John Melton is a high-school biology teacher in Northern California. Andy Neighbor is a sixth form college teacher near London, England. (Sixth form colleges serve students ages16-19 who are taking academic courses.) This fall, these two teachers will exchange jobs for a year. Along with their families, they'll move into each other's homes, drive each other's cars, meet each other's friends, and even care for each other's pets. In short, they'll move into each other's lives. In case you're wondering, though, they won't get each other's paychecks. They'll still be paid by their regular schools.

This article is the first in a series about their teaching exchange, which is part of the Fulbright Teacher and Administrator Exchange Program – a program that has been sponsored and funded by the U.S. government for more than 50 years.

August 3, 2000
The two Fulbright science teachers sat in a cramped dormitory room at Catholic University in Washington, DC, where they had come with their families for four days of orientation. While a summer thunderstorm raged outside, they discussed the science classrooms at their respective schools.

"Are there microscopes in your room?" asked John Melton, the American teacher.
"Oh, yes," answered Andy Neighbor, his British counterpart.
"You won't have microscopes in your room. You'll need to sign up for them," John explained. "Do you have any oil immersion scopes?"
"Yeah, we have a couple hanging around, but you won't need them," Andy replied.

The conversation continued, with discussions of national curricula, homework and tardy policies, "practicals" or labs, "assessments" or tests, and "marks" or grades. By the end of the long session, the two teachers were a step closer to understanding how their new jobs would differ from their old.

John's Fulbright Process
How did these two teachers end up in the Fulbright "village" in Washington, DC, on a hot August afternoon? For John Melton, it had begun a full year before, in August 1999. That's when he received his application forms for the program a colleague had raved about.

In mid-September, John sent in his application forms, accompanied by letters of recommendation from his school supervisors and approval from his school district. In November, he was invited to a regional interview. His family came along – since they, too, would be moving to another country, the interviewers wanted to assess their readiness and attitudes. Four months later, on St. Patrick's Day, John received a letter stating that he'd been "proposed for the exchange." This letter included information about his British counterpart and teaching position.

The two teachers then had a month or so to exchange information and to decide whether to accept or decline the proposal. The stage was set for the exchange to move forward when both John and Andy accepted. And then the real work began: preparing for a new life abroad!

Visit this site soon to read the British teacher's side of the story, to find out more about the Fulbright orientation in Washington, DC, and to read about the further adventures of the two families.

Learn more about the Fulbright Program

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