More On The Effects of Poverty on Teaching and Learning
Challenge:
Student Motivation to Learn
One of the social issues
facing children of poverty is emotional trauma. The emotional climate can
often be very stressful and emotionally depriving. The lack of emotional
nurturing can lead to feelings of alienation, inadequacy, depression and
anxiety. Aggressive or impulsive behavior and social withdrawal can also
result. Emotional security and self-esteem are often lacking. There is a
craving for attention and a need to belong (Ciaccio, 2000; Brophy, 2000).
The characteristics that are lacking in the poverty environment are those
that help foster effective learning and academic success. Emotional draining
and negative self-status can literally zap the motivation to learn out of
children.
We
need to place an emphasis on sparking that desire to learn or (motivation)
by not only helping to restore the child's self-image but also by encouraging
students to see the demands and rewards of schooling. Children will
work hard, for intrinsic rewards, only if they have a very good reason (Ciaccio,
2000). We need to make them feel that they are lovable, important and acceptable
human beings by making them feel secure and good about themselves and by
building trusting respectful relationships with them (Bassey, 1996). The
teacher may be the dependable and caring adult, often the only adult of
this kind, who is a consistent and reliable figure in their lives of unpredictability
and change (Bowman, 1994). Positive and respectful relationships of this
nature are essential for at-risk students (Hixson and Tinsmann, 1990; Ciaccio,
2000).
Educators
also need to work to foster resilience in children, focusing on the traits,
coping skills, and supports that help children survive in a challenging
environment. Children need our help if they are to adapt successfully
despite adversity; alter or reverse expected negative outcomes; and thrive
in spite of negative circumstances. We need to set high expectations for
all that communicate guidance, structure, challenge, and, most importantly,
a belief in the innate resilience of children. We need a curriculum that
supports resilience (Benard, 1995).
Ciaccio
(2000) also discusses the technique of total positive response to student
misbehavior as a method of developing relationships with students and a
method of effective classroom management. Every incidence of student misbehavior
is dealt with in a positive versus negative manner in an effort to disarm
students that may exhibit some of the most challenging behaviors. Total
positive response involves the use of positive strategies to meet student
needs, combined with caring and total acceptance. The challenge is to find
the positive in the negative. Because at-risk students have egos that are
often severely damaged, criticism can cause them to tune teachers and authority
out. Additionally, emotionally damaged students cannot effectively deal
with criticism and channel it to improvement.� We must make it our responsibility
to find ways to generate and maintain student interest and involvement on
a consistent basis by making our classrooms safe, accepting, interesting
and engaging places (Haberman, 1995). By creating lessons that have meaning
to these children, teachers are responding actively and constructively to
the background or prior knowledge and experience of their students.
The
concepts of agency and conation, which encompasses self-efficacy and self-regulation,
are key to understanding motivation as it relates to children of poverty.
The living environments and the culture of poverty often leave poor
children with low levels of motivation to learn. Besides the fact that all
of their energies may be directed elsewhere in their struggle to survive,
they may have poor experiences with schooling or may perceive that they
don't really need school to be successful. They may translate money or belonging
into success, and perceive careers in criminal activity that permeate poorer
neighborhoods (such as drug dealing, prostitution, gambling, theft and gang
involvement) as lucrative careers and as the only ones possible for them.
Children
from low SES live in environments with social conditions over which they
have little control. It is not their choice where they live. It is not their
choice that their parent may be unemployed or disabled. It was not
their choice to be born into poverty. They often have the feeling they want
or need to escape this environment and do better; but they feel they have
no control over the nature and quality of their lives. The concept of agency
is that an individual can intentionally make things happen through their
actions. This is an underlying concept in social learning or social cognitive
theory. If we can show children that they can be agents, we can enable them
to play a part in their self-development and take responsibility for their
learning, personal development and achievement (Brophy, 1998; Bandura, 2001).
Conation
refers to the connection between knowledge, affect and behavior. It
is the intentional, goal-oriented component of motivation that explains
how knowledge and emotion are translated into behavior. Conation is a proactive
aspect of behavior that is closely related to volition (the use of will
or freedom to make choices about what to do). It is necessary in order for
an individual to become self-directed and self-regulated. Conation is especially
important when addressing issues in learning. It is something that is often
lacking in low achieving students, particularly those from low SES backgrounds
(Huitt, 1999). A critical task facing teachers is to help students develop
conative attitudes, skills for self-regulation (goals, plans, and perseverance),
and self-efficacy (the belief that something can be done).
SES
affects behavior through its impact on an individual's aspirations, sense
of efficacy, personal standards and emotional states. A strong sense
of efficacy can help strengthen resiliency to adversity often found in the
environment of the low SES student. Low SES students often live in chaotic
and unstructured environments. They live day to day. They may be unable
to manage their emotions, have poor role models, and feel they have no choice
or control over their destiny.
Students
with low SES may also be depressed, have a fear of failure due to past experiences
or have acquired failure expectations from their parents. They may
be truly capable children who, as a result of previous demoralizing experiences
or self-imposed mind-sets, have come to believe that they cannot learn.
If they doubt their academic ability, chances are they envision low grades
before they even complete an assignment or take a test. This has an effect
on goal setting in that these individuals also tend to set lower goals for
themselves. They may have no real personal goals or vision, but only fantasies
of what they hope for. If they do have goals, these children need to learn
how they can achieve the goals and develop awareness of the possible self.
