 Fulbright Teachers, U.S. to Taiwan, 2026 Brownlee builds global connections at education symposium USD 376 teacher-librarian Amy Brownlee is one of 120 educators nationwide who attended a Global Education Symposium in Washington, DC, Feb. 5-7. The symposium is part of the Fulbright Teacher Exchange program and brought current participants together with alumni and program administrators. While in the nation's capital, Brownlee attended breakout sessions, panel discussions, and informational workshops. She also visited the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, American Dream Experience, and Museum of African American History.
The purpose of the event was to build networks, share best practices in global education, and prepare participants for the International Field Experience. Brownlee was able to meet and get to know the eleven teachers she will travel to Taiwan with in April. They were able to speak to U.S. teachers who have spent time in Taiwan to learn what to expect on their upcoming trip. Brownlee’s travel cohort includes teachers from Hawaii, California, Washington, Montana, Ohio, Illinois, Florida, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC. The group includes elementary, STEM, social studies, music, ESL, and science teachers who work with students K-12.
 The 2025-2026 Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms fellows will travel in groups of 12-20 to participate in educational and cultural exchange in eight nations around the globe: Peru, Uruguay, Senegal, Morocco, Romania, Taiwan, India, and the Philippines.
0 Comments
 Are you looking for professional development that will challenge you to level-up your teaching, open up new collaborative opportunities, and bring a global perspective to your classroom? If so, you should consider applying for a Fulbright Teacher Exchange. I’m currently participating in the Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms program, a year-long fellowship with four components: a rigorous, online global education class in the fall; a global education symposium in Washington, D.C., in the winter; a two-week field study abroad in spring or summer where you are partnered with a host teacher and get to visit schools and work with students; and the creation of global education guide to share experiences and skills gained. Application & notification The application was long and detailed, asking for evidence of leadership, essays, two references, and articulating a desire to shake up your teaching by incorporating global competencies. I submitted my application in February and settled in for a long wait. My acceptance notification came at the end of July. Being part a Fulbright Teacher Exchange has long been a "bucket list" professional goal, so I was very excited to receive this outstanding news! Next came the onboarding process: getting a physical to ensure you’re healthy enough to travel abroad, signing a lengthy terms of agreement document, and getting signed into an online platform that is the home base for communication, classwork, and collaboration. 
Global Teaching class The online class is rigorous and demands immediate implementation of course content. The idea is that global competencies aren’t “extra additions” to the curriculum; they should be embedded into what you’re already teaching, and they can be integrated into any subject at any grade level. The course included articles and videos, live webinars, discussion boards, reflections, and written work. Assignments included an inter-school activity, where teacher participants were paired and asked to design and carry out a collaborative project where their students communicate with each other in order to broaden their perspectives. Students in my small, rural community of 2,500 people were paired with kids attending a school on the upper west side of Manhattan in New York. In order to challenge assumptions between our urban and rural environments, we had our students draw neighborhood maps showing places they visit often, and audio record themselves explaining their maps. The maps and audio recordings were posted on a Padlet where the classes could view and comment on one another’s posts. The course was chock-full of amazing resources and teaching ideas, and I know I’ll continue to build on what I learned. I also learned from and alongside fantastic educators from all around the country. My PLN just increased exponentially. Field experience announcement After completing the online course, we were all anxiously awaiting the announcement of where we would travel for our field experience. We knew the 120 master teachers selected for this year’s TGC program would be divided into groups of 12-20 for our travel abroad experience. We were told to expect an email announcement before Christmas. My email arrived on a Friday morning and I found out I would be going to Taiwan! I have never been to Asia, so I was definitely excited about my placement.
Preparing for symposium and field experience
We had a few weeks off following the holidays and then began preparing for an in-person Global Education Symposium held Feb. 5-7 in Washington, D.C. This experience will allow us to collaborate face-to-face with the people we’ve been working with virtually since last fall. I’ll meet the people I’ll be traveling to Taiwan with and we’ll prepare for our field experience. |
Amy BrownleeLibrarian, reading teacher, presenter. Archives
February 2026
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
