About On The Dig
2009
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EmailYes, the state of economy is frightening. Yes, recent college grads are pulling out hairs trying to figure out how to pay back student loans and launch careers. And yes, this year 35, 000 grads applied for Teach for America—that national corps of America's most promising leaders who go into the 'Hood and provide educational equality to marginalized students. Well, a record number of college grads will join Teach for America next fall and that's a good thing. I guess. Besides, Teach for America requires a two-year commitment from its members, which means two years of steady income, which means less worry about personal survival in an inconsistent economy.
Yeah, you guessed it. I have mixed feelings about Teach for America. While I was dropping knowledge to my fourth graders in Oakland California I was often mistaken for a Teach for America missionary, I mean teacher. I was not. I was just a brother who always loved kids and learning, and thought I'd give teaching a try. However, the school where I taught was populated by several Teach for America folks. Most of them were white and most of them had amazing plans for their futures. Teaching poor children in the ghetto was not one of them. In truth, I found that the Teach for America folks were often given first-class treatment by the principal [and students]. Some of them treated the job like a bout in the Peace Corps. For an example, I walked by a third grade classroom once and saw a Teach for America member with an eight year old in her lap, rocking her back and forth, like she was a uncivilized native from the tropics of Oakland, California. I was haunted by that image for a long time.
Obviously not all Teach for America corps members exhibited suspect behavior. One of my good friends was a Teach for America member. He was a Hampton grad and went on to work for the district before leaving education and joining the IT industry. I guess it just saddens me that too many Teach for America members roll into these marginalized environments, drop a little bit of their "America's best" on the kids, and then move on to their real calling which does not include teaching the poor and polarized. I'm not sure what the present-day corps members are like, but not so long ago, the two-year commitment translated into an impressive entry on the resume for many of them. I hope this new crop sees more to these kids than a means to earn their badge of ghetto survival, or a means to make it easier to land a gig with the Obamas.
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As a career educator (14 years and counting) I have mixed, but primarily negative, feelings about TFA. I think the program has good intentions given the need for teachers, particularly in the inner city. However, a program that provides one summer of training and then dumps individuals into the classroom is not going to provide an abundance of great teachers. It's been my experience that while most are well-meaning, many are ill-prepared. Some don't make it through the first year and few stay beyond the two that are required.
Sir,
I read with enthusiasm your article since I must confess that I am part of the demographic you described. I am white, born and raised in the 'burbs, college educated, and had very little contact with others outside my racial/socio-economic group until I enrolled in one of NYC's Teaching Fellows programs 8 years ago. As a bonus, prior to that I was Peace Corps volunteer in Armenia from 1999-2001. So I guess you can consider me the perfect person to respond to your post.
Your analysis of the current surge in Teach for America applications is very astute as well as your observations while teaching in Oakland. In fact, they mirror many of my own experiences.
There were 50 people in my Teaching Fellows cohort. As of today, I can only think of a handful (including myself) from that cohort who are still teaching in NYC's public schools. So your concern about teacher retention was dead on. However, I would like to counter that point.
While it is true that the mandated hitch is two years, Teaching Fellows candidates are encouraged to remain in the schools where they were orignially placed for longer than that. There are two problems with this: 1) There is no way you can enforce any Teaching Fellow to stay longer than what is outlined in their agreement with Teach for America, et al. 2) Although encouraged to stay more than two years, it raises the question of how long is long enough? It is impractical to expect every Teaching Fellow to make a career in the classroom but at what point should Teaching Fellows be "allowed" to leave should the need or circumstance arrive?
I don't see the lack of teacher retention as such a bad thing. You are absolutely correct when you made the point that a disproportionate number of teachers stay on in order to either find themselves and/or pad their resumes. However, personal experience has shown that there are indeed new teachers who made a far greater impact in their students' lives than those who have been teaching 10, 15, 20 years. The point is that being a career teacher does not make you a great teacher while being a Teaching Fellow who chooses to stay on 2 or 3 years does not make you a bad teacher. I have also witnessed 1st year teachers outshine 25 year "veterans" in the classroom.
The other point I would like to respond to is your reservation about the number of whites who are taking on the job of working in underserved, urban schools. Again, you are correct in that most applicants are white (like me) but like the teacher retention issue, that as well isn't such a bad thing. Many people seem to forget that cross-cultural exchange is a two way street. Like me, many Teaching Fellows are for the first time in their lives interacting on a daily basis with those whom they would normally have no contact. The same applies to the students. For all the absurd and outright strange behavior you witnessed from the Teaching Fellows you worked with, you can find just as many instances where Teaching Fellows are working tirelessly to reach out to and connect with their students. These Teaching Fellows are the ones who are using their math degree from Cornell to teach Algebra, or their writing degree from Columbia to teach Freshmen Composition, or the corporate lawyer who is teaching Civics, or the Stanford educated geologist now teaching Earth Science. These and many, many, many more like them are concrete examples of Teaching Fellows bringing
"America's Best" right to the students themselves.
So please, there is no need for alarm at the number of whites teaching in urban schools. Like all professions, there are the good and the bad and Teaching Fellows are no exception to that.