Maintaining meritocratic mythologies: Teach For America and Ako Mātātupu: Teach First New Zealand

ABSTRACT

Alternative teacher education programmes associated with the Teach For All network are emerging worldwide. Largely inspired by Teach For America, these programmes draw on the meritocratic vision that ‘one day’ all children will receive a high-quality education and fulfil their potential. This paper questions the underlying ideology of meritocracy as evident in two Teach For All affiliate programmes – Teach for America and Ako Mātātupu: Teach First New Zealand. By drawing on qualitative data collected from across both programmes including interviews with participants and stakeholders, this article explores the ways in which meritocratic discourses undergird each programme’s mission and are subsequently voiced by participant teachers. Findings suggest that, despite significant differences in socio-political and economic contexts, strikingly similar discourses surface. We argue that the meritocratic ideologies evident in both contexts promote narrow definitions of ‘achievement’, disillusionment among teachers, and a general obfuscation of inequality.

摘要

与 “为所有人而教” 项目网络相关联的非传统教师教育项目正在全球范围内涌现。这些项目主要受 “美丽美国支教项目” 启发，秉承择优制的愿景，即 “终有一天” 所有孩子将接受优质教育并发挥自身潜能。本文质疑 “为所有人而教” 旗下的 “美丽美国” 和 “以教为先新西兰” (Ako Mātātupu) 这两个项目中所蕴含的择优制意识形态。通过包括采访这两个项目的参与者及相关人士等方式所得的质性数据，本文探究择优制的话语以何种方式支撑这两个项目的使命，并为参与项目的教师所表述。研究发现，尽管这两个项目所在的社会–政治与经济情境大不相同，所呈现的话语却惊人相似。我们认为，在这两个情境中所显现的择优制意识形态促进了对 “成就” 的狭隘定义、教师间的失望情绪及对不平等的整体掩饰。

KEYWORDS:

• Teach For All
• meritocracy
• educational equity
• socioeconomic status
• teaching
• teacher education
• comparative education

关键词:

• 为所有人而教
• 择优制
• 教育公平
• 社会经济地位
• 教学
• 教师教育
• 比较教育

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 See Rauschenberger (2016) and Thomas, Crawford-Garret, and Rauschenberger (2021) for more on the launch and historical evolution of TFAll as a global network advancing educational reform.

2 See Rauschenberger (2021) on the student achievement measurement system instituted by TFA to ‘prove’ the effectiveness of its corps members.

3 In the US case, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with TFA corps members from one TFA region in the Midwest. The corps members were overwhelmingly female (n = 22) and grew up outside of the state in which they were teaching (n = 17). They represented various TFA cohorts and content areas – ranging from elementary/primary general content to middle school special education to high school English, among others – with the majority placed in charters schools (n = 16). The interviews generally lasted between 1 and 2 h in duration and were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Additional information about this data set and concomitant methods and findings are available elsewhere (Thomas 2018a, 2018b; Thomas and Lefebvre 2020).

4 Data from the New Zealand case consisted primarily of semi-structured interviews with participants and community stakeholders (N = 33), including interviews with TeachFirst thought leaders and key personnel (n = 3), current AM/TFNZ participants (n = 16), programmes alumni (n = 5), school principals who employ AM/TFNZ participants (n = 2), university professors and leading experts in teacher preparation practices (n = 6), and a representative from a national teacher’s union who played a key role in advocating for specific changes to the AM/TFNZ certification process (n = 1). Most interviews were at least an hour in length, and interviews were transcribed verbatim. See Crawford-Garrett (2017–2020) for more information about this data set, methods, and subsequent findings.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katy Crawford-Garrett

Katherine Crawford-Garrett is an Associate Professor of Teacher Education at the University of New Mexico. Her research focuses on critical literacy, teacher inquiry, school reform and teacher activism.

Sam Oldham

Sam Oldham is a PhD candidate in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Hisresearch is broadly in the area of school commercialism, education reform and the history of organised labour in Australia. He is a public school teacher and education unionist.

Matthew A. M. Thomas

Matthew A.M. Thomas is a Senior Lecturer in Comparative Education and Sociology of Education at the University of Sydney. His research examines educational policies, pedagogical practices, and teacher and higher education. Most recently, he is co-editor of Examining Teach For All (Routledge, 2021) and the Handbook of Theory in Comparative and International Education (Bloomsbury, 2021).