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Fulbright Program: U.S. Applicant Podcast

Transcript For: Jody Dudderar discusses the Fulbright Teaching Assistantships Program

Jody Dudderar, Assistant Director of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, discusses the Fulbright Teaching Assistantship Program

Jody Dudderar on the Fulbright ETA Program

Schuyler:          Welcome to the Fulbright U.S. Grant Applicant podcast. My name is Schuyler Allen and I’m your host and I’m joined today with the Assistant Director of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, Jody Dudderar, who is going to talk to you a bit today about applying as an English Teaching Assistant. Jody, welcome.

Jody:                Thank you. It’s good to be here.

Schuyler:          So, Jody, tell us. What is new with the English Teaching Assistants programs this year?

Jody:                The English Teaching Assistant Program, or ETA program as we call it, is growing enormously. By that I mean we’ve been adding new country programs, almost doubling the number every year. We’re currently having programs in 42 countries in all world regions where we operate Fulbright programs. So the most exciting thing is that there’s new possibilities in Eastern Europe, in Eurasia, in Africa, and in the Near East. We’re very excited about those possibilities.

Schuyler:          Excellent. So, if I’m a grantee, and I’m thinking of options, in terms of what I want to do, what would be your recommendations in terms of, do I need to speak the language in the country, or do I need to have a background teaching English?

Jody:                Well, that’s two separate questions. So let me take your first question first and that is the language requirements. The language requirements for ETA programs to know the host country language are much lower than they would be for study research programs. We do suggest that you look at the country summary because there are a few countries that either have a strong preference for language or some knowledge of the language and it’s clearly stated. I will mention that all countries in Latin America do require that you have a fairly good proficiency in Spanish, or if it’s Brazil, that you have basic Portuguese. But for the rest of the world the requirements vary greatly so you need to take a look. I do want to mention, though, learning a language is possible in the ETA program because you don’t have to have strong language ability. It is possible for you to consider improving your language skills, or even starting study. For example, there is language study, actually part of the ETA program, for the countries such as South Korea, Germany, Bulgaria, Nepal, Indonesia, and Jordan. They actually provide language instruction as part of your ETA grant.

Schuyler:          Wow.

Jody:                Yeah, that’s a real plus. I don’t think a lot of students think about it. Also, our Critical Language Enhancement Award, and I don’t want to go into the details about it because information’s available online, but students who are applying for ETA programs to Russia, Turkey, and Taiwan may also apply  for a Critical Language Enhancement Award which is actually a grant to provide intensive language study prior to starting your ETA.

Schuyler:          And I can get the details online and… where else? Or just online? Where would you recommend?

Jody:                Online! Unless there’s a podcast I don’t know about!

Schuyler:          No, no. For the uninitiated, to make sure we can point them in the right direction.

Jody:                On our website- you can get information on the CLEA award on our website at fulbrightonline.org.

Schuyler:          Excellent, excellent. So with all these English Teaching or ETA opportunities that are expanding exponentially around the globe, where would Fulbright like to see more English Teaching Assistants?

Jody:                We would like to see more applications for English Teaching Assistantships to some of the smaller countries in Eastern Europe. I think that people don’t think about, perhaps, taking a grant in a place like Macedonia, for example. Also, we are developing new programs in that part of the world. So, if you apply for a program, in Eastern Europe or Eurasia and a new program opens up and you’ve been recommended for a grant you may actually have the added advantage of being considered for another country. So that’s where a lot of the action is going on. Also, the two largest country programs for ETAs are Germany and South Korea. And the odds are a little bit stronger at getting a grant in those countries simply because we have so many grants on offer.

Schuyler:          That’s great news for people looking for abundant opportunities out there.

Jody:                Exactly.

Schuyler:          Let’s talk a little bit about nuts and bolts if we can here. What’s involved in putting an English Teaching or an ETA application together? How does it differ, or is it the same?

