Building a Pedagogy of Engagement for Students in Poverty, examined strategies that will assist the students in creating a pedagogy that will not only engage students but also allow them the opportunity to be engaged. Some of the strategies that stuck out to me was to reach out to the families as much as possible, and promote literacy engagement. Additionally there was some “higher level” strategies including reducing class size, and increase health services in the school. The Myth of the “Culture of Poverty” examined the roots of this concept. Some of the myths that shocked me were that poor parents are uninvolved in their child’s education, and that poor students/parents/people are linguistically deficient.
Both articles examined poverty. Reoccurring theme of each article was the fact that learning materials can stereotype poor students/parents. In Both articles this was examined and I feel like it is crucial as educators to make sure that the student does not have to “shame [him/herself] into outing himself as poor” because he does not have the ability to acquire supplies. It was also stated in The Myth of the “Culture of Poverty” article that it is important to fight to keep low-income students from being assigned to a special needs or low academic track simply because of their socioeconomic status.
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Throughout my experience at the Boys and Girls club, the influences/effects of poverty was evident (not in every student’s case, but many). After the first day it was evident that students did not have the resources/supplies to complete assignments. Many students did not have pencils, paper, or books. This fact was examined in both articles, and it is important to not “call out” students on the fact that they do not have the resources. While at the Boys and Girls Club on the second day, I asked one of the employees if there were extra pencils anywhere, and she informed me that they had them set aside for the students who needed them. I am not sure why the employee did not take these pencils out initially, but the Club was aware of the lack of supplies.
I have never personally experienced things similar to the ones discussed throughout the articles, and honestly, in my time as a student, I did not realize that this was an issue. I assume it was either my ignorance or the fact that my teachers were subtle and discreet when one of my peers did not have the supplies/resources required. Now that I am starting my career as an educator, I have seen these obstacles and how they affect the students. It is crucial that all educators have an understanding of them and how they will affect the child’s education (and how they should not influence how the child is educated, i.e. students of low socioeconomic status should not be put on a low academic track simply because of assumptions).