http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/07/meet-teach-america-resistance-movement-s-growing-within/67125/
Here is an article criticizing Teach for America, focusing on a group of Teach for America graduates wanting an overhaul in it's role in educational reform.
I think that Teach for America is a good thing. I was unaware of its existence before Wednesday's class and now I am very interested in joining it. It seems like a good way to get firsthand classroom experience.
I don't think it is fundamentally wrong at all that some people only
stay for 2 years. No one criticizes anyone from the Peace Corps or
AmeriCorps for leaving the program. However, it would be neat for them to have a different program for people who have teaching as a goal and passion. For example, someone with an education background or who wants to be a
classroom teacher would receive different support and have a difference
training experience than someone who is interested in the experience. By doing this, Teach for America could
motivate people who are seeking to have a role in
changing education in Americas. It
would also improve the training that Teach for America members receive. I think it
would be a solid structural move with many positive implications.
I do think the criticism Teach for America gets is valid, or at least it can be.
There are people who join only for their resume, but
these people may not last past their first year or may even find joy in teaching. I've read that the dropout rate isn't that far removed
from the number of traditionally educated teachers in similar districts
who leave. It's in no way
perfect, but I do not think that should discount the good that
individuals and groups within the program have done.
The model you posit is interesting! Can you think of other organizations who could be responsible for this? TFA has a fairly specific mission of getting people who might otherwise not become teachers into classrooms. Are there organizations who might be better suited for supporting people who know without a doubt that they want to be career educators? The first thing that comes to my mind are teachers' unions. When I was teaching, I wished that unions used their political power to support teachers to become better professionals rather than fighting with bureaucracy to save the jobs of those who might have been (legitimately) crummy. Wouldn't it be nice if my union dues paid for live coaching and two years of intensive lesson planning and pedagogy support for all beginning teachers? Wouldn't it be nice if struggling teachers weren't threatened to be fired, but had the union to help them improve their skills? Wouldn't it be nice if the union could provide multiple opportunities to improve, and then usher out truly awful people with dignity?
ReplyDeleteThat's just one thought. The University of Minnesota just announced another really interesting concept to improve TFA teachers' preparations--I'd be interested to hear how you believe it could improve traditional teaching prep, too: http://www.minnpost.com/learning-curve/2013/09/u-m-tfa-reach-first-kind-teacher-training-deal