Jody:                Well, it definitely differs. For one thing students are not proposing to undertake a study or research project. You’re applying for an already established grant. It’s a  grant where placement is made by the host country in terms of where you’re going to be in that host country. But things that you should consider as you’re applying and actually choosing a country is why you want to do an ETA program. ETA applicants really do need to have a commitment to the goals of the ETA program: improving English Language instruction, in the setting in which they’re placed in the host country, and they also do need to have some teaching skills. It does not necessarily need to be a formal degree in education or a teacher certification, but you do have to have some experience in an educational setting, teaching, tutoring, assisting in classroom situations. It certainly does help. ETAs, as I said, are placed by the host country and you may be the only English language speaker in that institution or sometimes even in that town. So you need to have good communication skills. You are going to be representing not only the United States and as a native speaker of English, you also need to be able to get out into that community and talk about the U.S., talk about culture in the United States. Sometimes it will be in English, sometimes it will be in the host country language, depending on your language skills. So those are kind of the… overall profile of an ETA.

Schuyler:          Right. And, do you want to talk a little bit about the community service project that’s attached to the grant as well?

Jody:                Many, but not all of the programs, but most of the programs, your teaching is not a full time responsibility. You might only have 20-25 hours a week of teaching so you are expected to engage in “supplemental activities” or a small project. It can be a general research project, something that you’re really interested in investigating in that country. You know, if you’re a literature major, you might be wanting to look at the literature of the country. If you’re a history buff you might want to be investigating or researching certain aspects of the history of that country or that region. If you are a teacher, you’re interested in education, you might be looking at some aspect of education in that country. So, the supplemental activity can take the shape of, as I said, a research project, but it also can take the shape of a community service project. A number of our grantees have very specific ideas about how they would like to contribute to their community. It might be a case where they’re placed in a university, but they have a real intense interest in learning about schools, and volunteering in schools, and maybe even volunteering in a very specific way in a school. And they can propose that. The important thing for the supplementary activity—and it doesn’t need, by the way, to take up a lot of space in your essays, one of your essays, and I’ll talk about the essay in a minute—but you should mention it because it gives us insight as to what really drives, what really motivates you in ways outside of the classroom.

Schuyler:          So, a sense of the student and their passion should definitely come through in that engagement project.

Jody:                Absolutely. That’s a very good way of putting it.

Schuyler:          Would you also caution people not to get overly ambitious necessarily with the project because sometimes it seems that people want to have almost two Fulbright grants in one?

Jody:                That’s a very good point Schuyler, I’m glad you mentioned it. Yes, you need to remember that the commitment to the ETA program is the number one reason why you’ve chosen this program. The project is secondary. If you have a very clearly defined idea of study, research that you would like to do, then you should be applying for a study/research grant because that’s where your passion is going to be. And we’ve seen it in committees where the committee has disqualified a student, in a sense, for the ETA grant because it’s so clear they should be doing a study/research grant, just because of what they have proposed and how they have presented it. ETA grants, as I said, are very much designed for people who want to be in classrooms teaching English and spending a majority of their time on that kind of work.

Schuyler:          Great. You said before, earlier, if I was listening correctly, you want to talk a little bit about the application. There was some element of the application.

Jody:                Right. I want to talk about the statement of grant purpose because this really is a very important piece. When we look at an ETA application we are looking at the whole application. We’re looking at the candidate’s leadership, demonstrated leadership ability, their extracurricular and volunteer abilities, we’re looking at their communication skills, as represented both in their statements but also in their references. But the statement of grant purpose and the personal statement are very important because these are the places that the applicant really has a chance to tell us why they want to do this. You tell us why you want to undertake an ETA position, why you’ve chosen the country or region to which you’re applying. Maybe not so much the specific country, but the region, it might be language, it might be culture- give us an idea of what has motivated you in that direction. You can talk a bit about your specific qualifications, particularly if it’s not really evident in other parts of your application, for example a special tutoring activity that you’ve undertaken. Anything that can tell us a bit more about why you think you’re qualified to be an English Teaching Assistant. And also in this statement or in your personal statement you’re going to want to touch on how you expect to benefit from this and perhaps even what you are going to leave behind.

Schuyler:          The exchange happens both ways.

Jody:                Exactly, exactly. One thing that I do want to mention that is important- the ETA statement of grant purpose is one page, unlike the study/research statement which is two. This is a one page statement and you need to stay within the space limitations.

