Dennis Ian, a regular reader and commenter on the blog, writes here about Teach for America:
Teach for America … little more than camp counselors without the pine trees on their shirts.
Imagine for a moment the instant promotion of butchers to surgeons … or deck builders to bridge engineers. Imagine Cub Scout troop leaders as military generals … or menu makers as the next classic authors.
Like any job, teaching is layered with misconceptions … and it’s further distorted by Hollywood fantasies.
Everyone is so seduced by Hollywood and tv-land that they actually think they could sail right into a classroom and every kid would sing the theme song of “To Sir, with Love”. And the world would cry because of their greatness.
Everyone seems to see that “To Sir, With Love” guy winning over the thuggery class and becoming a revered legend overnight. Or that Mr. Chips who seems to sweat wisdom … because he’s so over-supplied with it. Were that the case, I would have hung in the position until I was a hundred and my wisdom ran dry.. But it’s not.
Teaching is lots of stuff few imagine … and lots of hours even fewer acknowledge. It’s not a job you get very good at very quickly either … even with the best preparation. It’s not all knowledge either … it’s technique and personality and polishing a persona and perfecting a delivery … as well as knowing your subject inside out … and keeping current in the ever changing field.
It’s about intuition. And listening to that intuition. And acting on it with confidence mortared over years.
It’s about love … all sorts of love.
There’s easy love …for those kids that just joy you day-in-and-day-out. They’re great students, great kids … with great personalities and great everything.
Then there’s that hard love … for the kid with the green snot and the girl with the matted hair … and unpleasant aroma. Or for the boy who’s an accomplished bully at age 13 … and thinks this is his lot in life. Then there’s the broken child … who seems already to have quit life. And the loud, annoying sort … who’s probably masking a world of hurt. What about the invisibles? … the kids who practice invisibility because their daily ambition is to go unrecognized and un-included … for whatever dark reason. Prying them out of their darkness can take months … if it ever really happens.
There’s lots more to describe, but it’s unnecessary. What is necessary is to imagine engaging all of these kids in the right way day after day … and then seeing to it that they make educational progress as well. Making sure they’re prepared for the next level … the next challenges. Oh … and you lug all of this stuff around in your head and your heart … all the time.
And then, just to make this all even more interesting, weave in the mundane that actually captures most of your time … never-ending grading that snatches away your Sundays, faculty and department meetings, parent confabs, planning, gathering things you need and resources you want. Colleague exchanges and innovative thinking. Blend in some school politics and the usual work-place agita … and maybe some deep intrigue at times. Oh, and don’t forget your family … those folks you bump into when you’re half dressed. They want a piece of you, too.
I’m certain that five week preparation period offered by the Teach for America leadership is gonna arm those greenhorn teachers to the max. However, I’am certain of much more.
Here’s the real ugly underbelly of Teach for America … and the ill-prepared idealists they let loose on lots of youngsters: the schools that take them on are almost always the poorest of the poor … because authentic teachers will not take on that challenge without proper compensation. These are the children most in need of real teachers … with real preparation … ready to change lives and manage all that such an effort entails.
Please don’t dismiss the compensation issue. The public needs to understand that the same rewards that motivate others in varied professions also applies to teachers. They are not undisguised priests or ministers. They’re family men and women with all of life’s aspirations and obligations. If society wants the best-of-the-best in the most challenging circumstances, then this society should do what is done all across the world of work … pay the deserving salaries.
To foist these ill-prepared teachers on the most disadvantaged children seems like an over-costly outrage in order to soothe some young idealist’s commitment to mankind. These young learners need our most seasoned professionals … even if the cost exceeds the usual. There is no greater long term cost to a society than a child ill-educated for the complexities of this intricate world.
Teach for America is yet another “feel good” folly that’s become so voguey among those smugly satisfied with easy imagery rather than hard reality.
Denis Ian
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Nice article. First, I’d like to mention that I just dropped off my kids at camp. The director of the camp is a certified elementary school teacher who has a decade of experience working in schools….much more training than any TFA recruit 🙂
A short time ago, I worked as a supervisor of student teachers at a small liberal arts college. Each year, several students would join TFA and the school would publicly sing their praises. What was shocking to me, however, was the silence of the education department. Why are those in teacher preparation allowing TFA to come to their campuses to recruit? I decided to write an open letter to them:
Dear University Education Department Faculty Member,
I get it. You’re busy. You are juggling course preparation, student advising, important committee work, research and writing. You’ve got papers to grade, journal articles to peer-review, conferences to prepare for, and you’re lucky if you can find a parking spot on campus in under twenty minutes. You’ve worked hard to get where you are at, and we respect and admire you. So when I ask you to kindly put aside your work to hear me out, I do so with an understanding that your time is of value. I ask for your time because we (public school teachers and parents) need your help.
A short time ago, after spending a decade working as a middle school special education teacher, I decided to try something new in the education field. I began to work in a college education department as a supervisor of student teachers. I felt incredibly privileged to be a part of the teacher preparation process. It is vitally important work, and I never lost sight of the responsibility that I had in helping to develop competent and passionate young teachers, who would be ready for their future classrooms and all of the challenges they might face over the course of their long and successful teaching careers. These future teachers shared an amazing work ethic, a passion for helping to make a difference, and an eagerness to learn and improve their new practice. The education department faculty were also impressive, because of their own accomplishments and the thoughtful and caring guidance they continually provided to their students. They developed a rigorous program for their teacher education students. While the demands were high, the results were impressive. In the end, these teacher education students were well prepared for their first year of teaching.
