Whose Problem is it? Students Living in Poverty
As educators we have all seen it. Students who don't have as much as what we did growing up. Students who don't have as much as their peers and classmates. Students whose home lives affect them so much that they struggle to attend while they are in school. This issue then leads to the question of is school really that important to a student who doesn't know if they will have dinner? Is classwork really that important to a student who doesn't know if his mom or dad will be home tonight, because they have have to work an extra shift? And lastly, is it my problem as a teacher if my student or students aren't performing in the classroom because they have more important issues they are dealing with at home? These are all incredibly difficult questions to answer, but I would like to think that as educators we show a level of care that extends beyond the walls of our classrooms.
Students living in poverty is a really big issue, and one that needs additional attention as we move forward. In an age where technology is developing at an incredible rate, and education is becoming more and more reliant on devices, both at school and at home, we need to remember that not all students have the same access to their education. In fact, for some students education ends as soon as they walk outside of the school building, because they need to focus on issues that stem from the poverty they live in. In an article appearing on Edutopia, and adapted from William Parrett and Kathleen Budge, the authors' research showed that, "Childhood poverty rates are higher in the United States than in any other industrialized country, and this rate is on the rise. As of 2014, 33 percent of all people who live in poverty were children -- more than 15.4 million, or 21 percent of all children in the United States. Another 15 million (21 percent) reside in low-income families. Between 2000 and 2014, the number of children living in poverty increased from 11.6 million to 15.5 million, or by a factor of 33 percent (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). The number of people in poverty in 2014 climbed to 46.7 million -- one in seven Americans -- the largest number since poverty rates have been published." The full article can be found by clicking HERE. The video below gives another brief look at poverty in the classroom, and what we can do to help.
Poverty is something that as educators we have to understand and know how to combat. The same article that was adapted from William Parrett and Kathleen Budge recommends 10 ways to combat poverty. Those strategies include:
Assign work requiring a computer and internet access or other costly resources only when we can provide in-school time and materials for such work to be completed.
Work with our schools to make parent involvement affordable and convenient by providing transportation, on-site childcare, and time flexibility.
Give students from poverty access to the same high-level curricular and pedagogical opportunities and high expectations as their wealthy peers.
Teach about classism, consumer culture, the dissolution of labor unions, environmental pollution, and other injustices disproportionately affecting the poor, preparing new generations of students to make a more equitable world.
Keep stocks of school supplies, snacks, clothes, and other basic necessities handy for students who may need them, but find quiet ways to distribute these resources to avoid singling anyone out.
Develop curricula that are relevant and meaningful to our students' lives and draw on their experiences and surroundings.
Fight to get our students into gifted and talented programs, to give them other opportunities usually reserved for economically advantaged students, and to keep them from being assigned unjustly to special education.
Continue to reach out to parents even when we feel they are being unresponsive; this is one way to establish trust.
Challenge our colleagues when they stigmatize poor students and their parents, reminding them of the inequitable conditions in our schools and classrooms.
Challenge ourselves, our biases, and our prejudices by educating ourselves about the cycle of poverty and classism in and out of U.S. schools.
One final thought that I'd like to leave you with is the following video with Rita Pierson. Although the video is seven minutes long, I encourage everyone to listen to the video because this is the attitude we need when working with ALL students.
