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I've really given some thought to becomming involved with this program. Their website is : www.teachforamerica.org
I've heard some good things about them, and they seem to be well organized, and working towards a good goal. I was just curious if any of you have had experience with them...or if you have known people in the program.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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posted
If I were single I'd probably consider it. With four kids, though, I plan on applying to teach only at school districts near my home, so I can be close to my kids.
My husband is very opposed to me teaching in an inner city school district, mainly because he's made so many runs to stabbings and shootings and drug overdoses in the Birmingham city schools.
What so terrible about the situation, is that every one I know that teaches or is planning on getting a degree says the same thing - so who does go teach in these schools? People who can't get hired anywhere else?
With an inability to recruit quality teachers and a lack of support from parents, these schools won't get better they will get worse. It's very very sad.
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quote:What so terrible about the situation, is that every one I know that teaches or is planning on getting a degree says the same thing - so who does go teach in these schools? People who can't get hired anywhere else?
I know about fifteen teach for America teachers, and all of them could have found other jobs. And all but one did it out of a sense of duty. They didn't do it because the schools were easy or lucrative.
The exception did it for two years to show fake a sense of duty in order to get into a prestigious medical school, but so it goes.
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A friend of mine is doing Teach First - the British version - and loving it. Personally, I'm glad I went the standard postgrad route because a) I am planning to stay on in teaching, so I didn't feel I needed the extra incentives and corporate input and b) the Teach First teachers get 6 weeks of intensive training and are then given almost the same workload and responsibility as a fully qualified teacher, whereas we student teachers get eased in a bit more, and I felt I needed that time to find my feet.
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But Irami, we don't just need people willing to do teach for America out of duty (which I admire, and I mentioned I'd be willing myself if I weren't already married with four children to consider)
We need teachers willing to go in there and make careers our of shepherding these kids, and caring for them.
Those people are hard to find, because a high quality teacher is in such demand, they can work in places that pay better and are safer.
Now you can look down on people taking more money if you wish, but when personal safety is a concern - it's hard to fault people who don't want to go to work somewhere where they have to go through metal detectors and still be afraid of being assaulted every day.
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You say there is a need. You say you are going to be a full-time teacher, not just someone who is going to cut and run after a few years, and you've said that money isn't an issue in your situation.
Maybe public safety is a real threat. I don't know how many teachers were stabbed schools in Birmingham. And maybe it's just because I'm a young guy, but of all of the reasons not to teach at this school, safety for the teachers seems like a bad one.
Posts: 5600 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I cannot say about the schools Belle mentioned, but teachers have been killed. I know of one incident in particular were a shop teacher was killed with a hammer. The threat is real. Its more than being stabbed even, having to live with the constant looming threat to you safety is wearying and in the long run, harmful.
Beyond that even there is no shame in refusing to take part in this program.
Posts: 1621 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Yeah, and I get tired of hearing excuses for white flight. *shrugs* I know where I'm teaching, and I think the Teach for America crew, even if they only do it for two or three years, put up a better show than career teachers in the suburbs.
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I was in a similar program, here in Brazil last year, but I left it this year. Its not an easy task...
Posts: 1785 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Several of the teachers in my school were placed through the Teach for America program. I'm not in the program myself, but I did a finish my certification while teaching.
I think that the one problem I've seen with Teach for America, is that many people choose to do this out of duty and they really don't want to be a teacher. You need to want to teach and enjoy working with teens/children in order for the experience to be enjoyable.
I don't think teaching is an easy job for anyone who's beginning, but it's miserable if you haven't had any preparation and if it's not something your passionate about.
Teaching in an inner-city, high need school is very rewarding. I love my job. I adore my students. Sure, I have rough days, but I have many, many more days when I can't imagine ever teaching anywhere else.
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quote:I think the Teach for America crew, even if they only do it for two or three years, put up a better show than career teachers in the suburbs.
That is an extremely unfair statement and you have no right to criticize where people work.
No money isn't really an issue for me, but my kids are - and the closest inner city school system to me would have me driving more than an hour to get to work, and there are a lot of other needy schools near me that wouldn't make me feel threatened.
Within easy driving distance are several rural schools with poor test scores that are in desperate need of good teachers, and have a hard time finding them because they're so far off the beaten path, not many teachers want to drive to them. In my case, it's no trouble, since I live off the beaten path.
Teachers do get assaulted Irami, and besides the violence they take a lot of verbal abuse as well. I'm not going to drive an hour out of my way to be abused, when there is a child just as much in need of my help within a 15-20 minute drive.
