Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for E - PowerPoint Presentation

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Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap

by Paul C. Gorski

gorski@EdChange.orgSlide2

How I Know “The Poor” Are Not “The Problem”

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How I Know EducatorsCan Be a Big Part of the Solution

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Starting AssumptionsPoor people bear the brunt of almost every imaginable social ill in the U.S.

All

people, regardless of

class

status, deserve access to basic human

rights

Inequities

in

our society

mean all people don’t have this access

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Starting Assumptions (cont’d)It is not every individual

teacher or administrator’s

responsibility

to eradicate global

poverty

However

, if we don’t

understand poverty

, we cannot understand families and students in poverty

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The Most Practical NoteIf we start with the belief that poor people are poor because poor people are deficient, we already have lost. The single most practical strategy for every one of us:

Let go of the stereotypes

…

99% ideological, 1% practical

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Part II:Stereotypers Are Us:

Stereotypes

of Low-Income

People and Other Cognitive Barriers to ProgressSlide8

Stereotypers Are UsBrainstorm all the stereotypes you know about low-income peopleAnd note where they come from

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Stereotypers Are UsStereotype: LazinessAh, but:

A vast majority of poor people do work (CDF, 2008). According

to the Economic Policy Institute (2002), poor working adults

spend more hours working

per week on average

than their wealthier counterparts.

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Stereotypers Are UsStereotype: Don’t Value EducationAh, but: Low-income parents

have the

exact same attitudes about education as wealthy parents (Compton-Lilly, 2003;

Lareau

&

Horvat

, 1999;

Li, 2010;

Leichter

, 1978; Varenne & McDermott, 1986). (More on this later…)

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Stereotypers Are UsStereotype: Substance Abuse

Ah, but: Alcohol abuse is far more prevalent among wealthy people than poor people (

Galea

, Ahern, Tracy, &

Vlahov

,

2007;

Humensky

, 2010).

And drug use equally distributed across poor, middle class, and wealthy communities (Saxe, Kadushin, Tighe, Rindskopf, & Beveridge, 2001).

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Stereotypers Are UsStereotype: Bad ParentsAh, but:

Research has continued to show that low-income parents care just as much about their children, and work just has hard—or harder—to advocate for their children, as wealthier parents.

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Part IVConsidering the Popular Perspectives: the “Culture of Poverty” and Deficit IdeologySlide14

The ‘Culture’ or ‘Mindset’ of PovertyWhat

is it?

Who

made it up?

What the research says

Why it’s dangerous

Silliness: My grandma and Somali children

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Deficit View Is…A perspective that explains outcome inequalities as resulting from supposed moral, intellectual, and cultural deficiencies in disenfranchised communities and

individuals.

If your teachers are roughly representative of the US public, they, on average, believe this.

Unfortunately, research shows you can’t believe this and be an effective teacher for low-income students.Slide16

Deficit View:A Micro-ExampleSlide17

Begin with a Stereotype“Low-income families do not value education.”Slide18

Use that Stereotype to Explain & Justify an Outcome Inequality“Low-income students do not do as well in school as their wealthier peers because they do not value education.”

And

“If only low-income families cared more about education, the economic achievement gap would not exist.”Slide19

Ignore the Fact that This Is UntrueSee, for example:

Compton-Lilly, 2003

Lareau & Horvat, 1999

Leichter, 1978 Slide20

Gather Evidence SelectivelyConveniently forget:Funding disparities

Choice disparities

Curricular & pedagogical disparities

And so on…

Or even:

The scarcity of living wage jobs

Lack of access to healthcare

And so on…Slide21

Develop Educational Strategies through the Lens of This IdeologyParenting classes for low-income families

Mentor programs for low-income students

Tutoring programs for low-income students

And so on…Slide22

Never Address (or Acknowledge) Underlying InequitiesNo reflection on what we’re doing or the biases or inequities in our schools and classrooms…

