Learning And Personal Growth For Students Of Poverty

Nelson Mandela once said, "Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom” (Make Poverty History, 2005). Gwinnett county is third in the country when it comes to a high poverty rate, with 14% of the population living below poverty (Family Promise of Gwinnet County, 2013). As an educator it is important to familiarize with the county of which one is to teach in, and poverty is an issue in Gwinnett county. One must understand the affects of poverty on

Poverty is everywhere in this world especially in education. Poverty in education could come from the location of the school, the child’s home life, how the students feel about school and in many other ways. Poverty comes in all shapes and forms, “An appalling number of American Children live in poverty. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 14.7 million, or nearly 20 percent of children under age 18, live below the poverty line” (When Poverty…). The kids/students bring those debilitating effect with them to school every day.

I agree with Beegle, that children need to take Poverty 101 in school. Because children need to be educated about poverty, and the truth of what people in poverty are facing in their life. Also, children need to know how they can change their life to be better in future.

A Framework for Understanding Poverty is a book, written by Ruby K. Payne for the purpose of helping educators impact their students in poverty through opportunities. This book examines experiences from all economic classes in order to evaluate the differences in education among each class. Payne talks about the different types of poverty and the resources needed to be a stable and educated person. Poverty is “the extent to which an individual does without resources”.

A Framework for Understanding Poverty is a valuable tool to the helping profession. It has a lot of good information about the cultural differences between classes. It offers practical solutions to many problems commonly encountered when educators have problems with their students who live in poverty. The book helps educators to assist students who live in poverty survive in the middle-class world. Payne 's work has been eye opening in

As Connell, White and Johnston (1990,p.9) state, 'There is not a “culture of poverty”, nor any key “deficit” that makes poor people different from everybody else and therefore and educational problem'. Teachers and Education Assistants need to adapt into the culture of poverty and be sensitive and understandable to the extensive bar of needs that children of poverty bring to the classroom and they need to consider the cultural values of these children as they arrange their learning. The basis of Groundwater-Smith, Ewing and Le Cornu's opinions in the article is they position readers to view that the teachers dispositions low income students and that rarely the educators offer the same level or enough aid and attention than the other students and they are less likely to succeed in school when compared with the more advantaged children. According to Groundwater-Smith, Ewing and Le Cornu's and Geoffrey D. Borman and Laura T. Rachuba they both state that students from lower income families may not have as high expectations from their parents, teachers or their peers within the school. The students may also not be confident in their own abilities and

Fifty years after the declaration of war on poverty, an increasing number of children still grow up in poverty in this country. Poverty is now more determinative than race as a predictor of student educational success (Reardon, 2013). The achievement gap between the poor and the more economically advantaged child has actually widened over the last three decades (Reardon, 2013). If we are to provide all children with equal and excellent educational opportunities, it is imperative that we utilize the most effective strategies and enhancements to overcome the educational disadvantages that poor children experience.

Poverty is on the rise all around the world especially across the United States. This is a problem that is affecting many aspects of life for both the victim and the people around them. Students living in poverty have to tolerate many unfortunate circumstances on a daily basis which can have a significant effect on their growth, development, and educational experience. Students from low socioeconomic backgrounds can still have the same success as the average student, but it takes a little extra effort and a leap of faith. Although it may be challenging for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds to achieve success in school and the real world, it is not impossible.

It is vital in my opinion that a teacher develops a strong assessment to determine what kind of prior knowledge students will be bringing to the lesson, but most importantly to evaluate the effectiveness of the unit. A pre-assessment will give us an idea of what level the student is at when covering a certain subject, while a post assessment can give us data on whether students successfully retained the content and were able to achieve the learning goals. Using a formative assessment during the unit can also give the teacher an idea of whether students are coming along in learning the content or not, which could open up some adjustments to the lesson plan. I will use these assessments to adapt to the students learning and provide a reteach

Most people from other countries think about the States as being the land of the “American Dream”. Despite being home of the “American dream”, poverty has become one of Americas most major leading problems. Poverty affects multiple groups of people throughout the United States. Child poverty specifically has grown vastly and has fostered major issues such as educational issues, behavioral problems, and generational poverty. Through the pursuit of knowledge, developing critical thinking skills among youth, creating a relatable educational experience for student, and giving students the tools to brake generational disparities, childhood poverty can be reduced.

