The Importance Of Poverty In Education

What is the main argument the author makes and how does it apply to contemporary education?

There are many people throughout the world that are born into different socio-economic status. In the United States there are 3 typical socio-economic statuses, upper class, middle class, and working class. The majority of people are born into the working class and try to make their way up. The main way people believe to go up a class in America is through education, but how does socio-economic class play a role in the amount of education one will receive in their future?

Poverty has been a prevalent problem in the United States for decades, around seven in fact. Since the Great Depression in the fifties, the government has sworn to fight poverty in America so that every citizen may live the American Dream. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty, and while this was just a figure of speech, his plan was to make the people of America, and its politicians realize that fighting poverty was a moral battle. He compelled them to take up the fight, because poverty is by far one of the greatest evils in our modern world.

People think poverty is not happening in their neighborhoods, or these programs are a waste of time and money because they only affect a few people. Well that is not true “14.5 million (19.7 percent) children under the age of 18 are in poverty. (11 Facts About Education and Poverty in America)” That is almost a quarter of Americas children. These food programs are necessary, the education programs are needed. America needs to break the poverty cycle, and give the next generation a better opportunity to have a better life. “In our local tristate two of the three states are on the top ten list of states with the most food insecurity’s Kentucky 17.6 % and Ohio 16.1 %. (11 Facts about Education and Poverty in America)”. All schools in America

Poverty is “the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor” (Dictionary.com, 2017). Based off this definition poverty is a condition that can cause a cascade of cause and effect actions that is detrimental to families and individuals both physically and mentally. Haan, Kaplan, & Camacho (2017) completed a study on the correlation between social and economic status and health in adults in Oakland, CA. They found that the lower the socioeconomic class the higher incidents of diseases and deaths related to chronic diseases (p.1161-1162). Just being without money or little money was not the only indication of health indication, a person living in an area with higher poverty issues

To understand poverty, it is crucial to understand the systems that are involved in creating it. Inequality is embedded in many necessary institutions within society, which provides the basis for poverty to occur. Without this entrenchment of inequality amongst institutions and systems within society, it is clear that poverty would look very different. This paper will delve into the concept of racialized poverty and how racialized minorities have a greater propensity to remain in poverty due to a lack of accessibility to high quality and equal institutions. By examining systems such as the labour market, education and healthcare , it will become evident that racialized minorties are not granted the same opportunities as people who are

1. Social class - One social institution that impacts poverty is social class. People of a lower social class are more likely to live in urban cities and work low-paying jobs than their more affluent counterparts. They are also less likely to hold a college degree, which makes it difficult for them to find a better paying job. Children from low socioeconomic backgrounds tend to do worse in school and have a higher chance of being held back or dropping out. Even if these children mange to get into college, their parents can not afford the absorbent costs associate with it. As a result these children end up taking menial jobs in their urban neighbored and hence the cycle of poverty continues on to the next generation.

School administrators, teachers and staff are faced with finding solutions to meet their needs. Student engagement, academic achievement, and school satisfaction are positively impacted when, the needs, of the whole child are met. This case study identifies how a suburban middle school examines the needs of their at-risk student population. Poverty affects a child’s development and educational outcomes beginning in the earliest years of life (Engle, P. L., Black, M. M., 2008).

In today’s world people need to compete globally for jobs and one of the most important factors in getting a good paying job is education. However, even the best schools cannot overcome some of the obstacles placed in front of the students that walk through their doors. Poverty, chaotic home environments, discrepancies in exposure to technology, and lack of funding for schools all negatively impact the effort to educate children.

After reading Teaching with Poverty in Mind, I was able to relate my experiences as a teacher while reading this book. I decided to write about Essay 3 and discuss the Share factors and how these factors easily measure up to the school district that I work in.

