This is a program promoted by Americorps to create an alternative teaching certification route for college graduates without a major in education. It sounds like a pretty good program and I agree with part of its mission statement, though I’d like to see a higher acceptance rate that’s more inclusive. There’s more discussion on the merits of Teach For America and the issues and conflict surrounding the concept of alternative route teaching certification programs versus traditional educational requirement at this site.
It is an interesting concept and one that, while not perfect, could bring a host of new talent to low-income school systems that would otherwise be lacking (an issue in itself that ought to be addressed). I can see how education majors would feel threatened by alternative teaching programs, thinking they will create an upsurge of qualified teaching candidates to compete with, but that hasn’t been the reality thus far. And besides, even if it does, well, good! We need more qualified teachers. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? If education majors are truly the best candidates for the jobs, they have nothing to worry about. Either way, people aren’t exactly rushing the gates to get into teaching positions in low-income areas, so what’s all the fuss about?
Anyway, that’s what I’m reading about tonight.
Newsvine
wakemenow said
Now here’s an account that leaves me uneasy.
http://www.olemiss.edu/programs/mtc/Media/Writings/docs/Carey%20Applegate.pdf
Teaching in the rural areas of Mississippi being compared with backpacking and trips to Europe and Niagara Falls? Is this “teaching expedition” for those from more fortunate backgrounds about some new form of “thrill-seeking” or is it about learning the culture these children live in and making the efforts and sacrifices necessary to reach and teach them? Damn. They aren’t just strange black youth from a “forgotten” part of the backlands, they’re Mississippi residents and Americans. It’s tragic the disparities in our public education system and Mississippi most definitely gets the short end of the stick (based on national comparison).
Ms. Applegate’s description highlights the challenge but any real substance is absent.
While I can’t speak for other Mississippians, importing teachers in from ivy league schools in southern California and New York who lack respect for our rich Southern culture and tradition and aim to help our disenfranchised young people to emotionally distance themselves from their historical roots and communities in order to find acceptance and higher standards of living within the “mainstream” sounds like shameless co-opting. In the words of Clint Johnson, an author and Florida-native, “The South is under attack because it is the last region of the nation to resist being homogenized into an amorphous mass of people who think alike, sound alike, vote alike, buy alike.” Will bringing in teachers from other regions who generally support or go along with this “mainstream” agenda do more harm than good for the Deep South, particularly its future generations? This is definitely a matter that deserves consideration and thought.
We need and want teachers in the rural Delta where we see the biggest shortage, BUT we also need those teachers coming in to be sensitive to Southern culture and to resist ridiculing our people, which seems intended to shame us into conforming to national standards and ideals but has proven unsuccessful historically and tends to widen the gap between southern states and the rest of the nation. We’re not interested in being co-opted, in case we haven’t made that clear enough. Educated, yes. Brainwashed into shunning our culture and values and accepting widespread labels that we’re a bunch of “ignorant rednecks” and racists, no.