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Sunday, July 15, 2012

Understanding the Nature of Poverty


& Teaching with Poverty in Mind by Eric Jensen



Eric Jensen's book is an awesome resource that will help us all better understand how to approach our students, parents, and school community. Read chapter 1 and answer the questions below.

Link to Chapter 1

  1. How can understanding the four primary risk factors caused by poverty (emotional and social challenges, acute and chronic stressors, cognitive lags, and health and safety issues) change perceptions of low-SES students in your school?

  1. SES students in your school? How can understanding the four primary risk factors caused by poverty (emotional and social challenges, acute and chronic stressors, cognitive lags, and health and safety issues) change perceptions of low-SES students in your school? 




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7 comments:

  1. Laura SaundersJuly 16, 2012 at 7:58 PM

    In "Teaching with Poverty in Mind", Jensen prompts us to expand our definition of poverty.
    By gaining an understanding of the varying levels of poverty our students may experience we can respond to them objectively, rather than emotionally, and provide them the appropriate support and direct teaching in areas they may struggle with. The four risk factors give us a foundation to understand what emotional and behavioral responses we need to directly model and give our students ample opportunity to practice. Being aware of the health and safety issues our students may face will help us to ensure that we feel empathy rather than sympathy for our students and that we do not unintentionally enable poor behavior and academic performance. When we have an informed and objective view, we can get to know our students' personal strengths and goals and help them to develop resilience and perseverance.

    Laura Saunders

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    1. Toyia PullumJuly 17, 2012 at 9:38 PM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Toyia PullumJuly 17, 2012 at 9:48 PM

      Absolutely! We must model the behaviors we want to see in our school. Food for thought-think about the implications of choosing empathy over sympathy. Why is this so important for our students?

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    3. Laura SaundersJuly 18, 2012 at 7:34 AM

      When we become wrapped up in sympathy for our students, we can easily become the unconscious enabler - setting the bar lower for our students' achievement and ultimately doing them a disservice.

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  2. TimJuly 16, 2012 at 8:41 PM

    1. I fully believe that understanding the risk factors will help change the perceptions of low-SES students by allowing us to address these issues as quickly as possible. We cannot possibly hope to change the lives of these students if we do not address the well-being of the whole student. We cannot always change the life of a student outside the classroom but we can teach students ways to cope and methods by which to decrease their lag in socio-emotional areas.

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    1. Toyia PullumJuly 17, 2012 at 9:45 PM

      Yes Tim! I fully agree. We cannot change their lives or be transformative unless we address their needs. Food for thought-think about what we need to be or provide our students in order to address the whole child.

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  3. Mrs. LebowitzJuly 17, 2012 at 6:34 PM

    Knowledge is power, so the more we know and understand our students, specifically where they come from and how that affects their attitude and behavior in school, the better we can provide high quality education, as well as assistance in our student's areas of need.

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