1. Role Models and Emotional Resources
Chapter 5
Understanding Poverty
Ruby Payne

2. Systems
System: group in which individuals have rules, roles, and relationships
Functional system: meets needs of members
Dysfunctional system: does not meet needs of members

3. Systems Example of dysfunctional system:
Young person must look after aging, ill, parents, depriving her of opportunity to be a child
Her need to be a child is not met—she becomes dysfunctional
Improper role models—or lack of role models---adds to dysfunction

4. Emotional development
Dependence: need others, i.e. parents
Independence: self-sufficient
Interdependent: work with other adults

5. Dysfunctional development
Child asked to assume role of adult at early age
Hinders emotional development
As adult, needs to be child (dependent) and adult (independent) at same time
This fluctuation between stages causes dysfunction---”co-dependency”

6. Role models
Child needs appropriate “role model” to go through sequential emotional development stages
Improper “role model” availability leads to lack of building of “emotional resources”

7. Replenishing “emotional resources”
Support groups
Establish long-term relationships with adults who provide appropriate role model
Teach goal-setting

8. Where does the school fit it?
Need to establish schedules, instructional arrangements that allow student to stay with same teacher for 2 or 3 years
Must be mutually agreed upon
Teachers and administrators become much more important as role models
Development of “emotional resources” crucial to student success
Build self-esteem
Sense of purpose
Allow them to “be a child” now—did not have chance before

9. Where does the school fit in?
Support groups—after school homework help
Appropriate discipline strategies ---discussed in Chapter 7
Increasing student’s achievement by appropriate instruction—Chapter 8

10. Where does teacher fit it?
Realize how important a strong adult role model is to this student---and provide it