By Natasha Agrawal
International travel opens up new perspectives and offers unique opportunities to teach and learn. The State Department has programs that provide fully funded travel for educators. In this article, I describe the life- and career-changing experiences I have enjoyed through several such programs.
English language programs
Fellow Program
(elprograms.org/fellow-program)
The English Language Fellow Program provides teachers an opportunity to live abroad for 10 months. The job includes teaching and teacher training among other responsibilities but can differ vastly for each region. You can also take your dependents.
Imagine your child getting the opportunity to attend a school in another country! Interested
As a participant in this program, I traveled to the historic country of Egypt.
“Welcome to Egypt!” This phrase greeted me everywhere I went. Egypt boasts of ancient Pharaonic culture, layered with medieval Islam, interspersed with modern day post-revolutionary Egypt. Walking on the streets of Cairo was a history lesson each day.
I was hosted by Al Azhar University, where I taught in the language department. My students were university professors who were eager to brush up on their English speaking and writing skills. In addition, I gave weekly workshops to the teachers of the language department on language pedagogy. A far cry from teaching elementary students in NJ.
Wanting to maximize my Egyptian adventure, I added other responsibilities to my job description. I ran conversation classes and shared American traditions at the American Center, taught the teen Access class writing and public speaking and traveled with NileTESOL to train teachers in different cities of Egypt. TESOL stands for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. As the plenary speaker at the NileTESOL Annual Conference, I had the amazing experience of connecting with 3,000 educators from all around Egypt.
Along with preparing for all my classes, I spent my weekends exploring Cairo’s pyramids, mosques, palaces, shops and gardens. Several of my students and colleagues became my guides and offered to take me around. With them, I cruised the Nile, explored Old Cairo, drove to Alexandria, learned to pray in mosques and even took a hot air balloon ride over the ancient valley of kings.
This fellowship taught me about living and traveling independently. Egyptians are warm and kind people, with great pride in their history. On a diplomatic level, I got a peek into the functioning of an embassy abroad. I experienced people to people diplomacy firsthand with not just teachers and students of Egypt but also Uber drivers, vegetable vendors, tour guides and even my neighbors. Professionally, it was an opportunity to grow and expand my pedagogy and skill sets with a variety of age groups in different settings.
Virtual English language specialist
(elprograms.org/virtual-educator-program)
If you are eager to connect with educators around the world but hesitant to leave your comfort zone, you can try the virtual educator or virtual specialist program.
In 2025, the Virtual Specialist Program has connected me to English teachers in the villages of Lebanon. Each week, I meet about 50 teachers from Irfan schools all around Lebanon, and we discuss skills and strategies to develop English skills in young students. I learned about the Druze sect of Islam and gained insight into life in Lebanon. I even learned how to make the best hummus and tabbouleh.
I was selected as a virtual specialist during the COVID summer of 2020 for elementary teachers in Mexico. With teachers zooming in from all 31 Mexican states, I shared multisensory strategies to teach English to young learners. They were particularly interested in role play, which I demonstrated using Three Little Pigs, a fable with global appeal. Additionally, I was invited to speak as a plenary speaker at an online conference at Benemeritas Universidad Autonoma De Puebla in Puebla, Mexico.
These experiences have pushed me as an educator and as a speaker to connect with a global audience. It helps me realize the role educators play all around the world and how important it is for us to stay inspired and be an inspiration to others.
Fulbright programs
There are several fully funded Fulbright programs for teachers too. These programs were created after World War II by the late Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas.
“The Fulbright Program aims to bring a little more knowledge, a little more reason, and a little more compassion into world affairs and thereby to increase the chance that nations will learn at least to live in peace and friendship,” Sen. Fulbright said.
Fulbright Teacher for Global Classrooms
(fulbrightteacherexchanges.org/programs/tgc)
Fulbright TGC is another program offered by the State Department. After a six-month online training in Global Education, which includes training on the U.N. Sustainable Development (UNSD) Goals, there is an international field trip to put all the learning into action. My field experience was in Morocco, where I had the opportunity to visit schools in Rabat, Casablanca and Agadir.