Goals need to be difficult but attainable in order for significant achievement
to be recognized. We need to assign challenging tasks and meaningful activities
that can be mastered (Huitt, 1999; Pajares, 1996).
Through
exercises designed to help these children identify what is important to
them, we can begin to help them develop conation. Personal reflection,
through the use of a journal, can be a very effective tool for this purpose.
Periodic journal reflection on what they think their lives would be like
if money and time were not limiting factors and what they think they would
do in the future can also be helpful to students. Inquiry learning can help
to foster the development of conation, focusing on skills such as problem
solving, fact finding, probing, organizing, reforming, adapting, improvising,
revising, constructing and envisioning.
If
a student can become self-regulated, they can mediate the negative environmental
influences they may encounter. Unless they believe they can produce desired
results, students have little incentive to persevere in the face of difficulty.
Efficacy beliefs influence whether people think pessimistically or
optimistically and in ways that are self-enhancing or self-hindering. Teaching
the use of self-talk techniques through role playing and group activity
can be helpful in identifying thoughts that are often inaccurate and negative.
This can also help students to persist longer at challenging tasks as opposed
to simply giving up, resulting in higher levels of achievement (Huitt, 1999;
Pajares, 1996).
The social environment
has an impact on goal-oriented motivation. We need to work towards
developing conative components that enhance self-direction, self-determination
and self-regulation. Low SES children need to realize the possibilities
in their lives, set goals that they can attain and experience success directly,
through mastery experiences, and vicariously, through the success of others.
Teachers should focus on the learning process, effort and striving, not
solely on the ability of the child or results. Personal standards should
be stressed as opposed to normative standards. Because success helps to
raise self-efficacy, we should do whatever possible to help our students
succeed and work to strengthen confidence through our words and actions.
Student self-beliefs have great influence on whether they fail or succeed in school. We need to provide intellectual challenge and create classroom climates of emotional support and encouragement to help students meet the challenge. We need to nurture the self-beliefs of our students and provide them with successful models that transmit knowledge, skills and inspiration. Improving self-efficacy can lead to increased use of cognitive strategies and, in turn, higher achievement. A high sense of efficacy also promotes pro-social behaviors such as cooperativeness, helpfulness, sharing, and mutual concern for welfare. Many of the difficulties students encounter are closely connected to beliefs they hold about themselves and their place in the world they live in. Academic failure is a consequence of the beliefs that students hold about themselves and about their ability to have control over their environments.
Challenge:
Lack of Readiness to Learn
Readiness
is a multi-dimensional concept that considers behavioral and cognitive aspects
of a child's development as well as adaptation to the classroom. When
considering the poverty factor as related to readiness, it is important
to note that poverty is not just about money; it is about how an individual
does without resources and with all of the baggage that goes along with
being poor (Slocumb and Payne, 2000). When readiness is considered, it is
generally considered with regard to readiness for school entry. However,
after researching the topic of poverty, readiness really needs to be considered
at all age levels as the student approaches any new learning experiences
or activities. Regardless of when intervention begins, the whole idea is
to educate children beyond their poverty and give them the intellectual
and social skills needed to succeed in life (Renchler, 2000),
Children
from poverty start out in life at a disadvantage. Their mothers may
have no or inadequate pre-natal care. They may have insufficient early health
care. If the parents are fortunate to have jobs, affordable day care may
be of poor quality (Slavin, 1998). Additionally, poor children do not have
the same kind of experiences that children of other social classes do. The
experiences they miss out on are those that could help in the development
of skills and academic achievement. Some examples would be the use of home
computers; visits to zoos and museums; attendance at pre-school programs;
availability of literature and educational reading materials; interaction
with educated, literate and well-spoken adults; and being read to by a parent.
The
social environment that is present in conditions of poverty affects the
development of these children by limiting the ways they learn to live in
social groups. Opportunities for intellectual development, such as the development
of cognitive skills and thinking patterns, are the result of social interaction.
Children who live in poverty conditions are unable to develop mutually satisfying
social relationships. Language is an important tool in the process of learning
to think. If children have limited opportunity to learn language, organize
perceptions, and develop other higher order cognitive processes, their ability
to solve problems and think independently is negatively affected (Benson,
1995; Bowman, 1994; Guerra and Schutz, 2001).
The
quality of a child's earliest experiences has great influence on future
development and potential to succeed. Intervention should be implemented
at an early stage to stop the process of failure before it begins (Slavin,
1998).� Early childhood education programs (such as Head Start) can help
at-risk pre-schoolers overcome the disadvantages that come with being poor
and ensure that they enter school ready to learn by providing emotional
nurturing and intellectual challenge. These programs foster the development
of language abilities and cognitive skills. They provide children with experiences
that will serve as a foundation of knowledge for future learning. They also
provide children with the opportunity to observe pro-social behavior and
develop positive relationships with adults and peers (Spectrum, 1999).������
Readiness
from the perspective of older children has not only to do with the development
discussed above but also with creating a support system that will enable
children to be free to focus on learning. By encompassing more aspects
of the lives of these children, schools can give them a better chance at
succeeding. This may include developing a support network with community
partners by offering or referring students and families to community programs
that meet health, social, and recreational needs. It may also involve keeping
schools open and accessible to children and their families during evening
or early morning hours so they have safe, quiet places to study and have
access to athletic facilities, recreational activities, computers, libraries,
tutoring and other resources. This can provide poor children with a full
range of support so they can develop a sense of connectedness or belonging
with their schools and can concentrate on learning and being students (Maeroff,
1998).
Next : The Effects of Poverty on Relationships