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.
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