Taking Action in Teacher Education
For the sixth artifact/reflection pairing, I have included a document on which I brainstormed a way to take action as a teacher educator. The reflection appears first, and then the artifact.
Reflection
Flying Nun is one of my all-time favorite record labels. I discovered them via Pandora over ten years ago when the Verlaines’ “Death and the Maiden” popped up on a Built to Spill station I cultivated, and I was captivated. I went down the rabbit hole of Flying Nun bands and have been revisiting that rabbit hole ever since. If you’ve never heard of Flying Nun Records, it might be because they’re in New Zealand and their bands don’t get much, if any, airtime on American radio or television. It’s our loss, really. I am reminded of Flying Nun Records because my professor, Dr. Katy Crawford-Garrett has been doing some fascinating research into an alternative teacher preparation program in New Zealand.
When I first heard about Dr. Crawford-Garrett’s research, I thought it sounded like a cool excuse to go visit a neat foreign country. I have since gained a larger appreciation for what she’s doing. In fact, her research makes me want to take action against the increasingly popular alternative models commonly named Teach for ________ or Teach First ________. You can fill in the blank with the country of your choice. These truncated pathways into education are brutally short, often coming in around 6-8 weeks long.
It’s astounding to think that these companies are taking bright, recent graduates and sending them into high needs schools with only a few weeks worth of training. It’s astounding to think that people are okay with this. Unfortunately, people are more than okay with this. They’re so okay with it that these types of programs are popping up all over.
I like to get down to business as opposed to standing around talking about it when it comes to education. I have simply run out of patience for bullshit that I can see through. I can see through the Teach for Wherever and alternative-routes-into-teaching bullshit and their call-and-response style pedagogy. The problem is that there’s no real competition for the accelerated model of teacher preparation, so they can continue churning out shitty teachers year after year and sending them into schools where students are being underserved. They can continue perpetuating the cycle. I want to interrupt that cycle. I want to stand athwart the alternative licensure pathway and put a fork in the road so that underserved schools have another option for teacher recruiting. I want to square off against the Teach for New Zealand folks on their own turf. I’d like to collaborate with teachers in New Zealand to create my own alternative pathway model that matches Teach for New Zealand when it comes to length of preparation program, teacher candidate pool, schools served, etc. The difference will be the pedagogy and how we prepare our teachers.
In short, I want to put my brand of pedagogy up against the capitalists and see who produces the best teachers. I’m ready to put my money where my mouth is and turn education into a competitive sport. I’m ready to throw down and put my foot on tired pedagogy that masquerades as innovation. I’m ready to dive head-first into the troubled and murky waters of teacher education.
When I first heard about Dr. Crawford-Garrett’s research, I thought it sounded like a cool excuse to go visit a neat foreign country. I have since gained a larger appreciation for what she’s doing. In fact, her research makes me want to take action against the increasingly popular alternative models commonly named Teach for ________ or Teach First ________. You can fill in the blank with the country of your choice. These truncated pathways into education are brutally short, often coming in around 6-8 weeks long.
It’s astounding to think that these companies are taking bright, recent graduates and sending them into high needs schools with only a few weeks worth of training. It’s astounding to think that people are okay with this. Unfortunately, people are more than okay with this. They’re so okay with it that these types of programs are popping up all over.
I like to get down to business as opposed to standing around talking about it when it comes to education. I have simply run out of patience for bullshit that I can see through. I can see through the Teach for Wherever and alternative-routes-into-teaching bullshit and their call-and-response style pedagogy. The problem is that there’s no real competition for the accelerated model of teacher preparation, so they can continue churning out shitty teachers year after year and sending them into schools where students are being underserved. They can continue perpetuating the cycle. I want to interrupt that cycle. I want to stand athwart the alternative licensure pathway and put a fork in the road so that underserved schools have another option for teacher recruiting. I want to square off against the Teach for New Zealand folks on their own turf. I’d like to collaborate with teachers in New Zealand to create my own alternative pathway model that matches Teach for New Zealand when it comes to length of preparation program, teacher candidate pool, schools served, etc. The difference will be the pedagogy and how we prepare our teachers.
In short, I want to put my brand of pedagogy up against the capitalists and see who produces the best teachers. I’m ready to put my money where my mouth is and turn education into a competitive sport. I’m ready to throw down and put my foot on tired pedagogy that masquerades as innovation. I’m ready to dive head-first into the troubled and murky waters of teacher education.
Artifact #6
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