'Policy embodiment': Alternative certification and Teach For America teachers in traditional public schools

A vociferous policy debate concerning Teach For America (TFA) and alternative certification programs can be heard in many countries where 'Teach For … ' initiatives are found. Yet limited scholarship has examined how TFA teachers must negotiate negative reactions from non-TFA teachers. Drawing on interview data with 27 TFA teachers in public schools in the Midwestern United States, this article uses a sociocultural policy analysis framework to explore how these teachers are positioned as embodiments of alternative certification policy and the larger organization, TFA. It further articulates the broad conceptual application of educational 'policy embodiment' beyond the TFA case study.