Teach for All and the Visual Regime of Global Teacher Education Reform

• In Event: Can't Take My Eyes Off of You: Uncovering/Dissecting Narratives of Inequality

Abstract

This study examines the visual regime of teacher education reform constructed by Teach for All, a Transnational Advocacy Network that operates through member organizations in 60 countries around the world. By analyzing the marketing and advertising images created by and posted to the Facebook pages of 52 Teach for All network organizations, this study identifies five key themes (youth, hands, gaze, permanence/change, and infographics) that work together to communicate particular problems and TfA’s solution to educational crises across the globe. Designed for the purposes of recruiting new “corps members”, soliciting funding from donors, and persuading policymakers of the primacy of TfA’s approach, this visual regime conveys the message that effective reform is a matter of social entrepreneurship and individual responsibility.

Authors

• Daniel Friedrich, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Andrew Greene, Teachers College, Columbia University