“Behold, I Send You Forth as Sheep in the Midst of Wolves”
There is a Great Divide between old and new teachers, but according to the welcoming committee at the NYCTF New Teacher Ceremony, the reason is because “older teachers don’t like you. And they shouldn’t. They are afraid of you because you have the power to do what they can’t. You can change the schools. You are young, fresh, and full of ideas.”
That was the speech that echoed throughout the large auditorium housing over 1,850 newly inducted NYCTF. But this was not the first time I heard it. In fact, this was actually a tame version of what I had been hearing all summer from my Fellows Advisor (who by the way, was teaching in a middle school somewhere in Manhattan and despite her insistence that we dress professionally as teachers, wore low-cut tops and high-cut skirts, stiletto heels and told us that it was alright to hug our students- but, I’ll get to that in another post). And sadly, she was not the first person to mention the hatred that veteran teachers had for Fellows.
Months earlier, I was accepted into the program as an Emergency Fellow because there were so many mid-year vacancies that needed to be filled. During the weeks of my training, I was told by yet another Fellow Advisor (who was about 22 years of age and spoke to us in awkward ghettobonics obviously picked up from his students) that we would only find friendship and understanding from our- wait for it- “Fellow Fellows”. He would say many times throughout the course of our 3 weeks together that the Fellows were better than other teachers because we were hand-selected out of hundreds of applicants.
I was a little naive back then. I thought that maybe this program was a good one because I always root for the underdog. And we were the sheep amongst the wolves, who, with the theology of the NYCTF behind us, could conquer anything. I had such high hopes back then.
To be honest, I did not want to believe that the Fellows program was being underhanded. I hoped that my first Fellows Advisor was just a snot-nosed little kid, with no concept of reality. This is part of the reason that I deferred my participation in the program until the following summer. I was hoping that I would receive better advice as part of the regular program.
But, something always seemed out of place.
Why did these Fellows Advisors have to play-up our importance in the system? Why did they consistently and conveniently alienate us newbies from the experienced teachers?
There was something sinister in the way this played out. I realized early on that this was brainwashing. We were not supposed to fraternize with the jaded members of the old regime. The Fellows program is a type of political engineering used to destroy the morale and compassion of an already dwindling population of educators. It is guerrilla warfare. We are being pitted against one another from day one all in the name of educational progress.
I remember during my 3rd year teaching, asking a 1st year Fellow at my school to take a coverage that was given to me because I was not feeling very well. Another 1st year Fellow jumped into the conversation and told him not to do it. She looked right in my face and said, “us Fellows need to stick together and not let the old teachers take advantage of us.”
I was livid.
This is exactly the kind of stupidity that is killing our schools. But it is also the doctrine that is sermonized throughout the Fellows program. As a 3rd year teacher, I am considered a veteran and despite being a Fellow, I am not part of the clique- the enemy. I have been tainted by my interaction with non-Fellows. I am friends with experienced teachers who I look to for guidance and words of encouragement. In truth, I am not a “Fellow Fellow”.
But I never was.
I don’t believe that it is an “us against them” system. I don’t think that the Fellows program produces great teachers who, without the help of others, will lead the children of NYC to the promised land. Unfortunately, I know that I am an anomaly. I know that there are so many Fellows who succumb to temptation of pride and vanity preached by it’s leaders.
We are in this together. The veteran teachers have been fighting the good fight for so long and we as “newbies” need to embrace their tried-and-true philosophies and incorporate them into our own practices. Only then will the students of NYC receive an education that is comparable to that of the suburbs.
We are not sheep amongst wolves. We are all ants hoping to dodge the satanist with the magnifying glass trying to burn us alive.
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Comments
@Jose, thanks for commenting. I read your post and I agree to an extent. I don’t think we need to discuss our prejudices because they are not the problem per se. Rather, the problem is that the system is designed to divide and conquer. To do this, The NYCTF and other ATC programs encourage a superiority complex amongst its members and thus add to the feeling that older teachers- veteran teachers are to blame for the down fall of the system and are unwilling to change.
So what needs to happen? Well, that is a bit trickier. How do we teach Fellows to humble themselves if the program is teaching them to become snobs?
Maybe the dialogue needs to be between Fellows who did not give into the jargon and current Fellows. Maybe people like us need to be FAs so that we can work the program from the inside.
Can I throw my two cents in?
There’s also a snobbishness on our side (veteran teachers). Many veteran teachers look at Fellows differently because they didn’t receive the educational training that we did. There’s also the feeling of- ‘you didn’t really want to be a teacher or you would have gone through a traditional program,’ or ‘you’re just doing this as community service or to have something on your resume.’
I’m not saying these statements are true-Learnersinherit is one of the best teachers I have known, however, the feelings are definitely floating around.
What they said to you when you started makes a lot of sense when you think about all the mistrust of the fellows and vice versa.
Glad to see your blog. As a “veteran” Teaching Fellow, I was also very critical and conscious of the language used by our Fellows instructors. Its amazing, really, that it only took a few phrases here or there from professors, fellows advisors, coworkers and administrators to shape my early teacher-identity. I realized that before going into the Fellows program that some sort of brainwashing may take place, and I jotted down ten or so of my personal beliefs and I glance at them every now and then to preserve my humanistic view of teaching and education……As educators we have dozens of things to complain about, especially teacher on teacher complaints, it takes more character to transcend the trivialities that come with the job and seriously work towards democratizing education and educating students to become well-rounded and active citizens.
