The Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program brings secondary-level teachers from 80+ countries, including Nigeria, to the US for 6 weeks of professional development. Here’s how Nigerian teachers can apply.

What Is This Programme?

The Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) Program is a fully funded six-week professional exchange that brings secondary school teachers from around the world to the United States for academic seminars, classroom observation, co-teaching experience, and cultural immersion.

If you are a full-time secondary school teacher in Nigeria — or in any of the 80+ participating countries — and you want to develop your teaching skills, experience the US education system firsthand, and collaborate with American educators in your subject area, this programme was designed for you.

It’s a Fulbright programme — meaning it carries one of the most respected names in international educational exchange — and it’s fully funded.

What the Programme Includes

Over six weeks at a US host university, participants:

• Attend academic seminars covering new teaching methodologies, student-centred learning, content-based instruction, lesson planning, instructional technology, US history, and the American education system
• Complete a minimum of 40 hours of field experience — observing and co-teaching alongside a US partner educator in a local secondary school in the same or a similar subject discipline
• Participate in cultural and civic activities in the host community to promote mutual understanding between the US and your country

This is hands-on professional development — not a passive conference. You’ll be in classrooms, working with US students, and building collaborative relationships with American educators.

Who Can Apply?

The programme is open to full-time secondary-level educators who:

• Live and work in one of the participating countries or territories
• Teach in any discipline — English, EFL, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Foreign Languages, Journalism, Communications, or Special Education within those subjects
• Hold a bachelor’s degree or equivalent education and experience
• Demonstrate English language proficiency
• Are able to travel to the United States for six weeks

Nigeria is a participating country. Other African countries on the list include Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria.

Preference is given to applicants who:

• Have not previously participated in a Fulbright programme
• Have not had significant international professional experience (study, teaching, research, or employment abroad) in the past five years

How to Apply

Application processes and deadlines vary by country. You must contact your local US Embassy or Fulbright Commission for the specific application requirements, forms, and deadline in your country.

For Nigerian applicants: contact the US Embassy in Abuja or the nearest US Consulate for Fulbright TEA application information. The Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board makes all final selection decisions.

Why This Matters for Nigerian Teachers

For Nigerian secondary school teachers — particularly those in public schools who rarely have access to international professional development, the Fulbright TEA is a rare and fully funded window into how education is designed and delivered in a different system.

Six weeks of co-teaching experience in US classrooms, exposure to instructional technology, and contact with a network of Fulbright educators from 80+ countries doesn’t just improve your classroom. It changes how you think about what’s possible.

Past participants have returned with new curriculum approaches, instructional technology skills, and professional networks that have influenced school leadership, teacher training, and educational policy in their home countries.

Quick Facts

For more information and application: 

Visit the official website of the Fulbright Teaching Excellence & Achievement Program: 6-Week Fully Funded Professional Development in the USA for Secondary School Teachers