It's a Fulbright Friday!

Advising Corner

ENGLISH TEACHING ASSISTANT STATEMENT OF GRANT PURPOSE

If you are applying for a Fulbright award, you will need to write a thoughtful Statement of Grant Purpose that demonstrates clearly your sincere enthusiasm for teaching English in the host country.

3,000 CHARACTERS - MAXIMUM

The Statement of Grant Purpose for English Teaching Assistant (ETA) awards must be no more than 3,000 characters in length, including spaces.

The statement text will be entered directly into a box in the Fulbright application portal. Applicants should minimally use paragraph breaks in the portal to ensure that the full statement is not cut off when the .pdf version of their completed application is created.

ENGLISH TEACHING ASSISTANT GUIDANCE

As applicants begin outlining their Statements of Grant Purpose, they should review the three specific points Fulbright would like addressed for the ETA grant:

1. What specific qualifications, training, or experience will you bring to the classroom and your role as an English Teaching Assistant?
2. What specific ideas do you have for engaging with students in the host country and helping them learn English?
3. What skills do you possess that will assist you in the challenge of living and working in a new cultural environment? How have you demonstrated these qualities in your academic and professional life? Use specific examples.

MORE INSTRUCTIONS FROM FULBRIGHT

• Do not make your Statement of Grant Purpose location-specific within the host country, unless specifically requested to do so in the award description. ETAs will be assigned placements in the host country by the Fulbright Commission or the U.S. embassy based on their needs. Nothing addressed in the Statement of Grant Purpose should be location-specific since you do not know your potential placement location and what resources may be available. 
• Any preferred placement locations noted by applicants in the Statement of Grant Purpose are not guaranteed. Applicants are expected to be flexible on placement if offered a grant.

(Text Source: ETA Statement of Grant Purpose Section)

ETA STATEMENT TIP

Applicants will note that the 3rd point above is very similar to the application's short answer question on "flexibility and adaptability."

To avoid duplicating content in the application, which Fulbright discourages, applicants might focus, in the ETA statement of grant purpose, on the skills and experiences they have that prepare them to work through the challenges they may encounter while teaching in the host country.

The application's short answer question can then focus on experiences applicants have had that prepare them, more broadly, to be flexible and adaptable while living in the host country.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The "Award Profile" and the "Candidate Profile" sections of a country's ETA award page provide important information that applicants should review closely as they make their decisions.

Details might include areas within the country for teaching assignments, educational settings, daily responsibilities, and preferred applicant qualifications such as previous teaching experience or certifications.

VISIT US

Applicants should visit the Center for Research & Fellowships (310 Car Barn, 3520 Prospect Street NW) to review example statements from previous application cycles. Email fulbright@georgetown.edu to learn more about summer hours for the center's Car Barn office.

Fulbright Information Sessions

Georgetown Fulbrighter Spotlight

Charlie Cushman (SFS'25)

English Teaching Assistant - Indonesia

From Charlie Cushman (SFS'25) - "I work as an English teacher at a public high school in a small town in southern Sumatra, Indonesia. I teach eight classes each week, six in 10th grade and two in 11th grade. I have a few local co-teachers with whom I teach these classes, and I work with them to plan the lessons and materials that we use each week. I also lead the English Club at my school, which meets after school two or three times a week. . . . I've also gotten pretty good at speaking Indonesian while here (which I didn't know at all before I came), and it's useful because outside of school, nobody speaks English. In Indonesia, we also have to complete community engagement projects. For one of these projects, I take a few students from the English Club to teach short, fun English lessons at local elementary schools."

Application Suggestion: "Take the time to really consider why you want to do Fulbright and why you want to do it in the country you are applying to. Having a clear message will help you be much more authentic and convincing to the selection committees when they read your essays. It's also the question that you will be asked by everyone who you tell that you're applying for Fulbright, so use these to practice your 'elevator pitch' of why you want Fulbright in the specific country and program."

(Photo: Cushman is pictured first from left.)

It's a Fulbright Friday!