Awards to the U.S.
Distinguished Award in Teaching Program for International Teachers (DAI)
Description and Purpose
The Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching (DAI) Program provides funding for highly accomplished Taiwan primary and secondary educators to take part in an intensive professional development program for 5 months in the United States. International participants gather at a single U.S. university’s College of Education which will provide a broad range of education classes and faculty support.
AWARD
Up to 2 awards
ACTIVITY
Professional development
LENGTH
5 months
DEADLINE
April 15, 2025
Program Components
- Design and complete an individual or group educator project relevant to their educational practice
- 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. elementary or secondary schools
- Participate in an online professional learning community with other participants to share educational practices with a global network of colleagues
- Engage in other education and cultural activities while on program in the United States
Upon returning home, educators will be expected to share the knowledge and experience gained on the program with educators and students in their home schools and within their communities.
Educator Project: Throughout the semester at the U.S. host university, each international grantee will participate in activities that support the completion of an individual or a group project. University program staff and an assigned faculty advisor will assist participants in refining and completing the project.
Examples of previous project topics include:
- “Strengthening STEM Skills through Student-Centered Practices”
- “Best Practices for Engaging Students with Special Needs”
- “Using Technology to Improve English-Language Instruction”
- “Strategies for Designing Strong Multicultural Education Curricula”
General categories of project types have included:
- School site-based projects: Focused on better understanding student learning, educator practice, student and/or educator attitudes)
- Curriculum projects: Focused on design of a new course, updating a course curriculum, development of a comprehensive resource document to support a course or curriculum
- Professional development projects: Focused on designing materials and activities for a professional development program for practicing educators
- Other possibilities
Final products should reflect the project goal. Possible formats include: written report or paper; curriculum unit or individual lesson plans; instructional game; book; media (video, webinars, etc.); other possibilities.
Fulbright Seminar: Fulbright Teachers 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 educator 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. The seminar will also touch on thematic topics like climate education and digital literacy.
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 educator 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: Each Fulbright Teacher will work closely with a faculty advisor. The advisor will be a faculty member or another individual who will provide feedback and guidance as the educator develops their educator project.
U.S. School Placements: 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 Teacher will participate in a virtual community with other international participants to collaborate and share best practices about education and leadership in the participating countries and territories.
As part of the program, Fulbright Distinguished Teachers:
- Study and observe international best practices in education
- Share professional expertise with educators and students in the U.S.
- Develop leadership skills and understanding of U.S. educational policy
- Enhance their ability to work in diverse and multicultural environments
Service upon Return
- Integrate international best practices in education in the home country classroom, school and community
- Integrate Educator Project findings into the home/ host country classroom or school
- Expand global and intercultural awareness of students and colleagues by sharing their Fulbright experience and infusing their experience into classroom content or curriculum
- Develop partnerships and joint projects with schools and classrooms in the U.S.
Benefits
Up to 2 awards, subject to the Grant Authorization issued by the Department of State
- J-1 visa support
- A Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO) held in Taiwan
- Round-trip airfare to and within the U.S
- Academic program fees (paid directly to the host institution)
- Housing (sometimes shared with other participants) and meals
- Transportation to local schools
- A daily allowance for incidentals during the university academic program
- A professional development allowance
- A baggage allowance to offset the cost of travel
- The opportunity to apply for alumni small grants for alumni in good standing
- Accident and sickness medical coverage
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants are eligible who:
- Current full-time following people are eligible to apply:
- elementary through high school teachers
- guidance counselors
- curriculum specialists
- curriculum heads
- talented and gifted coordinators
- special education coordinators
- media specialists/librarians
- Hold a full-time teaching position
For the purpose of determining eligibility, “full-time” refers to applicants who are currently employed full-time or who hold a combination of positions that add up to full-time equivalency in a school, school district or educational institution at the local, state/provincial or national level. - Spend at least 50% of their time teaching or working directly with students.
Primary and secondary level media specialists/librarians, guidance counselors, Special Education coordinators and administrators who teach students at least 50% of their time may also apply to the program. - Have earned a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent education and experience
- Demonstrate English language skills adequate to manage coursework, complete an inquiry project, and team-teach in U.S. schools.
- By the start of the program, have at least 3 years of experience teaching or working directly with students in some other capacity (as a guidance counselor, library media specialist, etc.); however, preference will be given to applicants with 5 or more years of experience
- Demonstrate experience conducting professional development activities
- Demonstrate accomplishment in teaching or have previously received teaching awards or exemplary evaluations
- Demonstrate a commitment to continue teaching or working in their field after completion of the program*
- Meet the Grant Conditions and Provisions (Eligibility & Visa)
* Candidates should be planning to continue working in elementary or secondary education for at least five years after the conclusion of the program.