First, we received training on Moroccan culture over almond cookies and many cups of hot mint tea. Then it was time for sightseeing, exploring the souq and visiting several schools both elementary and secondary, public and private.
Finally, I got my placement in Agadir, a small beach town in Southern Morocco. My partner teacher had an interesting itinerary for us—a mix of work and fun. Youssef was an English teacher at a public high school. Students learn Arabic, French and English.
The high schoolers shared many aspects of their culture with us through presentations on Islam, music, dance and clothing. I had a chance to co-teach with Youssef and get a taste of high school teaching.
After returning to New Jersey, we continued our partnership through technology using video calls in our classrooms. My elementary students in New Jersey here were able to chat with elementary students in Morocco. One of our global lessons was on animal riddles. One class described an animal through a riddle, the other side had to guess the name.
Also, in keeping with the UNSD Goals, we collaborated on a pollution project. Students in Casablanca recorded videos on beach pollution, while our students spoke about single-use plastics and the harm caused by using those utensils. Useful information was exchanged that has helped develop global perspectives.
Fulbright Distinguished Award Short Term (DAST)
(fulbrightteacherexchanges.org/programs/dast)
DAST is one of several programs offered through Fulbright, under the umbrella of the State Department. With this program, I got the opportunity to visit and work in the Himalayan country of Nepal.
My host was Gurukul Academy, a private school in Sudurpashchim province of Dhangadhi. In the first few days I provided training to about 50 teachers on topics such as social-emotional learning, critical thinking, lesson planning, vocabulary development, teaching writing and classroom management.
When the students were back in the classrooms, I demonstrated my lessons using songs, games, role play and realia. Starting with demonstration lessons in preschool, each week I moved on to a higher grade level, demonstrating lessons in the classroom and debriefing at the end of day.
We conferred on how to help the students learn and think critically about each lesson. We incorporated all the elements of lesson planning, identifying the objective and multisensory strategies to reach it. The teachers were eager to learn and try different methods. We demonstrated games to introduce vocabulary and developed critical thinking skills by discussing ideas in small collaborative groups.
Nepal is home to the highest mountain range in the world—the Himalayas. Mount Everest is called Sagarmatha in Nepali. Nepalis describe themselves as Paharis or the mountain people. Always kind and generous, the staff and students made great efforts to make sure I was comfortable and were eager to show me around the beautiful countryside.
Napali children are polite and respectful, and recite a mantra about respecting their gurus each morning. They learn Nepali and English in the classroom. Almost everyone can speak and understand Hindi too. Some can even speak Tharu, the indigenous language.
Nepal was a cultural immersion into Hinduism and Buddhism. During one noisy class, which I found particularly hard to quiet down, the teacher ordered the children to “become Buddha.” Almost like magic, each child closed their eyes, rested their hands on their knees and went into a meditative state. After staying quiet for at least 10 minutes, the fourth graders quietly opened their eyes, gathered their books and exited the room quietly. I was amazed at the change in their demeanor. Meditation is the essence of Buddhism, and Nepal is called the Land of the Buddha.
Our third grade classroom is now connected with third grade at Gurukul Academy. We have been sharing videos to develop global perspectives in our young students. My students have been talking about our Christmas celebrations here, and we are learning about Sankranti.
My travels and professional experiences have helped me develop global perspectives. As an ESL teacher, I have a deeper understanding of the cultural background that our students bring to our classroom. Often our students are balancing their home cultures and school expectations along with learning a new language. Having observed students in different countries with such different behaviors, I now have a better understanding of cultural, linguistic and academic influences on a child’s growth and development.
The impacts of my travels are still unfolding, however. I am more passionate than ever about the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and using my global perspectives to instill the ideas of a just and sustainable world in my students.
Natasha Agrawal, M.Ed. teaches English as a Second Language at Robbins Elementary School in Trenton and is an instructor in The College of New Jersey’s Department of Special Education, Language, and Literacy where she teaches courses in curriculum, methods, and assessments for ESL/bilingual education, and theory and practice of teaching ESL. She was selected for the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Short Term Program in 2024.