Two Years of Service, at Home or Overseas

My brother is set to graduate from college this year, and as such, he and all his friends are in the midst of preparing their plans for life after graduation. As a computer science major, my brother received an impressive offer relatively quickly and I’m beyond proud of him.  For those of us with a less obviously employable major, the post-college job search can be a little trickier. It wasn’t too long ago that my college friends and I found ourselves in a similar place; I remember the stress of that time well. One of the popular options for liberal arts graduates continues to be Teach For America (TFA), a program that matches enthusiastic and bright (but often uncertified) college grads with low-achieving schools in need of teachers.

            The critiques of TFA are fairly simple and well-established: how can we justify the placement of teachers that are theoretically the least qualified in areas of the country that need our best teachers the most? How can we make the case that enthusiasm and knowledge of a particular subject area are all that is necessary to be a competent teacher?

            I’m not yet sure where I come down in terms of efficacy of TFA. But what I’ve realized in the past few weeks is that many of the critiques of TFA apply equally to the Peace Corps, if not more so. TFA teachers receive five weeks of training before they begin their school years; PCVs receive 10 and must cover many more layers of information. Most of us find ourselves working in unfamiliar languages and all of us must tackle many layers of cultural barriers that constantly threaten our effectiveness. Very few PCVs come to country fully qualified for the jobs that they will perform, and it is effectively impossible to prepare for one’s service in advance. This is intentional; the most effective Volunteers take their cues from existing community needs and by working with established community leaders.

            I would be doing Peace Corps and TFA a disservice if I didn’t point out that both these organizations are motivated by good intentions. Most TFA teachers and Peace Corps Volunteers join their respective organizations out of a genuine desire to influence positive change and serve their new communities. But it does seem necessary to acknowledge the inherent sense of privilege woven into the fabric of these and similar organizations. That we’re somehow able to bypass the typical professional qualifications of those in our positions by merit of our college degrees and lofty ambitions.

            When I first arrived in Cameroon, I remember being shocked to learn that the Peace Corps had already been operating here for over 50 years. In the last year this has come to surprise me less and less. Development is a slow and frustrating process, and the work of American volunteers in two-year stints will never be enough to bring about substantial change. But one of the main strengths that the Peace Corps has over TFA is that in most cases, a PCV is an extra resource in a community, not a substitute for a more qualified one.