Teach First's Theory of Teacher Education for Social Justice: Distributive Justice and the Politics of Progressive Neoliberalism Author: Randall Lahann Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/2929 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2010 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. BOSTON COLLEGE Lynch School of Education Department of Teacher Education, Special Education, and Curriculum and Instruction Program of Curriculum and Instruction TEACH FIRST’S THEORY OF TEACHER EDUCATION FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE: DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE AND THE POLITICS OF PROGESSIVE NEOLIBERALISM Dissertation By RANDALL PATRICK LAHANN Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2010 i © copyright by RANDALL LAHANN 2010 ii ABSTRACT In this critical ethnography I examined Teach First, the U.K. teacher education program modeled after Teach For America (TFA). Teach First described itself as ―a unique business-led programme dedicated to addressing educational disadvantage by placing elite graduates in the schools that need them most‖ (Teach First, 2010). Teach First was thus problematically positioned at the crossroads of both neoliberal and progressive ideologies. My research addressed this problem by uncovering Teach First‘s theory of teacher education for social justice by applying a framework developed by Marilyn Cochran-Smith (2010) to interviews, observations, and artifacts that I collected at the 2008 Teach First Summer Institute. I then critiqued this theory using the tools of ―Policy Sociology,‖ a British research tradition that examines the political, ideological, and economic assumptions that drive education policy. My research led me to identify Teach First as a ―progressive neoliberal‖ (Lahann & Reagan, in press) organization which is driven entirely by a theory of teacher education for social justice based on the idea of justice as distribution. This theory explains why the staff of Teach First appreciated the organization to have a mission of social justice while at the same time endorsing and promoting neoliberal policies which conflict with many theories of teacher education for social justice that draw from theories of justice as recognition. I conclude that while Teach First was committed to improving the lives of marginalized populations, its theory of teacher education for social justice implicitly supported the systemic and hegemonic forces of neoliberalism which produce educational inequity. iii For Olivia, Rory, and TBD iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To Dr. Marilyn Cochran-Smith, for your time, wisdom, expertise, empathy, and frustratingly high expectations. I thought I knew what I was getting in to when you agreed to be my chair, but really, I didn‘t have a clue. Thanks for working me so hard and leaving me with a document of which I can be proud. Thank you for the guidance, mentorship, and friendship. I‘m a better writer, scholar, and person for your impact on my life. I still don‘t understand the difference between ―that‖ and ―which,1‖ but at least I know that ―data‖ is plural and that scholarship is worthless if it‘s not authentic and principled. I had no idea who you were when I sat down in ED709, but at the end of those three hours I knew that my dissertation would be incomplete if you were not my chair. On behalf of all your students, past, present, and future, thank you. To Brett Wigdortz, Sonia Blandford, Laura Donovan, Amanda Timberg, Treina Fabre, Robert Lundin, Reuben Moore, Amy Simon, Faye Craster, and the rest of the staff of Teach First, for the chance to work for you, write about you, and share your mission to eliminate educational disadvantage. I found friendship, purpose, and my professional voice during those six summers. For all of that, I can‘t thank you enough. This dissertation is very critical of your work-- not because I don‘t care, but because I care so much. I believe in your program like I have believed in very few things in my life, and I want it to be everything I know it can be. You are dedicated teacher educators who have touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of kids through your tireless efforts. English schools are better for your work. Thank you for the privilege of writing about your passion. 1 I was actually going to try to get it wrong one final time in this section, but then I thought I‘d screw it up by actually doing it right for once, and the whole joke would have been a bust. v To Dr. Dennis Shirley, for the friendship and counsel you‘ve given me over the last five years. I‘ve come so far since I first met you, and grown so much as a thinker and a writer because of you. Thank you for being a liberated thinker whose field of expertise isn‘t bound by arbitrary distinctions of what does and doesn‘t count as educational research. Your breadth of interest and expertise were inspiring to me. The scope of this dissertation, the fact that I would even try to write about something as abstract as ―justice,‖ is a direct product of your influence. Thank you for being curious, creative, passionately democratic, and intellectually ambitious; I‘m a stronger, freer thinker for your role in my education. To Dr. Andy Hargreaves, for your wit and wisdom during my time at Boston College (and for the furniture you gave us after our apartment burned down!). Your classes, writing, and advice have served as constant reminders that education reform should, above all, be filled with hope and the possibility of progress. Thank you for ensuring that a new generation of teachers, administrators, and researchers never lose sight of that fact. To DR. Kara Mitchell, for, I mean, everything? Does that cover it? I was going to say that it was a pleasure traveling this long road with you, but that‘s not entirely true (there were some seriously rough times in there—for both of us). It was, however, an honor. I honestly think that there‘s a frighteningly good chance that this dissertation would not have been completed if it were not for your role in my life. Thank you for your unwavering support, critical feedback to get my writing into MCS-shape, babysitting, helping me move, coffee runs, and every favor that you‘ve ever done for me that I‘ve already forgotten. You‘re an inspiringly passionate advocate for children whose vi thinking, writing, teaching, and organizing make the world a better place for everyone. The best thing that BC has ever given me is your friendship. To Emilie Reagan, for your friendship, thinking, and, well, progressive neoliberalism. How many drafts did we write of PNL? Like eighty? That was a long, grueling fight, but we did it---together. We were a great team, and I can‘t imagine having written that with anyone else. Somewhere in there we went to DC and appeared on GMU-TV, right? That wasn‘t bizarre at all. Your fingerprints are all over this dissertation—I probably could have cited you on every page, and maybe I should have. This whole thing is a product of our work together. You made me a better writer and a better thinker, but that‘s small reward compared to the hundreds of rewarding hours we logged as partners. Vaya con Dios, Two Black Dogs. To my mother, for your unwavering support. I can only hope to love my children with the same devotion that you have always loved me. During the rockiest of hours, and there were more than a few, it was always a steadying comfort to know that you would always be there whenever I needed you. You‘re the best. To my father, for setting an example of intellectual rigor and curiosity to which I can only hope to one day live up. You are, and always have been, an inspiration to me— proof that it‘s always worth it to do things the right way and that the pursuit of knowledge will always be its own reward. To The Killers, Okkervil River, The Shins, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Girl Talk, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Panda Bear, Titus Andronicus, and Big Boi for being the soundtrack of this dissertation. Couldn‘t have done it without you. To Rory, the greatest joy in my life. One day you‘ll be able to read this. One day vii I‘ll be able to explain to you what the heck Daddy was babbling about for three-hundred pages. And one day, if I find the right words, I‘ll be able to explain to you just how much you mean to me. You, too, TBD. Finally, to Olivia. I mean, how am I supposed to write this? How exactly am I supposed to ―acknowledge‖ your role in completing this dissertation? The entire proposition is patently ridiculous—as if any words can do justice to how much I love you and how much I‘ve relied upon you over the last few years. I‘ll give it a shot, and I can‘t be bothered that this thing is a public document--you deserve public exultation. Thank you for being my wife, my best friend, and the most amazing mother to my children. For who you are in the best of times, and, even more, for who you are when things get tough. For everything we‘ve been through and everything that‘s still to come. Thank you. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOLWEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………...v TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………......ix LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………..xi CHAPTER 1: RESEARCH PROBLEM…………………………………………….