Questions and Answers by an Educator

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

In the article “Overcoming the Silence of Generational Poverty” by Donna M. Beegle, various examples are given on the impact of generational poverty in student’s lives. Beegle starts by providing a brief narration of her life in poverty and the effects it had on her education. She also provides suggestions to educators on how to improve learning experience for those living in generational poverty. Beegle conducted a study using twenty-four college graduates of different cultural background but with one thing in common, they all grew up in poverty. It is important to high light four examples of the commonality this article portrays; appearance, expectation for jobs, inadequate housing, food, and health care and lastly, lack of control of

Students that live in a poor community often lack a good education because the community does not have the resources to allow the students to continue a good education. Students that are marginalized often lack the opportunity to a higher education because they are constantly being underestimated and not given the resources they need in order to be successful. In the article “Still Separate, Still Unequal; America’s Educational Apartheid” by Jonathan Kozol demonstrated the way schools in InterCitys are being forced to used methods that are nowhere helpful for students to be able to learn. Students are given many instructions to follow, but often lack the actual education they deserve. In addition, in the podcast “The Problem

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

Unfortunately, the school's lack of appropriate education results directly from poor government funding. So even with hard work, the lower-class student is still held down by his socio-economic status. Poverty-stricken parents are unable to offer their children the same attention and motivation as parents of a higher-class can, therefore never providing these children with the mindset that they are able to accomplish the American dream. According to Mantsios, 40 million Americans live in poverty, and the mental and physical affects the low standard of living has on them is undeniable (Mantsios 328). Citizens who live in poverty work long hours for little pay, yet return to a household that in no way symbolizes the hard work put forth. Within this environment, very few people have the positive outlook to mentor children successfully.

I was surprised to believe that as a whole, a significant portion of students came from low-income families, experienced homelessness at some point, were hungry, or suffered from trauma. For one student to experience any of these problems requires a number of resources for a school, but when the majority of students are facing these issues, schools need to be particularly well equipped. Adding to this the fact that Chicago public schools are seriously underfunded, this is a tragedy. Schools are forced to cut social workers, psychologists, and clinicians from their services and ultimately, students are left without help. In my Introduction to Poverty Studies class, we learned that in order to alleviate systemic poverty, part of the solution lies in focusing on children and providing them all the resources so that can be as well equipped for life as possible. Much of this responsibility falls on public schools, but without funds, this task is

I currently teach 90 sixth grade students. By communicating with them on a daily basis, I have developed a positive student/teacher relationship with them on a personal level. My students shared their background information as to who they are in an autobiography assignment that was given the first week of school. I learned additional information through communication with their fifth grade teachers and their parents. After reading the book, Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, I could see parallels between my own childhood and Jeanette’s. I too grew up in a lower income family, as did my parents before me. Ruby Payne points out throughout her book, A Framework for Understanding Poverty, that “the cycle of poverty often repeats itself” (2005), however my parents

Of all race youth groups, African American youth probably have it the worst when it comes to poverty, homeless, discouragement to further education, etc. For the most part, much of this is a result of horrible stereotypes that exist. The three outcomes mentioned above stem from the stereotypes that lead many young African Americans to become discouraged. Here is one scenario. A young African American female grows up in a single mother household. Her mother’s highest level of education is high school. She starts her senior year of high school with the hopes of going off to college next fall. It wasn’t until she spoke to her mother that she realized how much the cost of college would impact their family. She didn’t always receive the best grade, so many of the scholarships that she even began to consider were out of her reach. For about a month this stress built up on her and she finally just decided that maybe college wasn’t for her. The thoughts flowing through her head went straight to her mother. She only had a high school level education and she was perfectly okay without a further education. This is an example that is closely related to the life and thought processes of many African American youth. Although it is very unfortunate, it is

Alexis, I do agree with you that students in poverty are less likely to be successful then students in higher income. There is a chance for these students to succeed if they have the right teacher even if there parents are not involved in their children education. With the right help and guidance these students can have a chance to break the cycle but if they are put in the back and not getting the right help that they need they will continue following their parents foot

The stereotypes of people living in poverty in America are so deeply imbedded in our society. We as educators may need to examine our beliefs and open our mind to new interpretations of the behavior of those struggling without basic needs. Doing so, however, is the first step to improving our success and effectiveness with educating students in poverty and helping end the cycle of suffering. Educator’s attitudes and beliefs shape you tone of voice, your body posture, your facial expressions and your actions towards students. Working daily with students who are classified as living in poverty. I believe it is our duty as educators to work with student’s effect by generational poverty. One thing I do not see a lot of is help

In the U.S., low income students who live in high poverty neighborhoods do not receive the proper funds for school. The schools that they attend do not get enough of the state’s money in order to get the education they need. Students that come from wealthier families can get the help they need outside of school, if they cannot get it in school. Low income students have to take what they are given and that is not always a lot. Every student might not get a textbook that they can take home and that leaves them with no help to do their homework. This can push the student behind the rest of the class and may take them longer to catch up because

Everyone knows about the various stereotypes and social stigmas that come with socioeconomic status whether they will choose to admit it or not. Society has come to assume that a child who comes from a family of low socioeconomic status, that they will not do as well as a child who comes from a family of a greater socioeconomic status. Unfortunately these assumptions are so ingrained in our brains that we start to follow the self-fulfilling prophecy. When a child from a noticeably low socioeconomic status walks into a classroom, it is not uncommon for the teacher to automatically assume that the child will not perform well in class, and in turn either grades the child more harshly or does not give the child as much attention as the

have a student named LaDashe who comes to school late everyday and the days she not late she is  absent.  When she comes to school she usually puts her head on a desk and sleeps or her behavior is causing disruption in the classroom.  We were informed late in the year that she was homeless and living in a shelter with her mother and three siblings..  So that explains a lot of what was going on with LaDashe.  We were also informed that LaDashe mother was a student of the school her daughter was attending as well,like mother like daughter  had exhibited some of the same behavior as LaDashe.  In my Urban Leadership class we talked about never ending cycles.  LaDashe and her mother is an example of never ending cycle that is definitely repeating itself.  LaDashe and her mother are types of people  stuck in poverty from one generation to the next generation.  I worked with a teacher who said,” poverty is a choice”  We got in someone of discussion regarding his words.  After, taken the course Urban Leadership I often relate back to his words.  I know poverty is not a choice however, some are born into poverty and remain a lifetime.  In my Urban Leadership course one reason for poverty is the lack of education.  If we could give everyone a fair and equal education we could hopefully wipe out poverty. We need to get all of politicians, community , teachers, and parents all on the same page t help our low income students.  A way to help our low achieving students is to designate the funds so all schools receive accurate funds necessary to help all students succeed.

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