Applicants are ineligible who:
- Applicants must hold citizenship in Taiwan. Besides, applicants cannot be U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. to participate in the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program. An applicant who has resided in the U.S. for five or more consecutive years in the six-year period preceding the date of application is ineligible for a grant. An applicant who has lived in the U.S. for nine months or more during a calendar year is deemed to have resided in the U.S. for that year.
- Are currently teaching, studying, or conducting research in the U.S.
- Ministry of Education officials, full-time principals or educational administrators, university faculty, private English Language tutors and teachers from schools primarily serving expatriates, Part‐time teachers are not eligible
Other Requirements:
- All other factors being equal, preference is given to applicants who has submitted all of the documents.
- Submit the final presentation of the Educator Project to FSE Online Journal within 1 month after the grant end date: https://journal.fulbright.org.tw/
Note: During the grant period, the grantee must submit a research or reflections article to FSE’s Online Journal Research & Reflections.
Learn More About the Process
Application Procedure
1
Apply online no later than April 15, 2025. For application information, please refer to: Application Instruction (PDF)
2
Submit the hard copy of following required documents to Fulbright Taiwan, postmarked no later than April 15, 2025.
- Hard copies of your completed on-lined application form (filled in English, including application form, English CV, employment certificate, and passport copy.)
- Chinese CV (the translation version of your English CV with your cell phone number and mailing address. We’ll deliver the notification letter via post mail after the nomination list is confirmed.)
- The applicant’s supervisor and principal have to fill the certain forms downloaded in the application system, and the forms should be uploaded in the application system.
The mailing address is:
Foundation for Scholarly Exchange
2nd Fl., 45, Yanping S. Rd., Taipei 100011, Taiwan
Attn. Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program
3
The application process has been completed! Wait for the notification letter!
FAQ
Applicants are not required to submit TOEFL or IELETS score reports. The DAI program will evaluate the applicants based on the interview performance.
The host institution will be arraged by the U.S. partner, International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX)
Our Foundation is in charge of documents required for visa application, including DS-2019, visa fee waiver, and the administrative procedures of visa application. It’s not the host institutions to issue DS-2019s to Fulbright grantees.
1) In the grant period, grantees have to submit at least one research result/reflections report to FSE Online Journal:(in Chinese or English)
2) After completion of your grant in the United States, you should return to Taiwan for at least two years before being eligible to apply for temporary worker (H), intracompany transferee (L), fiancé (K) visa, or immigrant visa/lawful permanent resident status (LPR), so called Two-Year Home-Country Physical Presence Requirement under Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Within the two-year period, the grantees are allowed to apply for tourist visa, student visa, and other non-immigrant-non-employment visa to attend conferences, travel or study in the U.S.
Please refer to the selection report on the website.
The DAI program does NOT provide visa sponsorships to the grantees’ dependents.
Our Foundation will provide official letter to the selected DAI teacher as a proof for asking for leave from the home school. Previous DAI teachers followed the Guidelines for Position Retained without Pay of Official Teachers (教育人員留職停薪辦法) to ask for leave without pay, which should be approved by the home school and the home Education Bureau of the city/county.
Selection Procedure
May
Tentatively scheduled on May 6, 2025, a Selection Committee (academic peers from a variety of disciplines, Board members, and staff) reviews all documents and project proposals, conducts oral interviews with applicants, and recommends a slate for final selection by Fulbright Taiwan’s Board.
June
- Applicants are notified by Fulbright Taiwan of nomination/non-nomination by email by the end of June after the Board meeting. Their nomination is also sent to International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) for global competition.
- The grant is then subject to:
- Final approval by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB)
- The candidate’s placement with a U.S. institution approved by Fulbright Taiwan
December
Final approval is normally received by Fulbright Taiwan in December 2025 and conveyed to grantees as soon as received.
Note: All Taiwan grantees traveling to the U.S. must hold a J-type visa for academic and cultural exchange programs.
Join the Prestigious Network!
More Information Below
Helpful Links
- American Institute in Taiwan (AIT)
- The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA)
- The Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES)
- Institute of International Education (IIE)
- Ministry of Education (MOE)
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA)
- TECRO in the USA
- Arts Residency Network, Ministry of Culture (MOC), Taiwan
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S.
Contact
Ms. Andie Liao
Email: fse@fulbright.org.tw
Tel: 02-2388-2100 ext. 134