Those who believe that the current way we train teachers has been unsuccessful have thrown restructuring, privatization, and charter schools at us as ways to bust unions and supposedly create more successful education experiences for students in our "failing schools." In the process, teachers have been demonized as selfish, lazy, unionized fat cats just waiting for their fat cat pensions at public expense. Now there is Teach for America. Well trained, experienced teachers not getting the job done? Let's put a bunch of kids straight out of school, with a 5 week crash course in teaching under their belts, into the classrooms in ghettos across America. That'll turn things around. Right.
This past Monday Michael Winerip had an article in The New York Times regarding Teach for America. It turns out that Ivy League graduates and graduates of elite colleges all over the country are competing to get into Teach for America and it's more difficult to get into than many elite graduate programs. The assumption among those who promote Teach for America and programs like this is that our schools are failing so let's get the best and brightest into teaching and turn this thing around.
Then those who are accepted are given a 5 week crash course over a summer and are put into classrooms in "failing schools" to give kids that boost that all of those bad teachers couldn't. First of all, the assumption that because a kid went to an elite university somehow makes them a better teacher than someone who went to, say Illinois State University, is totally fallacious. What school you went to, what brownie points you received for making the Dean's List, what IQ you possess is no indicator of whether you will perform well in a classroom with kids from economically, socially, and/or criminally challenged backgrounds. Smart guys from good schools sometimes perform admirably. Sometimes they crash and burn. Same for guys from Illinois State University with average grades.
To his credit, Mr. Winerip notes in his article that it takes time to master the skills that are required to teach under these circumstances. Most Teach for America kids treat it like an equivalent of the Peace Corps. That is to say that it looks good on your resume when you're moving onward and upward, but it's not something you want to do for an extended period of time. Most leave Teach for America long before they have the opportunity to develop those skills that make someone a good teacher, someone who can reach kids and make a difference.
Furthermore, one of the assumptions that goes into a program like this is that just because you want to make a difference, doesn't mean your commitment will make it possible for you to make a difference. Wanting to change society doesn't make you a good social worker. Wanting to teach kids doesn't make you a good teacher. Mr. Winerip tells the tale of a young enthusiastic Teach for America teacher who finds herself in an inner city school teaching summer school so failing kids can make up failed classes. The young woman in question has a good idea for a lesson for kids that is thwarted by A) a broken overhead projector (Good teachers improvise and write on the board. Chalk has its uses.) and B) disruptive kids who really don't want to learn (Welcome to the world of teaching in so-called failing schools. Seasoned well-trained teachers often take years learning how best to deal with disruptive influences in the classroom.).
The thing is, the assumptions and money that are poured into programs like this are an overt insult to hard-working teachers everywhere. They are a slap in the face for those individuals who studied hard and got degrees and advanced degrees in education only to have some snot-nosed kid from an Ivy League school with 5 weeks training come in and think they are going to do a better job. Teachers work and train for years with few resources, for little money, and with kids who come into their classrooms reading 4 and 5 years below grade level and who struggle their damnedest to overcome home situations where the Mom has a new boyfriend in the house every week and the Dad is either unknown or in prison. These are dedicated teachers who struggle to reach kids who belong to gangs and believe that their only ticket to wealth is through illegal means.
It's time America took a long serious look at education and put some valuable resources into these schools by helping the people who trained hard to do the right thing, not by calling them losers and bringing a fresh crop of rich kids who will be gone the next year. One thing I know is that actual caring and showing some tough love can make a difference with some kids. Being there for a kid, not just one year but from the time they show up in your school until they graduate, means something to them. Often they come back years later and apologize for their actions when they were your student. They know you care. They also know that rich kids who come and go in a year or two don't really care about them as individuals.
Linus from Charlie Brown said, "I love humanity. It's people I can't stand." Often these students who join Teach for America are like that. They love humanity in the abstract. They want desperately to do something for humanity, but when faced with the actual face of poverty it's a little daunting and ugly. They move on and soon forget about all of those kids who need someone who cares. They need more well-trained teachers who are committed to making a difference, and often those well-trained ones wash out as well. It takes a special person to teach under extreme circumstances day in, day out, year after year. Teach for America is not providing that.
No comments:
Post a Comment