Concentric Circles of Teach For America/Teach For All: A Layered Approach to Neoliberal Reform

• In Event: Roundtable Session 8

Session Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

The papers in this symposium explore the consequences of the neoliberal education reforms represented by the expansion of Teach For America (TFA) since the early 1990s in the United States, and, since the late 2000s, the creation and development of Teach For All (TFAll) on the global arena. The panel analyzes the effects of TFA/TFAll from a multi-scalar perspective—global, national, institutional, and pedagogical—in an attempt to illuminate the depth and breadth of this particular (and particularly powerful) neoliberal reform in education. Following this year’s conference theme centered on innovation in educational policy and practice, this symposium illuminates the dangers of neoliberal reforms and, in exposing these dangers, argues for more respectful, community-driven, and democratic approaches to educational reform.

Sub Unit

• Division L - Educational Policies and Politics / Section 4: School Choice and Other Reforms

Chair

• Kenneth M Zeichner, University of Washington

Papers

• Neoliberal Pedagogies: Enacting Doug Lemov in Urban Schools - Lauren Gatti, University of Nebraska - Lincoln; Beth Leah Sondel, University of Wisconsin

• Teach For America/University “Partnerships”: A Case of Academic Capitalism - Katy Swalwell, Iowa State University

• The Power of the Network: Teach For America’s Impact on the Deregulation of Teacher Education - Kerry Kretchmar, Carroll University; Beth Leah Sondel, University of Wisconsin; Joseph J. Ferrare, University of Kentucky

• Teach for ... (Fill in the Blank): Teacher Education in the Age of Global Reproduction - Daniel Friedrich, Teachers College, Columbia University