What to Say When Someone Asks, “Should I Do an Alternative Certification Program?”

I’ve been asked a handful of times recently if I recommend for someone to enter teaching through alternative certification program. It’s a tricky question.

I’ve been through both of the main induction models into teaching. First I joined the New York City Teaching Fellows alternative certification program and endured a chaotic rookie experience in the Bronx; later I earned a master’s degree at Teachers College, Columbia University in a program based on taking time on learning the craft.

With that perspective I feel it’s important to trumpet the crucial benefits of a teacher preparation program that includes significant time for apprentice-teaching. For me, this was the master’s program, but it also applies to residency programs as well, where teachers learn the craft for a year or more before assuming full responsibility for a classroom of vulnerable young people.

So when someone eagerly inquires about Teach For America or some other alt-cert program, I usually respond with a grimace and lay out the pros and cons.

POSITIVES

• You jump right into the classroom, instantly fulfilling your desire for having an important and meaningful job. Then you can jump out after a couple years with minimal guilt since that’s essentially the expectation.
• You immediately begin earning a paycheck and do not have to go into debt.
• You might end up in a school with great administration or great colleagues who, over time, can support your growth toward becoming an effective teacher.

 NEGATIVES

• You won’t know what you are doing for a long time, which will create constant stress. You’ll struggle to get through each day, and you’ll feel like you are letting down your charges, which— real talk here— you probably are.  This frazzled feeling will dominate your life. You’ll reach for the rationalizing salve of the alternative certification program’s raison d’etre— no one else would take this job, so there’s no one better than you waiting in the wings. It provides cold comfort.
• You might end up in a school with a hostile climate among adults.
• You’re not setting yourself up to last in the teaching profession.

I think alternative certification should exist solely out of necessity. Despite its bringing in altruistic doers— some of whom stay in the profession— the proliferation of this trial by fire model makes it harder to boost the standing of teaching as a profession. Indeed, in America no other serious profession (think medicine, law, accounting) would hand off massive responsibilities to a rookie with essentially no practical training.

But if you can’t take on that grad school debt… and you need to earn a paycheck… and you just want to give it a shot… well… 

Comments

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I'm excited about this! Thank you for being so generous with your experience and encouragement.

[Denver EduWarrior]

What you forgot to mention was the crooked ethics carried by TFA that creates the hostile work environment where the teacher-elect might be placed. That hostility will be directed toward the teacher-elect. You forgot to mention how TFA is not only deprofessionalizing teaching, but is also facilitating the forced lay-off and firing of very good, experienced teachers who cost the districts more money. What you forgot to mention is the fact TFA is part of a larger scheme to break teacher unions so that charter schools have more money to spend on pseudo-edu products that their business partners sell. You failed to elaborate on what benefit the two-year expectation of teaching in TFA is to big business. You also failed to elaborate on how detrimental a two-year expectation is on the students.

Mr. Brown, exactly whose side are you on? I don't think your cost/benefit analysis has any validity. It seems to focus on one person, rather than the student body and profession as a whole. There are certainly alternative licensing programs out there with stronger ethics than TFA. Please, think, Mr. Brown, of what you're doing to the teaching profession and our kids, before engaging your pen.

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[Bill Polson]

Your comments regarding alt-certification come from the bias of someone that came up through the education side of higher education. So while I understand your position consider that there are those that come to education from non-traditional venues and succeed.
I was a banker for nearly 20 years and earned a MBA with an undergraduate degree in Business Economics before quality of life and health concerns moved me into education nearly 20 years ago. Teaching is what I should have been doing my whole life. On the other hand, the banking experience gives me a very different perspective on teaching; I’m accustomed to being the odd man out in discussions regarding education.
There were some busy times in the beginning but I never felt that I was shorting my students any more than a new teacher fresh from a school that provided education classes. In fact most teachers I work with indicate that a lot of the courses they took in education have no relevance in the classroom and that I’m better off having avoided them.
I have gone to great lengths to strengthen my skills and teaching practices by attending as many seminars and teaching institutes in the summer as I can and have had some wonderful experiences as a result. NEH Landmark, NEH institutes and Gilder Lehrman summer seminars are great experiences for any and all teachers and I’ve taken advantage of many of their offerings. I’ve just renewed my certification as a National Board Certified Teacher, AYA Social Studies and hope to teach until I’m 68-70 years old because I love what I do. I’m well respected by my peers and administrators and have taught APUSH for the past 10 years and have served as a reader for the College Board in Louisville for the past 6 years.
While my experience may not be typical it is possible to be a successful teacher coming from an unusual background, so please hold your grimace and edit your pros and cons to include some additional positives for alt-certification.

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