. university schools of education. U.S. host universities will be selected through a competitive process. They will be responsible for designing a specialized orientation and seminars for the teachers, and will ensure that each group has access to a variety of professional development activities. Faculty advisors will guide the participants in the refinement and implementation of their projects.
During the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching program the participants will:
Upon returning to Finland, the participants will be expected to share the knowledge and experience gained during the program with colleagues and students in their home school and within their communities.
University Coursework:
University staff and an assigned faculty advisor will recommend audit courses that best meet each grantee’s program goals, align with the participant’s inquiry project, and support the enhancement of the participant’s professional educational practice. The host university will provide coursework on a wide range of topics, including curriculum development, second language instruction, comparative education, educational leadership, and teaching methodologies, among others, from which participants can choose.
University Faculty Advisor:
In addition to receiving support and advising from host university program staff, each program participant will work closely with a faculty advisor. The advisor will be a faculty member or other individual who will provide feedback and guidance as the educator develops the inquiry project.
Inquiry Project:
Throughout the semester at the U.S. host university, each program participant will participate in professional development activities that support the completion of an individual or a group project. University program staff and the assigned faculty advisor will assist participants in refining and completing the project.
U.S. School Placements:
Program participants will be placed in a U.S. elementary or secondary school during a portion of their time in the U.S., where they will form connections with U.S. educators and classrooms, observe classes, co-teach, and share their expertise and information about their home communities and schools. Participants will be paired with a U.S. partner educator at their assigned school to help them learn more about the U.S. educational system and to serve as a guide during their school placements. Host university staff will identify schools located near the university campus that are appropriate to each grantee’s interests and areas of expertise. Participants will also have an opportunity during the program to visit other schools and engage in school activities outside of the classroom.
Online Professional Learning Community:
Each Fulbright Distinguished Teacher will participate in a virtual community with other international participants to collaborate and share best practices about education and leadership in the participating locations.
Fulbright Seminar:
Program participants will participate in a Fulbright seminar at their host university featuring discussions led by university staff, faculty members, and invited guests. The seminar topics will focus on reflecting on the field experience, shaping the inquiry projects, and examining trends and current issues in education, such as curriculum, instruction and learning, assessment, instructional technology, student-centered learning, and teacher leadership, among other topics that are of interest to participants. Participants will collaborate with host universities to shape the seminar topics and focus. During the seminars, participants will also share their expertise, experience, and information about their home community educational system with each other.
Travel: IREX will make international travel arrangements and provide all participants with an international airline ticket. Participants will also be reimbursed for round-trip travel expenses between their home city and the point of departure for the United States. Participants will be given the option of traveling after the end of their program during the thirty day grace period of the J-1 visa, provided that all conditions in the Terms and Conditions are met.
Housing: Participants will live near the host university campus in housing that is arranged for them.
Note: For participants who will be accompanied by family members, host university staff can provide information to assist the grantee in identifying alternate on- or off-campus housing; however participants are responsible for making housing arrangements.
Finances: Each Fulbright Distinguished Teacher will receive a maintenance allowance during the program to cover expenses such as supplies for classes, household items, personal items, medical co-payments, and for cultural and other activities. This allowance will also include a daily stipend for purchasing 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 DAI Program. Participants will also receive a professional development allowance to use to fund conference attendance, print and online educational resources, inquiry project research travel, and other items that contribute to the participants’ professional goals during the program.
Policies Regarding Dependents: Children and spouses may accompany participants, but expenses and all of the arrangements for dependents, including schooling where appropriate, will be the responsibility of the grantee to arrange for the duration of the program. Participants will spend the majority of their time participating in FDAI activities and fulfilling the requirements of the program. This should be taken into consideration when making decisions about whether or not to bring family members to the United States.
Dependents may come to Washington, D.C., for the orientation and stay in the same hotel room. Minors are not permitted to attend the sessions.
DS-2019s for international participant dependents' J-2 visas will be issued upon receipt of proof of adequate financial resources and health insurance for dependents who will accompany participants for 80 percent or more of the program.
The candidate should have:
Applications with all the required attachments should be submitted by February 19, 2020.
The application is to be completed through the IREX Electronic Application. The Fulbright Finland Foundation will only accept applications submitted through the application system.
Start the application by reading the instructions for filling out the electronic application and looking at the model application.
Your electronic application must include the following documents:
Note: Individual files may not exceed 4 MB and must take less than 2 minutes to upload to the server. Any upload that takes more than 2 minutes to upload or is larger than 4 MB will fail.
After you have submitted your application we recommend for you to download it to your own files. This is possible from the Download Application PDF button located in the top right corner of the application system.
More information on applying can be found from the website of our U.S. partner IREX.
You will receive an email from the Fulbright Finland Foundation if your application has passed an initial screening and you have been selected for an interview. At the very latest you will be notified of this a week before the date of your interview. Please note that the Fulbright Finland Foundation does not cover expenses resulting from the interview. A copy of your passport will be requested prior to the interviews.
The interviews are compulsory and will take place at the office of the Fulbright Finland Foundation in Helsinki on March 25, 2020. Read more about the selection process and preparing for the interview here.
The Fulbright Finland Foundation Board of Directors will select applications to be forwarded to the U.S. for consideration.
The final review of the international candidates and the selection of the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching program nominees from the international candidate pool will be conducted by the Teacher Exchange Branch in the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
The Fulbright Finland Foundation organizes a one day mandatory pre-departure orientation for all Finnish Fulbright grantees in May. In 2020, the orientation will be held on May 13, 2020. All grantees are expected to attend.
| Application period starts | December |
| Application period ends | February 19, 2020 |
| Interview invitations go out | One week prior the interviews |
| Interviews take place at the Fulbright Finland Foundation office | March 25, 2020 |
| Pre-departure orientation seminar in Helsinki for all Fulbright Finland grantees going to the U.S. | May 13, 2020 |
| Program begins | January 2021 |
Find out who are the Fulbright DAI alumni, what were their inquiry projects about and read their blogs!
The Fulbright DAI program is funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered in the U.S. by IREX and by the Fulbright Finland Foundation in Finland.
The Fulbright Finland Foundation is a private, independent, not-for-profit organization based in Helsinki, Finland. The Foundation’s aim is
Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching program is part of the global Fulbright program operating in over 160 countries worldwide.