Schuyler:          OK, great. Let’s say I’m pre-med and I’m just about to graduate, but I do have an interest in teaching, and my background hasn’t really necessarily demonstrated that I’ve done a lot of teaching. Would you encourage me or discourage me from applying?

Jody:                Well there might be some programs where that would be appropriate. You have to keep in mind that you do need to demonstrate that you can go into a classroom and hit the ground running in terms of designing learning activities and engaging students. The one place that would be more receptive or most receptive to your kind of candidate would actually be South Korea. In South Korea because they really don’t require any teaching experience because they provide a 6 week orientation program that will touch on language, culture, as well as methodologies. So that would probably be the best, and there might be a few others. If you have a particular world region in mind, you might want to talk to the world region program manager because they might know of a country where your background and interests would be a perfect match.

Schuyler:          Let’s say I’ve gone online and I’ve looked at the country summaries and I’ve begun to make a decision about which country I’d like to apply to as an ETA. When I get there, can I expect to teach in a high school setting? Or a primary school setting? Will I be the only teacher in the classroom or will there be a head teacher? What can I expect on the other side if I’ve got the grant?

Jody:                OK. First of all, whether it’s high school or university or secondary school, you’re going to know that from the country summary. They’ll either tell you it’s an option or it’s not an option. So that’s number one. And that might guide the country that you end up choosing. If you definitely want to work in a school, there’s a lot of programs that only offer school placements. If you definitely want to work in universities, there’s a number of programs that only offer university placements. So that is country specific.

                        The second part of your question had to do with the level of supervision. You are a teaching assistant. You are working under the supervision of a classroom teacher. You will not be asked to design curricula. You will be asked to design classroom activities or perhaps a series of classes around certain topics, around conversation skills. You might be asked to help the teacher design projects that might teach specific grammar skills. So you will be working with a teacher. Again, there’s a lot of room for creativity and there’s a lot of room for the individual ETA to assert their skills, put their skills and their interests forward in the teaching situation. I think the most important thing about ETAs is you have to be flexible, you have to be open. Because in many cases, you might be the only English Teaching Assistant in the institution and they might want you to do a lot of different things. You have to be willing to be flexible.

Schuyler:          And have a lot of energy.

Jody:                And have a lot of energy. Absolutely.

Schuyler:          So the schools that allow the ETAs to come in and assistant teach, have they been schools that have been having ETAs for years, or are they new schools? How does it…?

Jody:                It varies. It varies tremendously. Some of the more established programs they may be sending ETAs to schools that have one every year so they kind of know what to expect. The newer programs, which actually account for probably 90% of our ETA countries, they may be still designing new placements or locating new placements. So you might be the first ETA the school has ever had.

                        It’s challenging. And I’m going to go back to what we’re looking for in ETA applicants and really one of the things that we’re looking for is how flexible are you? How well do you respond to the unknown?

Schuyler:          Adaptability.

Jody:                Exactly. Are you willing- are you a person who’s willing to go in there and take whatever comes and really turn it around and make it the best possible situation? And again, we are able to determine a lot of that from your references, and a lot from what you say about yourself and your background.

Schuyler:          So you’ve got to be careful what you say.

Jody:                Yeah! You’ve got to be thoughtful, very thoughtful because I think the successful ETA applicants are the ones who manage to get that across in their application in a number of ways. They have about 500 ETA positions worldwide-

Schuyler:          Still a significant number!

Jody:                And we have an extremely, extremely high success rate and by that I mean ETAs who go in there, love what they do, and the placements in the host countries love having them there.

Schuyler:          Great. So, any additional points you’d like to offer?

Jody:                I think that about covers it. I think the most important thing for ETAs is to make sure you get across your passion for teaching and for learning. That’s really what it comes down to, is if you really are interested in working with people, whether it’s young people in schools or people who are more of your peers in universities, that’s going to come across and you need that enthusiasm and passion in order to be a successful ETA.

Schuyler:          Excellent.

Jody:                Thank you.

Schuyler:          Thank you so much Jody.