Tableman and Herron (2004) suggested several components in order for schools to be successful if they had high poverty rates. First, high poverty schools will need to have strong leadership. The primary focus of the principal and leadership team in these schools should be on creating an instructional model that has as its core student learning and a school improvement plan that focuses attention on areas of weaknesses (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Second educators must have the opportunity to collaborate and work together. It is up to school leadership to provide opportunities for educators to plan cross grade level and with their own grade level (Lauer, 2001). The needs of low poverty students must be stated effectively, revisited often, and addressed constantly (Tableman & Herron, 2004). Teachers and staff at schools showing success see parents as "critical partners" in the learning process (Ragland, 2002). Kannapel and Clements (2009) point out high expectations are a requirement for high poverty schools to be successful. Each successful school had a system in place were they regularly assessed the progress of individual students and had a plan to change instruction in order to meet their students’ needs (Kannapel & Clements, 2005, p.3). Decisions in these schools are discussed and staff comes to collaborative conclusions that they carry out and monitor for modifications (Feldman, 2003).

Poverty in America has always been a big issue, but one can debate that the majority of the population chooses not to acknowledge it – especially about poverty in education. This was claimed by Senior Director of Global Outreach at ASCD, Sean Slade, who stated that people and the systems related to education are ignoring the issue. He marked, “If you are born into poverty, you are likely to stay in poverty” (Slade). The effects of poor education and poor communities are definitely a contributing factor to the performances of children in academics. With no positive growth and help from the system, the people and education performance in underprivileged socioeconomic areas will always remain inadequate. In “Poverty Affects Education – And Our System Perpetuate It”, Slade exercises clear articulation of logical persuasion techniques, elaborates on suggestions to make changes, and use proper ethical communication to cite and support his statements to successfully argue that the systems are unwilling to take progressive action towards the issue of poverty in education and low income communities.

In the twenty-first century poverty in the academic system is becoming more prevalent. Certain school distracts are granted with better funding’s for their schools, while other distracts are being deprived. Although, some school districts are providing the proper funding, their students could be below the poverty line and may not have access to the right tools to achieve in school. Thinkers like John Dewey, Michael Foucault and Marin Buber all held their stances on education and the influence of poverty in the education system, but collectively believed that education should be equal to all students across the income spectrum. The influence of poverty in education affects more then the student’s ability to learn and achieve, but influences the amount of recourses the teachers and classrooms are given, the classroom environment overall, and the differences presented between the funding’s for public schools and private academies.

“Education promotes equality and lifts people out of poverty. It teaches children how to become good citizens. Education is not just for a privileged few, it is for everyone. It is a fundamental human right”- Ban Ki-moon. Not having the proper education or growing in a home of poverty can affect a person's future, creating lifelong struggles and sometimes can create a poverty cycle that is repeated with their later generations. So what are relationships between poverty and education? Their many other ways that these two factors correlate to each other, but the three main relationship between poverty and education is the education attainment, where the child lives, and receiving less education lowers the quality of life it is for those living in poverty.

Poverty, which is a barrier to quality educational attainment for the marginalized children, is a high leveraged problem of practice that needs attention. Poverty is beyond financial scarcity, as it leads to the inability to contribute in the public production (UNESCO, 2009 & Arbour, 2006). Lack of enough education implies “poverty.” Poverty deprives human dignity, excludes the poor from fundamental human rights including freedom. It creates barriers parallel with the inability for the poor to petition their human rights to “civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights.” Hence, exclusion of human rights creates poverty (Arbour, 2006 p.III). A complete “poverty” which is living without enough income generates barriers to education, causes hunger, inability to learn, and scarce learning tools in schools. Similarly, poverty prompts teenage early pregnancy; hence, wiping out girls’ dream for education. Education is one of the pivotal tools for poverty eradication (UNESCO, 2010). As its magnitude, skillful people would determine techniques to improve their lives through employment or self-employment (UNESCO, 2010; Haughton, & Khandker, 2009. Educated people incline to be creative, hence improve their living income contrary to the uneducated ones. Actually, Hartwig, (2013) found that a slight number of families with extra education, improved their living circumstances as opposed to their colleagues who did not.