Poverty in the Classroom

Teaching is one of the most important professions out there due to the influence they have on raising up the next generation. It is the responsibility of the teacher to not just teach, but to care for and nurture each and every student in a creative learning environment. Each teacher has their own unique teaching style, but it is important to keep the student involved. As Benjamin Franklin once said, "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." In order for the student to truly learn and understand, they must also feel involved and important.

As you may know there are some students that seem to be unruly or completely uninterested in learning altogether. But instead of getting upset or angry at them, we should first seek to understand why this behavior occurs. As artist and educator Josef Albers once said, “Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers.” So why do some students exhibit these sorts of behaviors? We believe it is an issue of poverty.

Now the question should be what is poverty? Many believe it is merely a lack of food, clothing, or money. But we argue it goes much deeper than that. To explain what we mean by this we can look at an article written by blogger Harinath Pudipeddi. Harinath argues that there are 7 basic types of poverty. His groups and definitions for them are as follows:

1.      “Economic Poverty - Lack of monitory demands for providing themselves with Food, Cloth and Shelter. Please note that money need for only the mentioned attributes falls under this category.”

2.      “Bodily Poverty - Lack of property physical health and access to health living conditions.”

3.      “Mental Poverty - Lack of thinking, which is resultant of lack of access to education and knowledge.”

4.      “Cultural Poverty - Lack of coming together in a society. No collaborative activities taking place which leads to disconnect between people.”

5.      “Spiritual Poverty - surprising right? Yes, lack of feeling of togetherness/brotherhood plays an important role in bringing people together.”

6.      “Political Poverty - Lack of understanding of how system works. The basic problem is the understanding of how to cast one's vote and elect their leader. “

7.      “Societal Poverty - Lack of social connectivity”
           

So our next big question is; what does poverty look like in your classroom? Poverty can be manifested in many different ways:

   ·         Lack of participation

   ·         Lack of social interaction

   ·         Lack of basic social skills

   ·         Anger

   ·         Constant sleepiness

   ·         Irritability

   ·         Bad hygiene

   ·         Bullying issues

   ·         Constant disobedience towards authority

With these things in mind, we now need to know how to properly care for and teach these students. Here are three main ways you can do this:

*Come to Understand Their Situation*

Put yourself in their shoes. It may sound like a cliché, but it is extremely important. The better you understand the situation the student is in, the better equipped you will be in knowing how to teach them.

*Be Encouraging, Not Critical*

            Although constructive criticism is good in some cases, remember that honey is sweeter than vinegar. You can correct while still being kind, and for any kid that is a really important factor in their development. Stay positive and patient.

*Be Consistent*

            This is a key factor. If you aren’t consistent in your own behavior and actions, people, especially students, won’t know what your expectations are of them, and they will have issues in trusting you. “Let your yes be simply yes, and your no be simply no” (Amplified Version, Matt. 5.37).

*Be Involved*

            Show interest in the students. Communication is also very important here. Your responsibility to your students doesn’t just stop inside the classroom. Be involved and communicate with the parents. Doing this also helps in understanding your students further.

With all these things in mind you can come to better understand the reality of poverty, and how it affects the classroom setting. We hope this information is useful to you and are very thankful to you as teachers for what you do. Thank you.

Works Cited

Pudipeddi, Harinath. "7 Types of Poverty." : 7 Types of Poverty. N.p., 4 Aug. 2007. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.