Date of Award
Fall 12-2016
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
English
Department
English
Major Professor
Randolph Bates
Second Advisor
Elizabeth Steeby
Third Advisor
Daniel Doll
Fourth Advisor
Patricia Austin
Abstract
Education reform is shifting the landscape of New Orleans public schools, where alternative certification programs are thriving and changing the demographics of core teachers. This study follows a Teach for America (TFA) Corps Member from 2007 (just after the historic flooding from Hurricane Katrina) who brought a promise of innovation through idealism and green wisdom. The teacher’s preparation and motivations are shown to be problematic. Examining the assumptions and privileges that underlie the import of inexperienced talent to urban education systems, this study considers the ways that community voices have been lost or undervalued in New Orleans schools. The thesis tracks five unique student experiences in two schools over nine years, with accounts of the daily life of students and educators, some of whom are effective and make marked contributions to the community. The study concludes that care should be taken as reform continues to make schools better for kids.
Recommended Citation
Wanamaker, Brooke, "If Only They Tried; The Complicated Crusade for Salvation in the Post-Katrina Education Reform Movement" (2016). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 2254.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2254
Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Higher Education and Teaching Commons, Other Education Commons, Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.