A generational mission
Established in 2013, TFT is focused on addressing educational inequality. Given how frequently you may see news about “itinerant” teachers, you could be forgiven for thinking the number of teachers around far outstrips the demand for them. In fact, schools in more remote rural communities often find themselves unable to hire the teachers they need no matter what they do. In principle, everyone has an equal right to an education, but for some children, the circumstances of their birth can decide their educational opportunities. Such fates can be challenging to change, especially as rich‡poor and urban‡rural divides continue to deepen.
In 2012, Liu Anting was working in the United States. Hearing from her parents about the educational situation in rural Taiwan, she mentioned Teach for America, an organization that recruits outstanding college graduates and sends them into underprivileged communities to serve as teachers. Sensing a potential solution to the Taiwanese situation, over the intercontinental wires Liu and her parents began to draw up a plan that would ultimately become Teach for Taiwan.
Liu reached out through various channels to Teach for America, while in Taiwan her parents concentrated on organizations and individuals involved with rural education. With time, discussion, and research, TFT gradually began to take shape. Originally Liu had intended only to take on the role of consultant, drawing up plans, but the more involved she got, the more her emotional investment in rural Taiwan grew.
In her book Leaving for Home, Liu wrote, “In the end, why did I want to set up TFT? It wasn’t just to change those communities, but more to change my generation. We need to stop complaining, roll up our sleeves, and get to work being the change we want.”
Through various training courses, Teach for Taiwan not only equips its teachers with skills as educators, but also encourages them to think about their future roles in the field of education.