I'm talking about knives pulled in the classroom. kids attacking teachers (kids who may be bigger than the teachers) physically. Kids tripping out of their minds in the classroom.
don't mean to be over-dramatic. Lots of times this doesn't happen.
I actually think the other side of it is what I have more of a question about: what the kids being taught get out of TFA?
I also agree with Gavin: a lot of well-meaning folks do it because they want to do good, but that doesn't mean they ARE good for the kids they are teaching. And since many of the TFA folk see it (and I think it is often sold to them) as a temporary 'boost my karma/resume' experience and take off pretty fast, whatever happens the kids are left with another teacher leaving and a new, unfamiliar person every year or two. the kids know that too.
Although there may be no working solution, I sometimes think struggling schools and kids deserve better, and need a lot better, than TFA often has to offer them. There can be a nasty charity mentality "they should be grateful for what they can get" when sometimes it's the worst kind of bandaid --one that is far more effective at making the bandager feel better but precludes solving the real problem - a lack of experienced, committed teachers.
maybe it's different in different regions.
sorry to be negative but i know a good number of high school teachers these days (working especially in poorer parts of Oakland) and that's what I've absorbed..
See, i live in a neighborhood where I've had to run after gunshots rang about 10 feet away from me, where teenagers carry boxcutters and have broken into my apartment while I was there, If nothing else, I know how to immediately spot the signs of drug abuse and "highness", and actually know quite a bit about how to handle drug psychosis.
Of course, none of this makes up for the larger negative aspects of the education situation in this country.
What are the kids who get taught by teachers who barely passed their classes in a second-rate education program that they took because they heard it was the easiest to pass while still drinking themselves to oblivion at their sorority getting out of going to school in general? No offense to teachers, but my mom has worked in school districts for a long time--she has always been horrified to watch districts hire people like this hypothetical sorority chick who have solid D GPAs because they
simply need the staff members and the talent pool is extremely shallow. Often in my school they had to keep on staff whoever could manage to get through a semester without leaving or having a nervous breakdown (GHS went through THREE 8th grade social studies teachers when my brother was in middle school, in ONE semester).
Personally, I don't think of TFA as a solution to my "karma" at all--frankly that is kind of offensive. Without any arrogance at all, I think I can safely assume that without a single second of course work filling out workbook pages on childhood psychology and developmental research (all forgotten within a few seconds of course completion anyway), that I could learn how to teach high-school level subjects with some competence. There is a huge difference between seeing a gap where you (being a formerly rebellious and troubled kid who knows how tough it can be) might be of some assistance, and having the all-too-typical neoliberal "pat yourself on the back for caring" attitude. I assure you I am not of the later category.
Of course struggling districts deserve DEDICATED, fully-staffed faculties with lower student-to-teacher ratios and excellently credentialed teachers. In the absence of these in the real world, however, I do not think there is anything wrong with temporary solutions to these problems, even if these are not themselves ideal. A lot of people might want to do TFA with unrealistic expectations for how much "good" they can accomplish under the circumstances, but this does not mean students who can benefit from some TFA instructors should be denied this benefit because it is not a 100% utopic solution to all of public education's problems.
