I talked to a TFA alumni/recruiter recently. TFA is a two-year program for college graduates to teach in some of the poorest neighborhoods in the U.S. The program selects the best college graduates and gives them necessary teacher training.
When I talked to the recruiter, he was not surprisingly very passionate about the program. He told me although most of the graduates in this program did not have teaching experience when they joined, most of them were able to make a difference. During his two years as a teacher in an inner city public school, he worked extremely hard and was able to help his students to catch up with their peers. His students had been already 3 years behind in 5th grade.
After talking to him and some friends, I began to think about this problem of how to offer help. Although the recruiter’s experience seems very impressive, I could not help wondering what happened to these kids after he left. Their life might have returned to what it had been like. I know someone who did the same program and he fought his heart out for his students. In the end, he was quite sure that he did not really make a difference. In a word, the program could be very controversial in actual impact on education.
Although I admire these graduates’ courage and wanted to become a member myself, I could not stop wondering if this program is not as effective as it proclaims to be, how much talent and time is wasted. There are countless volunteer programs all over the world these days. Although they all have a noble cause and vision, not all of them are effective. Some of them might even bring more harm than benefits to the very people they are trying to help. This really begs the question of how to offer help. A good intention and sincerity are certainly not enough, especially for a large-scaled project. Extensive research on the problem to be solved is undoubtedly a must. Learning the culture of the people we are helping is also necessary. But even when all these are done, some projects still end up being fruitless.
