Schooling Teachers tackles the perennial and pressing issue of how this nation will attract, prepare, and retain high-quality teachers for all students, particularly those in our most challenging classrooms. Drawing on participant voices from the inaugural 1990 cohort of Teach For America, this book situates their experiences within the larger context of teacher education and reform of the last three decades. Through an investigation of one of the more influential departures from traditional teacher preparation during this period, the authors examine the "teacher problem" and illustrate why solutions remain elusive and limited. This book moves beyond the purported dichotomy between university-based teacher education and alternatives such as Teach For America to consider their common challenges, suggesting a starting place from which to create a future of more effective teacher preparation.Book Features:Illuminates persistent issues associated with conventional practices of teacher recruitment, education, and teaching. Explores the early assumptions and experiences associated with a key reform effort designed to challenge traditional practices. Highlights why traditional teacher education and TFA have struggled to solve the problem of preparing teachers to be ready for to the contemporary demands of education.Shares important stories about individuals' personal experiences and actions that reveal the broader collective and social forces at work.Uses richly detailed qualitative data to draw insights that address larger issues of staffing and supporting urban schools.
Megan Blumenreich is professor of childhood education at The City College of New York, CUNY. Bethany L. Rogers is associate professor of educational history at The College of Staten Island, CUNY.
Contents (Tentative)Foreword Michele FosterAcknowledgmentsIntroductionBeloved Alternative: Teach For AmericaConventional vs. Alternative Teacher EducationStudying the Inaugural TFA CohortStructure of the Book1. TFA and the Paradox of the 1980s1980s Writ Large"The Sky Is Falling": Education in the 1980sA "Kinder, Gentler Nation": Student Idealism in the 1980sConclusion2. A Mission, a Lark, a Job: Choosing Teach For AmericaChoosing to Teach vs. Choosing TFAThe Right Job at the Right Time: Factors Affecting the Choice to Join TFAConclusion3. Preparing to Teach for America: The Summer InstituteTeacher Education, Circa 1990The TFA Summer Institute, 1990Participant Recollections: Lessons and ImplicationsConclusion4. "Multiculturalism Run Amok": Identity Politics at the Summer InstituteMulticulturalism in 1990 America: A Debate "Older than the Nation Itself"Multiculturalism and Teacher EducationTFA Participant Experiences of Multiculturalism at the Summer InstituteConclusion5. Ordeal by Fire: The 1990 Corps in the Classroom"Survival and Discovery": The Beginning Teacher's ExperienceNew Teacher Challenges of the TFA ParticipantsParticipant ResponsesConclusion6. University-Based Teacher Educators in the Crosshairs: Responding to TFA and the New ReformsTeacher Education: How Did We Get Here?The 1980s: Unleashing ChangeResponding to New PressuresConclusion7. The Legacy of TFAMeasuring TFA's ImpactImplications: Alumni Experiences and the Making of TeachersTFA Alumni: Influence on EducationTFA Influence on Participants' LivesConcluding ThoughtsConclusionAppendicesNotesIndexAbout the Authors
“ Schooling Teachers: Teach for America and the Future of Teacher Education is a practical-minded examination of how to attract, prepare, and retain high-quality teachers in America. Chapters scrutinize the 1990 cohort of Teach for America, in the context of efforts to train and improve teachers from the 1990's to the present. Extensive notes and an index round out this thoughtful, methodical, and highly recommended study.”—Midwest Book Review