Although I am not an education major, I have taken a few education courses at Bucknell and know many students who are pursuing that career path. I also know individuals who hold a different degree, but have been given the opportunity to teach upon graduation in the TFA program. I have been an advocate for this education reform because I feel it gives students an opportunity to branch out and begin their life after college, but I can also see why it may hold some negative thoughts for other individuals.
While reading Class Warfare, it is obvious that Brill is a big advocate for the reform program. He gave inspiring examples of how individuals had to push through the “hopelessly lost” moments of their teaching experience in order to end up on top. He talked about Usdin, who claimed to go home every night for the first couple of weeks and cry because she felt she was hopeless for these students. I feel though, that these experiences shape individuals to become a better leader to these students. With the students who participate in TFA coming from a higher standard of education, I feel that they have more motivation to give the best opportunities to these lower income students. I know individuals who have graduated from Bucknell and are participating in the TFA program and they feel that it is one of the best experiences they could ever have.
I also know individuals who are against this type of reform program because they feel that the graduates who receive the TFA opportunities are not qualified for this type of classroom work, and need a four-year degree in education to be the best leader for their students. While I agree that this may be true, I feel that TFA can be a special case. Whenever you have a specific degree, you tend to search for the perfect job that you want. With that being said, I feel that most individuals try to stem out and find a position that fits best with their standards of living. I do not mean to categorize all students the same, but generally most do not give up what they have to go to these very low income communities to stay and teach for the rest of their lives. They may go for a period of time, but generally they find elsewhere to go that better fits their lifestyle. TFA in my eyes tries to bring better opportunities to these areas to advance these students as much as possible. Their resources can be limited, and I feel that students willing to participate and learn about the TFA program are ready for such situations and are motivated to give their all to these students during the time that they get to spend with them.
I believe that the TFA program can open up windows to help school reform. While there is always room for improvement in all of these types of programs, I think it carries more positives that benefit not only the participant of the TFA position, but also the students and schools that work together with the overall program. It seems to be more beneficial than eliminating the program altogether.
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2 responses to “Do the positives outweigh the negatives of Teach for America?”
I would say that Teach for America is not the solution to creating success in the public school system. It is not enough to take students from Ivy League institutions and place them in urban centered class rooms with students that come from a completely different background as they do. I would say that Teach for America and other teacher licensing programs should put a bigger emphasis on teacher training, and rather than putting new graduates through a summer training session, give them a year or two to adjust. No one can become a decent teacher after 3 months of training.
Yes, TFA raises some really difficult questions. The distance between what would be best for kids in impoverished areas like highly trained, dedicated, and highly experienced teachers and what is really happening — high rates of teacher turnover, teachers teaching outside of their field, etc. opens up a space for creative problem solving. TFA is an approach that has gotten a lot of financial support and has been frequently in the press. What other solutions are being pursued? I hope we will be able to explore some of these as the course continues.