The Bulgarian-American Fulbright Commission and the U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria are pleased to announce the competition for Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Media Literacy Awards.
The brings international secondary-level teachers to the United States for a six-week program to take academic seminars at a host university, observe and share their expertise with U.S. teachers and students, and develop action plans to promote media literacy and critical thinking skills in their home schools, classrooms, and communities.
Topics of seminars may 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 democratic societies; and fostering cyber safety and digital citizenship in the classroom.
Program activities:
- General academic seminars focusing on new teaching methodologies, content-based instruction, project-based learning, infusing thematic topics into curriculum, lesson planning, and instructional technology training for teachers
- Specialized seminars with a focus on 21st century classroom media literacy
- A practicum of at least 40 hours with a U.S. partner teacher in local secondary schools
- A variety of relevant professional development and cultural activities
Duration: 6 weeks in the fall of 2019 or the spring of 2020;
fall cohort: September 2019-October 2019
spring cohort: the end of January 2020 – the beginning of March 2020
Eligibility and selection criteria:
- Current secondary-level and high-school, full-time teachers of English, other foreign languages, the language and literature of your home country, social studies, civics, history, global studies, media studies, communications, journalism, law, or related fields at institutions serving primarily a local population. (Students taught should be 12-18 years old.)
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
- Five or more years of full-time teaching experience
- Demonstrated oral and written English language proficiency (TOEFL test results are required without exception.If presented by the application deadline, February 5, 2019, this will be considered an advantage. Other English language certificates are also acceptable at the application phase. Nominated candidates, who applied with other certificates, will be given TOEFL vouchers and required to submit test results by March 10.)
- Experience or demonstrated interest in the field of 21st century media literacy and critical thinking
- Other requirements as indicated in the application
Number of awards: 6-8 nominations per country. The final decision is taken by a US selection committee. An independent review committee will be convened to select participants for the program through merit-based competition.
The Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program provides:
J-1 support; round trip airfare; accommodations, meals, and incidentals for the duration of the program;
accident and sickness medical coverage; a welcome and end-of program workshop in Washington, D.C; professional development and cultural activities.
Application: Applications should be submitted BY FEBRUARY 5, 2019 through this online platform: https://oas.irex.org/fulbrightteaml
Required documents include: the online application, institutional support and reference form, leave of absence approval, international passport data. (All forms are available within the online platform, and should be uploaded there.)
Please note: Bulgarian citizens can only apply for the Media Literacy Program, not for the general pedagogy one!
Timeline:
Competition Announcement – December 1, 2018
Application Deadline – February 5, 2019
National Nomination Announcement – Mid February, 2019
Nomination Submission to US committee – March 15, 2019
Final Nominations Announcement – May 15, 2019
For more information, you can contact: Maria Kostova, mkostova@fulbright.bg; tel: 02 9808212; mobile: 0879164095