Do you really think that the fellowship program was built to destroy the morale of veteran teachers? That seems a bit far-fetched. I can see how the comments of your advisors make you feel that way, but that is absolutely not why the program was founded.
I agree that we’re in this together, but the teaching fellows who are in my school seem to agree with that. I’m not doubting your experience, but I am doubting that it’s the common experience.
Programs like the teaching fellows have a legitimate reason to try to establish a culture that is separate from the dominant culture in NYC schools: the current culture is one of failure. I agree that veteran teachers (like me) shouldn’t be roundly dismissed, but it is fair and even wise to warn new teachers against the nastiness and excuse-making that often pervades teachers lounges.
Socrates’s last blog post..40 Years
OK, here’s what I do not understand. Yes, there is a culture of failure.Yes, there is a great deal of nastiness and unhappiness among teachers.
However, shouldn’t we be looking at why teachers are so disillusioned? Shouldn’t we try to help change the culture?
It seems to be that the answer isn’t to get the burned out teachers out of the school and replace them with those who haven’t been affected by the culture, because guess what? It takes a few years until the new ideologues become burned out as well.
I see it every year. 75% of our teachers have 3 years or less experience. The new ones come in, filled with hope and potential, and then guess what? It’s off to the suburbs or a change of career.
When I was enrolled in my undergraduate preparation program, we talked about “burn out.” We discussed the fact that it was a very real part of the teaching profession. We also discussed the fact that those individuals who become burned out are usually the ones who were the most passionate when they began.
One does not become “burned out” unless one cared at some point.
@Socrates- did you go through an alternative program? I’m asking because it is hard to fathom what happens within the program unless you have been through one. I know that my experience is common because I have had the opportunity to sit in on other pre-service training classes and speak with other Fellows who have been more the willing to speak of the problems that they see in the program.
There is unhappiness and anger- but it does not exist without reason. Do I believe that the Fellows program was created to destroy the morale of veteran teachers? Yes, I do. The program tells teachers who have gone through traditional means that good teachers can be created in a simple seven-week program. Is that a positive message? Is that is one that is supposed to make veteran teachers feel good? I don’t think so. It is supposed to create fear- you don’t like the way things are done, we can replace very easily and for less money. The Fellows program exists to bring warm bodies into the classroom- it is the equivalent of trying to fix a gun shot wound with a bandaid.
Maybe some one should address the concerns of educators who have seen the system go through changes. Bringing in fresh, young minds does not always fix the problem when those minds have been filled with theory that does not apply to the actual classroom. And if the program wanted to better education, it would focus on retention after the two years.
I definitely agree that attempts at reform need to recognize that the majority of teachers are of the experienced and possibly burned out variety, and any system that does not address that fundamental issue will not be successful as a model of systemic reform. I also think it’s silly and possibly even arguing in bad faith to insist that New Teacher Fellows and such programs were actually designed with the intention of alienating the veterans. That may be an unintended by-product, and you could even argue that it’s a foreseeable one, but to say that that was the purpose of the program is akin to the conspiracy theories espoused by the inhabitants of rural Texas compounds. If someone put a band-aid on my gunshot wound, I wouldn’t accuse them of trying to kill me, I’d accuse them of poor medical practices.
The reason I’m engaging this point is that I think that as long as we have the vitriol turned all the way up and we’re assuming that those with opposing viewpoints are in fact intentionally perpetuating evil, we cannot ever make progress. And it’s unrealistic. Both of your chief antagonists, Bloomberg and Klein, legitimately think they’re doing what’s best for kids. I happen to agree with them. You and Randi Weingarten and all the other status-quo fetishists believe that you’re advocating what’s best for kids - the status quo. It’s equally difficult for both sides to understand how the other could be so blind, but it’s important to recognize the actual motives of those on each side. We’re fighting in different ways for the same end. Your way just happens to have been disproved as an effective means of educating; mine is still largely untested. Still, I don’t question your intent.
Socrates’s last blog post..40 Years
To Socrates:
I truly enjoy the banter that has been going on with you. Your comments usually cause me to look deeper into my own philosophies and beliefs. However, your strict adherence to “party” policy and consistent support of the current administration is starting to worry me.
Can you please do me a favor and type the following code to ensure that you are indeed a human and not some kind of a computer program that has been generated by the current administration to contradict any bad publicity?
Thanks!
You know, you’re actually kind of likable for a Bloomberg fetishist.
By the way, did you like “Who Moved My Cheese”?
I’m guessing that you did.
I read it about a billion years ago but realized I wasn’t being tested on it so I promptly forgot just about all of it. But I know it’s about the difficulty of accepting change, so I imagine I liked it more than anyone else around here.
Socrates’s last blog post..40 Years
I actually wrote a response to that post from POT here:
http://thejosevilson.com/blog/2008/03/25/no-you-keep-the-promises/
I was looking at our side of things, wondering what we as teachers can do to improve the system from our side. Your post has me thinking, though, that maybe the mentality of some of the Fellows has to change. As a former Fellow myself, I never considered myself separate from either the Fellows or the other DOE teachers. As far as this dialogue is concerned, we just need to be more forthright about how we feel about each other. Our union is definitely dependent on how we interact with one another at least on a professional level.