Thoughts on TFA

About Teach for America

In recent months the option of Teach for America has come up in several conversations with both prospective students and current students. I finally decided to write about TFA when a friend of mine in law school brought the topic up once more. I should state this is my own personal opinion and not necessarily a reflection of Penn GSE, especially considering TFA and GSE have a formal partnership/relationship.

I would sum up my comparisons with a simple question: what kind of educator do you want to be?

I'll be very frank, I am very critical of TFA and do not feel it is effectively working to solve the shortage of quality teachers in urban schools. That being said, here are a few points that support my criticism.

1. It is unrealistic to efficiently prepare a person to teach in the course of a summer.

Knowing a subject matter is not enough to be able to teach. Although it may be half the battle, it does not determine the quality of instruction. I think we can all recall teachers who may have known their subject but had chaotic classroom. Additionally, teaching in urban contexts commands learning about the complex social issues that surround schools. You can not effectively teach without out taking the school community into consideration.

2. You cannot build community within two years.

A big aspect of teaching is building community in your classroom and within the school. Every teacher has to create their niche and build relationships with co-workers, parents, and family. Two years is not enough time. Instead, the students will look at TFA teachers as those not necessarily genuinely concern as they come and go. Many adults have come and go in their lives and two years in a classroom only furthers the trend.

3. You need to allow yourself the time to find your pedagogical voice and make mistakes.

As a student teacher, you do both great things and make silly mistakes. The idea of student teaching is to be able to make such mistakes and learn from them in a year of experimentation instead of experimenting with your own classroom.

There is more I wish and will to write. But for now, this is the beginning.