Today in class we talked about the, “Teach for America” program that allows people who have graduated from college to go in to the classroom and teach for two years. Being someone who has not heard much about the program itself, this definitely caused some serious thought and deliberation for the remainder of the day. Ideally, the program seems like a great idea. Those of us pursuing our undergraduate degrees at Ohio State who are looking to go in to the Master’s program have not yet been able to get in to the classroom to student teach. How are we going to know, with no experience, that this is something that we absolutely want to pursue? We wouldn’t be able to know this for sure without being in the classroom. Teach for America could allow someone with an undergraduate degree, who has the required courses get in to the TFA training to obtain their licenses to teach. Those who love the experience could continue with teaching, however, those who dislike teaching could end their experience in teaching and choose to pursue a Master’s degree in a field that will gear them to what they would like to do.
Just like anything else, there are negative aspects of Teach for America. Perhaps one of the biggest negatives is that people who did not even pursue an undergraduate degree in education or a degree in an educational related field get accepted in to the program over someone who did go to school to be an educator. These people may have no interest in becoming teachers after the program either, but use this to give back to the community or put the experience on a resume for a future job. This takes away the opportunity from those who deliberately want to go in to teaching, and to those who may already have some sort of educational background and may actually fit in to the classroom better.
After doing research on TFA to try and ease some of my own suspicions, I found this article/blog from the Washington Posthttp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/08/29/how-teach-for-america-recruits-get-preference-for-teaching-jobs/. This article has helped steer me away from the looking at the positives and more towards the negatives. The article highlights on the state of Connecticut and how TFA teachers are being preferred for jobs over teachers with degrees. One particular part that caught my attention was how the school administration is actually blocking from teachers applying for positions that were open because they were being given to TFA teachers. I know that as a future educator, I would be highly disappointed if job opportunities were taken away from me and potentially given to people who do not wish to be educators after their experience in TFA. Many of us will go on to pursue our license either through undergraduate school or by obtaining our Master’s degree rather than through a TFA program. How are we going to feel, if after pursuing the proper education, if TFA teachers who may or may not want to be educators come in and take our positions?
Knowing that I truly want to go into education and that being my focus while in college I would be pissed if it was given away to another person who is just doing it to "check something off the list". Then again, those people might find a compassion for teaching and enjoy it which I would be more okay with.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I don't understand is why states like Connecticut would only accept TFA teachers when the other education majors applying for the position are more knowledgeable, qualified, and experience. It doesn't make much sense. Knowing that information would kind of make me want to go into TFA so I would get a job..
You brought up a good point that I was trying to make in class. When sharing my experience with the class about applying to TFA and not getting accepted, I mentioned that I was upset because people who don't want to be teachers get accepted. My point was that people like me (future teachers) are being denied this teaching experience while those who don't want to be teachers are getting in. It doesn't bother me that they are doing it to put on their resume or whatever, but the fact that they are getting chosen over those who want to be educators is upsetting. I wouldn't be so bothered by it if those who are joining for other reasons AND more of those who want to be teachers were getting accepted.
ReplyDeleteI think that what TFA does is wonderful, but it is upsetting that they accept individuals who do not want to remain within the education system.There are people who want to make a difference in children's lives and actually enjoy the work they are doing. Yet, the positions are going to individuals who want to build their resumes.
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