We know, based on the peer-reviewed research, that training and experience contribute to the success of new teachers, and ultimately to the academic and social-emotional success of the children in their classrooms. This is why teacher preparation is so important. Every child deserves to have a competent, certified, well-trained teacher leading their class.
This brings me to the point of my letter. At some point over the course of this academic year, a Teach for America (TFA) recruiter might show up on your campus. As I am sure you are aware, Teach for America staffs high-needs schools with TFA teachers. Each recruit is expected to teach in their placement for two years, and they are provided with five weeks of summer training prior to the start of their school year. Recruits are not typically education majors, and TFA markets the experience to potential candidates as one that will make a difference in the lives of the neediest children. TFA also provides a great deal of “research” about TFA teacher success, and anecdotal stories from the field that tug on the heartstrings of those who care. What the TFA recruiters fail to mention is that their research methods are weak, results are not statistically significant, and their work has not been peer reviewed. Also, they don’t mention to potential recruits that they are connected with the for-profit privatization of public education movement, and that their actions put the least experienced, uncertified teachers in the most vulnerable communities in our country. TFA works with education “reformers” and corporate investors who really have one bottom line goal: profits.
With that in mind, I ask you to consider how TFA’s actions impact three different people: your teacher education student, the TFA recruit, and the child sitting in the classroom of that new recruit. Consider the countless ways that TFA undermines teacher preparation and the teaching profession. So this year, when TFA shows up, we need you to show up. Tell them that good teacher preparation takes years, and that every single child in this country deserves a well-trained, certified teacher running their classroom. Shortcuts are unacceptable for all of our children, especially the most vulnerable. Tell potential TFA recruits to do their research on TFA before they sign on the dotted line, and encourage your teacher education students to not only be passionate teachers, but to be education activists and child advocates.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Respectfully,
Janet VanLone
Public School Parent
Special Education Teacher
Doctoral Student
What does TFA have in common with the Hitler Youth and Mao’s Little Red Guard?
When my daughter was an older Girl Scout, she had more hours of training pass the Red Cross babysitting course than the TFA novices. What does this say about how they value working with poor, minority students? Yet, our leaders continue to harp on the importance of standards and accountability while they green light efforts to dumb down the requirements to teach. Hypocrites All!
One point that nobody mentions: older seasoned teachers who were not eligible for loan forgiveness, due to having graduated prior to the deadline, do not get their loans paid while they teach in Title 0ne schools. They don’t get $ knocked off either. TFA do get their loans paid with public tax dollars. So basically TFA “teachers”get loan reimbursement while better qualified teachers who are older don’t.
Ageist and unreasonable.
Also, if your school qualifies for Title I, but the district administration won’t fill out the paperwork, loans can’t be forgiven, either. My school just lost a teacher that way.
“To foist these ill-prepared teachers on the most disadvantaged children . . .”
ill-prepared teachers?
or is it charters?
or is it personalized learning?
or is it no-excuses discipline?
The oligarchs finally found a use for the underclass.
So well said!!! I love the final sentence of Dennis Ian’s writing: “Teach for America is yet another “feel good” folly that’s become so voguey among those smugly satisfied with easy imagery rather than hard reality.”
As an ESL teacher, I would like to apply everything Ian said to folk who go “teach English abroad” armed with a 6-week TEFL certificate.
TFA is the education “save-the-children” arm of the anti-intellectualism movement that has become so normalized. It’s the same as in the tech industry where programming is becoming commoditized and the drive for profit fuels everything. If every high school graduate can program, then why pay for people who have master’s and ph.d.’s and years of experience and can actually do the math necessary for ensuring good quality? Likewise in teaching, why pay for the education and experience of good teachers when you can fill the same spot with any warm body at a fraction of the cost?
All of these fads like “grit” and “passion” are cover-ups for the fact that what’s missing is solid education and experience. It reminds me of fad diets. You eat the cabbage soup for a month, or you’re a total believer of the miraculous benefits of cabbage soup, but the weight always comes back. There is no magic fix, no quick fix, no secret key to success — what is necessary always is solid, thorough education and years of experience gained through steady perseverance and hard-work.
I know several young teachers who would have taught in Newark for the base compensation, but were turned away, while veterans were in rubber rooms, to make way for the contracted amount of TFA scabs. It isn’t that teachers don’t want the jobs, it is that cities have partnered to take “X AMOUNT” of TFA scabs, and they have to make room, any why they can, to fulfill that contract.
And today in NJ.com is an article about the teacher shortage, and polling current students, it stated the ones who would want to be teachers….wait for it….”have lower-than-average test scores, especially in math and science…” <— right there is your deformer playbook at work.
http://www.nj.com/education/2016/07/interest_in_teaching_drops_in_nj_study_says.html
So there is a shortage, created by the deformers, with TFA, the darned smartest beasts on the planet, to the rescue, with every perk that trained, credentialled, licensed, certified teachers do NOT get. And, lets not forget those in charter schools with there quickie-lube weekend masters degrees.
The whole thing sickens me.
I totally agree the TFA teachers are not prepared. They are mainly interested in paying off student loans and don’t care about their students. I have seen this many times where I have had to work with them.
And THEIR student loans get paid off automatically, while those of us who went the traditional route are stuck with our loans.
…stuck with loans, and can’t get jobs…..
Reblogged this on education pathways and commented:
Teaching: Hollywood image vs. Reality
That says it all!
If the TFA were hired as teacher’s assistants for a term or two in order to get their feet wet in a realistic situation, they might be better prepared to be teachers – or perhaps “Junior” teachers. Right now it’s sink or swim doing everyone involved a dis-service.
This is overly dismissive of camp counselors!
I apologize!