The most common issue that is upcoming in North America is education. A rising issue is dealing with the education of low-income children. For the community an education is a rising issue among individuals who are below the poverty line. The correlation with children from lower income families and their struggle to achieve an education. The government should see this as a necessity to provide students who are from a low –income family with the required services/programs to achieve their goals.

Title l is additional funding that schools with high poverty populations receive to ensure that they are meeting the needs of their students (Slade). In 2007, the allocation for Title l was 27 billion and in 2015 it was 15.5 billion which shows that funding is decreasing as the number of students living in poverty is rising. Therefore, it is essential that funds are prioritized and allocated effectively to close the achievement gap and effects of poverty (Slade). The next step suggested in the article is to maximize the benefits of meal programs in schools. They suggest that breakfast and lunch programs remain a priority since many students, ⅕ of U.S. children, have limited access to food. The third suggestion is to improve school climate. The article refers to Jensen, who believes that high poverty schools have a weakened learning environment due to varying issues such as absences, bullying, truancy, and trust (Slade). A positive, encouraging, welcoming, and safe school climate is very important to students’ success. The final suggestion is to improve student access to advanced coursework. Providing students with opportunities to engage in relevant and challenging coursework is very important. Also, it is essential for schools to provide students with the supports needed to achieve success in these courses. Implementing these changes and ideas suggested by the authors of this article are just a few steps that we can take to help those living in

The issue of poverty is not one that can be taken care of overnight and it’s something that will require the participation of the community as a whole. When dealing with this issue the best thing to do is to invest in a long term goal; however  it’s easy to think that the best way to combat this issue is by creating new jobs but that’s only ephemeral. The problem with that solution is that once these jobs are created, the community lacks the qualifications required for the jobs. Consequently the residents of district five are not hired and become discouraged which aid in the cycle of poverty. That’s why I believe the best way to combat this issue is by starting a program that will not only cater to our youth but also to adults. Children  growing up in district 5 and only seeing poverty; especially in within their culture, find it hard to imagine a life that doesn’t revolve around

Poverty and the effect it has on our society, and our students are an uncomfortable topic for some people to approach. We as a culture sometimes like to assume that this is an unfortunate phenomenon that occurs outside of the United States, far removed from our first world resources. In reality we are surrounded by poverty, wether or not we realize that truth is determined by our perception of others around us. In the book “Teaching with Poverty in Mind” by Eric Jensen, we are forced to learn about this topic and are confronted with the reality and harsh nature this status forces upon our students and community members.

Teaching children of poverty can be very challenging. These children are more likely than their peers to experience poor nutrition, parents with low educational attainment and underemployment, broken families, child abuse and neglect, drug abuse, teen-age pregnancies and high rates of dropping out (Holt & Garcia, 2016). It has been my experience that these students are a little rough around the edges which may cause an educator the inability to see beyond the exterior of the child thus treating them more harshly than their peers. Being employed in a Title 1 school, I have had the pleasure of working with students and families whose major source of income is welfare. They often came from a single-parent household and arrived at school improperly dressed and usually hungry. I found that meeting the child’s basic needs helped them focus on school and took some of the stress off of their parents as they knew their child was in a safe, caring place. One thing that was vital in our classroom was firmness and consistency. Unfortunately, many teachers and schools do not possess the knowledge and experience required for success in these more challenging schools. Impoverished students often do not care about their education nor did their parents seem to care how their children perform in school (Holt & Garcia, 2016). I feel this can be attributed to distraction from just trying to survive. In order to have greater success in the classroom of impoverished students, teachers need to