Mapping the Teach For All Phenomenon

• In Event: Three Dozen Countries and Counting: Teach For All's Global Influence on Teacher Recruitment and Training

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to act as an introduction to the session as a whole, summarizing the theoretical frameworks that have thus far been used to make sense of the Teach For All phenomenon in the literature, the findings of the few case studies that have been conducted, and describe the gaps in the current literature.

Theoretical Lens: The theoretical frameworks used thus far to explain the Teach For All phenomenon that will be outlined in this paper include the model of Teach For All as an Intermediary Organization Network (IONs) (La Londe, Brewer & Lubienski, 2015), network partners’ use of dataspeak to explain their operations (Friedrich, Walter & Colmenares, 2015), and the notion that Teach For All represents one prominent supporter of the market-based currently dominant educational project (Straubhaar, 2014).

Research questions: What theoretical frameworks have thus far been used to make sense of the Teach For All phenomenon?

Methods/data: This paper consists of a review of the current literature.

Results & Conclusions: The biggest contribution of the extant literature has been bringing a deeper understanding of the role of global transnational networks (like Teach For All) that are more modest in scope than the multilateral organizations (like the World Bank, OECD and so forth) whose global policy influence has been dominant since the rise of the Washington Consensus. While Teach For All does not enforce policy changes through loan conditionalities (Jones, 2004) as has traditionally occurred, it has effectively spread certain ideas regarding teacher training reform through the private networks to which its partners, alumni and national-level supporters belong.

Scholarly significance: The current literature on Teach For All has yet to be effectively summarized as a jumping off point for further inquiry. This paper provides that summary.

References

Friedrich, D., Walter, M., & Colmenares, E. (2015). Making All Children Count: Teach For All and the Universalizing Appeal of Data. education policy analysis archives, 23, 48.
La Londe, P. G., Brewer, T. J., & Lubienski, C. A. (2015). Teach For America and Teach For All: Creating an Intermediary Organization Network for Global Education Reform. education policy analysis archives, 23, 47.
Straubhaar, R. (2014). The Multiple Influences on Nonformal Instructional Practices in Rural Mozambique: Exploring the Limits of World Culture Theory.Comparative Education Review, 58(2), 215-240.

Authors

• Rolf Straubhaar, University of Georgia

• Daniel Friedrich, Teachers College, Columbia University