And so onSlide23

Part V:Understanding the Challenges of Low-Income FamiliesSlide24

Pre-SchoolLess accessWhen they have access, it’s to lower-quality pre-schoolAccording to brain research, this is critical because of the cognitive development that happens during pre-school years (

Duncan, Ludwig, & Magnuson,

2007)

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PollutionAir and water in low-income neighborhoods more pollutedMore likely to live near hazardous production and storage sites (Walker et al, 2005)

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Neighborhood FactorsLow-income neighborhoods more likely to have lower-quality social, municipal, and local services; greater traffic volume, fewer playgrounds; less green space (NCTAF, 2004)

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HealthLess access to health care (Koenig, 2007)Less access to preventive measures (Pampel et al, 2010)Less access to prenatal care (Temple et al, 2010)

Higher levels of chronic stress and depression (Wadsworth et al, 2008)

Less access to healthy foods (

Pampel

et al, 2010)

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In School, the “Great Equalizer”:

This opportunity gap is characterized by the lack of access to:

Quality preschool

Adequately funded schools

School nurses, counselors, and other school support services

Affirming school environments (bullying)

High academic expectations

Higher-order, engaging pedagogies

Opportunities for family engagement

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Also:Safe and affordable housingAn affirming societyRecreational opportunitiesAnd on and on and on

Part of the problem with the “culture of poverty” model is that it is largely silent on these conditions—it distracts us from them…

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Thoughts…These are the reasons for outcome inequalities, not cultural deficiencies (Depere et al, 2010):

“

Thus, children raised in advantaged neighborhoods appear to receive higher quality child care and to attend more advantaged schools, even when family characteristics, such as the quality of the home environment, are held constant. In turn, access to advantaged institutions may explain why children in comparatively advantaged neighborhoods tended to have higher vocabulary and reading scores than their peers in less advantaged

neighborhoods” (p, 1241).

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Part VI: Equity Literacy ApproachSlide32

Principles to RememberPoor people are diverse—they do not share a cultureThey don’t share a learning style or communication style or world view or behaviors or attitudes or…

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Principles to RememberWe cannot understand the relationship between poverty and education without understanding biases and inequities experienced by people in poverty.

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Principles to RememberWhat we believe about people in poverty, including our biases and prejudices, informs how we teach and relate to people in poverty

So we must begin by shifting our view about poverty and poor

people

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Things to DoRid ourselves of the stereotypes and prejudices and misinformation, then help our colleagues do the sameName deficit ideology when you see it

Remember, any strategy that is based on fixing low-income families is, at best, incomplete and, at worst, offensive and alienating

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Things to DoTake stock of, and then eliminate, any example of unequal distribution of resources (e.g., the most effective teachers, the newest science labs, the best sports fields, the highest-order pedagogy) within schools and between schools

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Things to DoAdopt higher-order curricular and pedagogical models at all schoolsKeep physical education and arts programs in all schools

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Things to DoRefuse to charge money for any school-related activity (extracurriculars, field trips)

Review policy carefully to find implicit ways low-income people are targeted and disadvantaged

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Things to DoPartner with local agencies and organizations when possible to add needed services to your school (medical, nutrition)Advocate for smaller class sizes

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Things to DoResist the imposition of high-stakes testing, which is having the most devastating impact on the most marginalized students (while helping a few test-development companies like Pearson make a lot of money)

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Things to DoMake opportunities for family involvement accessible to low-income families(and, if you haven’t thought about it, ask yourself why you haven’t thought about it)

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Things to DoRemember that many low-income parents experienced school as a hostile environment when they were students. That’s not their fault. So what we can do about it? Persistence

Patience

Humility

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Final ReflectionThe research points most ferociously at one conclusion:If you believe that poor people are poor because of their own deficiencies and not because of systemic barriers, you are likely to contribute to the very inequities we’re here to eliminate. Our attitudes about poor families is the most critical single variable affecting the schools we are creating for them.

But no pressure.



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Thank you.Paul C. Gorskigorski@edchange.orghttp://www.EdChange.org