Special Session, 2005 meeting of the Modern Languages Association, Washington DC
Wednesday, December 28, 3:30-4:45 pm, Delaware Suite A, Mariott Wardman Park
Session Organizer: Paul von Hippel, Teach for America
In addition to this presentation, Teach for America is also offering a limited number of informational interviews during the MLA convention. If you are interested in scheduling a 30 minute meeting with one of the presenters (Juan or Paul), please contact:
Abstract:Melissa Casey
Director of Recruitment Outreach, Teach For America
Most academic fields graduate significantly more PhDs than can expect to find employment as tenure-track assistant professors. In many fields, however, this imbalance does not lead to a “glut.” In economics and engineering, for example, there is no talk of a PhD glut, because there exist attractive and well-developed career paths outside the academy. In computer science, nonacademic jobs are so attractive that universities have difficulty filling open positions.
In the humanities, alternative career paths are not nearly so well-defined—but this is beginning to change. One career with considerable untapped potential is high school teaching. At present, only 1% of PhDs work in K-12 institutions; however, recent surveys suggest that the latent interest is considerably higher. Among graduate students in English surveyed in 2001, for example, 5.7% indicated a “definite” interest in K-12 teaching, while 58.2% reported a “possible” interest. More students might become K-12 teachers if the route were made clearer and more salient. Toward that end, this session presents information on PhD job-seekers and a major recruiter.
In “From the Perspective of Ph.D.s,” Juan Alonzo will discuss the considerable abilities that an English or foreign language Ph.D. may bring to the high school classroom. Alonzo, who as a 1992 Teach for America (TFA) corps member taught for four years in Texas public schools, will relate his experience in TFA and make a case for the program’s transformative potential for both its participants and the schools where they teach. The discussion will focus on the expertise, enthusiasm, and teaching experience that recent Ph.D.s already possess and on the translation of these within a high school English or foreign language curriculum. According to surveys conducted by the Carnegie Foundation, many Ph.D.s are open to the possibility of teaching outside academia, but many of them are either unfamiliar with alternative career paths, they deem the teacher certification process as too onerous, or they perceive a lack of prestige and adequate pay in fields such as public high school education. Alonzo will address these and other misconceptions that prevent humanities Ph.D.s from seeing in high school education a viable career alternative. Relying on his personal experience in TFA and on the experiences of Ph.D.s who have made successful transitions into high school education, Alonzo will argue that Ph.D.s who love teaching can achieve immense satisfaction by teaching in public schools.
In “A Recruiter’s Perspective,” Paul von Hippel describes the nonprofit organization Teach for America (TFA) and its 15-year history of recruiting thousands of college seniors into K-12 teaching. He discusses TFA’s emerging interest in PhDs and graduate students, and describes characteristics of graduate students and PhDs that predict success in K-12 teaching. He discusses cultural gaps between the academy and high-school employers, and he suggests ways to bridge those gaps through networking and tailored application materials.
Juan Alonzo is Assistant Professor of English at Texas A&M University. As a 1992 Teach for America corps member, he taught in the public schools of the Rio Grande Valley.
Paul T. von Hippel is a Research Statistician in the Department of Sociology at Ohio State University, and a Graduate Recruitment Consultant for Teach for America. He has published articles on evaluating school quality, and on the role of schools in closing achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged children. (The latter article, written with Doug Downey and Beckett Broh, won the 2005 William Waller Award for the best Sociology of Education paper published in the past three years.) His current research interests include the academic job market, teacher quality, and the changing structure of the teaching profession. After completing a PhD in Music, he became personally acquainted with the need for alternative career paths for new PhDs.