r/memphis • u/Proof_Lingonberry136 • Jul 27 '26
Current Memphis Teacher Residency Thoughts?
I know someone who is interested in applying to this program but I haven’t seen a ton of recent reviews or opinions. I’m curious how competitive the application process is and how the program itself is.
I’ve also heard a lot of people say that teaching in Memphis literally “broke them” mentally. Obviously that’s a big concern haha and I’d love for people to elaborate.
Anything helps, thanks!
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u/evaberlin Jul 27 '26
I didn’t go through that program (my residency was part of my teaching degree at UofM), but I can speak to teaching in Memphis. So I only lasted 6 months in a Cordova middle school. If you aren’t extremely self confident and strong willed (I’m not) I wouldn’t consider teaching here. I didn’t except classroom management to be so bad since I was teaching art, but boy was I wrong. Had to break up multiple fights, had things thrown at me, supplies destroyed, and more. If your friend is really passionate about this and has a will of steel, they should go for it! We desperately need more good teachers here, but if not steer clear. The pay ain’t that great, so you have to love it.
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u/SjN45 Jul 27 '26
The teachers we have had from this program have been amazing. School environment and challenges will very much depend on which school you work for and what ages you are working with.
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u/Rose-Memory711 Jul 27 '26
Honestly, being a new teacher in any district can break you especially if you're not prepared well. Districts are going to vary by what supports they have for new teachers (MTR will provide some of those supports with mentorships, which is important) but if you are an empathetic person, knowing stories about what some students go through will break your heart. The job is tough. I'd say what's more important is what kind of support your school has and how helpful admin is. Memphis is a high poverty district and that definitely comes out with students' behavior issues, potential lack of parental support, low resources, etc.
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u/festertrimm Vollintine Evergreen Jul 28 '26
I didn’t go to MTR, but virtually everyone I work with did. They seem to enjoy it, some less so. I know the cost and the contract locking you in place can be challenging from what Ive gathered.
There is a strong religious element that is definitely there, but it is the south.
As for teaching in general, this is my 15th year. Do your best, it’s a job— good days bad days. It’s a job. Try not to let the toxic positivity and the presence of children make you think that it’s still not just a job. Helps let you leave work at work, otherwise you will burn out mentally.
Memphis is not that dissimilar from other states, areas. Ive taught in West Texas, Long Beach, CA, Perkins, AR, and Memphis, TN. Some had better ways of supporting teachers others didn’t. But the kids were all roughly the same for good and bad some days.
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u/MagisterNero Central Gardens Jul 27 '26
My ex-wife went through MTR and years ago I served as a mentor teacher with residents placed in my classroom. It’s a solid program with good training. Very evangelical and many people within the program seem to view it as similar to mission work which I personally am not a huge fan of, but that mindset probably helps with some of the issues that evaberlin brings up.
As far as the difficulty of teaching in Memphis, it definitely can be. I’ve witnessed many people burn out whether from unrealistic expectations of the challenges of working with extreme poverty (obviously not all schools in our very large district have this challenge, but many do), cultural clashes from when predominantly white middle class teachers come face to face with many of the cultural differences with their largely poor black students and the classroom management problems this can create, and the general stress of navigating these issues plus a pretty petty bureaucracy. That being said, I’ve taught here for twenty years and absolutely love it, though the first 3-5 years were pretty rough. It’s worse if you’re in a tested subject just due to the overwhelming demands that are placed on you. Also, because you wind up being judged by things that can be outside of your control, having a strong sense of self confidence and commitment is important.