Do I feel for those inner city kids - you bet I do! I wish there were ways to fix the system, I know the state is trying by offering financial incentives for teachers to work in those systems. I admire what Coccinelle does - but because of my family obligations I'm not going to do it. And you know what - that's fine, because I'll probably wind up taking a position in a poor, rural area that a bunch of other teachers don't want. And even if I do work in a "rich, white school" or even a private school - that's also my choice and it doesn't make me less of a person or less of a teacher.
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quote:And you know what - that's fine, because I'll probably wind up taking a position in a poor, rural area that a bunch of other teachers don't want. And even if I do work in a "rich, white school" or even a private school - that's also my choice and it doesn't make me less of a person or less of a teacher.
Maybe not less of a teacher but possibly less of a person. I'm coming down on the wrong side of a deeply entrenched market culture, but here is why:
Let's say two people are on a boat. The captain thinks they are about five or six days away from an island. One person has one can of food and the other person has 50 cans of food. Let's assume one can of food lasts one day.
Now when the person with one can of food asks the person with 50 cans of food for a can of food, the person with 50 cans of food can say, "I'd like to help you, buddy, but I don't know, it could be a long time before we are rescued. I think I should keep my fifty cans of food."
There is a guy by the name of Pareto, who fugu can probably expound upon and clarify, who makes a morally defensible argument out of the proposition that we cannot judge the man for not giving up even one of his fifty cans of food, it's one of the premises upon which market institutions are built.
The problem is that it's crap, but once we out right call it crap, we throw out the moral lynchpin that sanctions our market society. Given everything the guy with the fifty cans reasonably understands, he is behaving niggardly and is a small, small person. And for the exact same reason, but on a much less severe level, your decision very could make you less of a person.
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"That is an extremely unfair statement and you have no right to criticize where people work.
No money isn't really an issue for me, but my kids are - and the closest inner city school system to me would have me driving more than an hour to get to work, and there are a lot of other needy schools near me that wouldn't make me feel threatened."
Wow, I sure agree. Irami, do you have children, I forget? Anyway, I worked for seven yearsr in a school which was a private, Chapter 766 School for kids who had been kiscked out of the inner city schools. Yes, it was dangerous at times, in the sense that we had to do restraints.
Did I feel unsafe? no way. We had a very strong team, and we worked together well. The kids would "go off" at times, but we knew them well enough to be able to prepare for this.(not all the time, of course)
Anyway, then I had my daughter. I just did not have enough emotional or physical energy to pull off this job anymore.
I am glad that I spent those years in that school. I learned a whole lot about behavior management, among other things.
Irami, don't put yourself on a high horse, and dump on others who choose not to make this decision. How insulting and rude to even imply that someone who teaches in the suburbs is morally inferior, or that someone who turns down "Teach for America" is. That is a lot of baloney. You know what teachers in the suburbs have, that I would trade a knife-weilding juvenile delinquesnt for any day?
Pushy parents.
I am sorry to get all uppity about this, but if there is one thing I can;t stand it is someone trying to proclaim that some teachers' positions are more important than others.'
(Edit: I deleted the Onion link)
[ February 19, 2005, 07:49 AM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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posted
I'd like to share this thread with a friend of mine in another group whose daughter is considering the Teach For America program, if that's okay with the participants? I'll wait a couple days to see if anyone objects.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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well, I sent off my appliation...so I'll see what happens.
I'm also applying to teach at some community colleges in my area. It would be much easier work (with better pay) but not as rewarding. I may do the teach for america thing for 2 years, and then go into college teaching (or I may end up working more for teach for america).
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Elizabeth, thanks for your thoughts. Nice to hear from someone who is already doing the job, rather than a student like me.
quote:I am sorry to get all uppity about this, but if there is one thing I can;t stand it is someone trying to proclaim that some teachers' positions are more important than others.'
Absolutely. Every person who teaches has made a decision to take a job that has low status, low pay, hard work, difficult emotional highs and lows, and requires an extensive education just to get the privilege of doing it. And now, with all these accountability standards there are more tests and assessments and job reviews than ever before. So there is even more pressure on teachers to perform, along with tons of paperwork.
Last night I spoke to a family friend who has been a teacher or involved in education for more than 40 years. I told her that I was back in school to get my degree in elementary education, and told her I had planned on going straight to graduate school to get a certification in library science. She said "I wish you wouldn't. We need teachers more than we need librarians. At least teach for several years before starting graduate school."
Then she told me about the large number of teachers she knew that left the profession recently, dissatisfied with all the changes and extra workload.
I have to admit she inspired me, and I might very well re-think the idea of going straight to grad school after all. For one thing, I've been wavering between getting certification as a library media specialist and getting certified as a reading specialist. Working for a few years might help me make that decision.
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