Understanding Poverty Chapters 7, 8, and 9 Understanding Poverty

Penance and Forgiveness Discipline is not about change. The mother is the disciplinarian. She is judge, jury, and executioner. She determines the amount and price of penance. Once it is complete, she provides forgiveness. Behaviors go back to normal after forgiveness is granted. As mother is in control, self-control is not a requirement.

Teaching School Discipline: Structure and Choice Child must know what is expected behavior. Child must know consequences. Choice Follow or not follow the expected behavior. The student chooses to do the correct behavior based on consequences. “I told you so” is not the way to teach this new form of discipline

Behavioral Analysis ABC (Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence) What kind of behaviors does a child need to be successful? Does the child have the resources to develop those behaviors? Will it help to contact the parents? Are resources available through them? What resources are available through the school/ district? How will behaviors be taught? What are other choices the child could make? What will help the child repeat the successful behavior?

Behavior Related to Poverty Laugh When Discipline: Saves face. Argue Loudly w/ teacher: Distrust of authority/ poverty is participatory. Angry Response: Anger=fear (loss of face?) Inappropriate comments: Causal Language Physically Fight: do not use language to resolve conflict. May be “less of a man/woman if don’t fight. Hands always on someone else: communication is often nonverbal Cannot follow directions: little procedural memory in poverty. Sequence not used.

Behavior Related to Poverty Extremely Disorganized: Lack of planning scheduling, or prioritizing. Also may not have tools. Complete only part of the task: W/out self-talk, they may only see part of the task. Disrespectful of Teacher: lack of respect for authority Harm other students, physically or verbally: habitual response, way to buy space or distance. Cheat or steal: weak support system, financial need. Talk incessantly: Poverty is participatory.

Problem Solving Steps Stop: Take a moment before acting. Think: Think of all possible options. Choose: Choose the best option. Do: Do that option. Evaluate: How did that work out for you? What would you do differently next time?

Three Voices: Child Voice Defensive, victimized, emotional, whining, strongly negative, non-verbal Can be playful, spontaneous, curious,etc. Negative Examples: Quite picking on me. I hate you. You make me sick. Don’t blame me. You made me do it.

Three Voices: Parent Voice Authoritative, directive, judgmental, evaluative, demanding, punitive, sometimes threatening. Can also be loving and supportive or create shame and guilt. Negative Examples: You shouldn’t do that. That’s stupid. You are bad. Do as I say. Why can’t you be like _____?

Three Voices: Adult Voice Non-judgmental, free of negative non-verbal, factual, often in question format. Examples: In what ways could this be resolved? We agree to disagree. These are the consequences of that choice: ______. What would you need to be satisfied int his situation?

Poverty and the 3 voices Children who are forced to parent themselves use either the child voice or parent voice and don’t learn the adult voice. The adult voice is the one used for negotiating situations. If you use the parent voice on a child of poverty, you force them to be “the child” or to argue back as “the parent.” And, they don’t want to be treated like a child so they will argue or get angry for “being talked down to.”

Group Project: Discipline Given what you now know about discipline in poverty: How should a new teacher set up her class for appropriate behavior on the first day in a 100% free and reduced lunch school? How might she teach correct and appropriate behavior throughout the rest of the school year?

Group Project: IQ and Poverty Students in poverty score on average 9 points lower on IQ tests. Payne states that this is due to lack of acquired knowledge consistent with middle class. What are some other possibilities that we find IQ differences b/w different cultural groups and different SES groups?

Learning Structures Content:Information obtained (what you learned from reading) Skills: Processing concepts (reading) Concepts: Stores information and allows for retrieval (letters) Cognitive Strategies: How we learn information. How we get it from OUT THERE in the world into our head.

Cognitive Strategies: Mediated focusing: Ability to focus attention. Mediated Scheduling: Schedule and plan. Mediation of positive anticipation: Control your present for a better tomorrow. Mediation of inhibition and control: Delay gratification and think before doing. Mediated representation of the future: Imagine a future scenario based on facts. Mediation of verbal stimulation: Use of precise language to make sense of the world Mediated precision: precisely define what is going on and use that to make decisions.

Group Project: Prereferral Interventions You are on an pre-referral team for a child who lives in poverty. The teacher describes reading comprehension and math reasoning and the primary problems. She also states that the child moved often, never brings materials to class, and doesn’t understand the class schedule Where do these problems fall in the learning structure diagram? Based on the information on pages 95-106 what are some interventions that you may want to recommend trying for this child. Describe some ways that a busy teacher might be able to incorporate these into his/her class.

Importance of Relationships 9 out 10 students who have successfully left poverty say that a relationship with another individual (e.g., teacher, counselor, etc.) made the difference to them. A successful relationship occurs when emotional deposits are made to students and emotional withdrawals are avoided. This is true in any relationship.

Middle class view of Deposits and Withdrawals Seek first to be understood Breaking promises Unkindness, discourtesies Violating expectations Disloyalty, duplicity Pride, conceit, arrogance Rejecting feedback Deposits Seek first to understand Keeping promises Kindnesses, courtesies Clarifying expectations Loyalty to the absent Apologies Open to feedback

Poverty view of Deposits and Withdrawals Put-downs or sarcasm about their humor Insistence for full explanations about a person or a situation Insistence on the middle-class view of a relationship Using the parent voice Telling the individual his/her goals Making judgments on the value and availability of resources Assigning pejorative character traits Deposits Appreciation for humor and entertainment Acceptance of what the individual cannot say about a situation Respect the demands and priorities of relationships Using the adult voice Assisting with goal-setting Identifying options related to available resources Understanding the importance of personal freedom, speech, and individual personality

Group Project: Charts on pages 114-117 What is the difference financially between someone who finished 4 years at college and someone who does not graduate from high school. What is the difference b/w black, white, and Hispanic poverty ratios compared to the total population percent. What is the average household income? What is the income of the lowest 20% Given that 20% of that will go to taxes and/ or other, what is the average monthly take home. Discuss this for a budget of 4 (one parent, 3 children)

90/90/90 Schools At least: 5 Commonalities 90% combined minority 90% free or reduced lunch 90% successful on standardized assessments 5 Commonalities Strong emphasis on achievement Clear and integrated curricular choices Frequent assessment to monitor progress Strong emphasis in writing in all academics External scoring of student work

90/90/90 Success through… Ongoing and focused professional development Modeling of effective teaching and assessment practices Ongoing professional collaboration Effective communication between school staff, parents, and students Visible tracking of student progress on a frequent and regular basis. Work by Douglas Reeves