Introduction The book I will be reviewing is Teaching with Poverty in Mind written by Eric Jensen. The book was originally published in 1950 while our copy was printed in 2009 through the ASCD publication company. This book is used in our EDUC 200 Developmental Sciences and the Context of Poverty class to give us insight to challenges that could be present with poverty and schools. Jensen’s book illustrates the story of Mr. Hawkins a teacher’s experiences and growth working with children living in poverty.
Education in poverty-stricken areas is a luxury that many people do not receive and has always been a fight from the beginning of Mississippi’s historical roots. The battle for adequate education began over the issue of segregation and continues to hinder teens’ ability to learn. One of the reasons that education is unsatisfactory in many parts of Mississippi is because education and poverty are interrelated. Poverty has a negative impact on the student’s achievements and academic success and puts them at disadvantages for their futures. Although Mississippi is notorious for its major issues, the correlation of poverty and education have persisted as some of the most pressing issues that require immediate attention.
(Koegel, Melamid, Burnam, 1995) For example, family homelessness has been increasing in the United states in Recent years. Now, more schools and communities are challenged to serve students whose lives are touched by the uncertainty and instability that homelessness brings. (Miller, 2015) People are forced to live destitute without daily necessities like healthy or sanitary food, housing or substantial clothing.
These factors include, but are not limited to, lack of affordable housing, economic insecurity, behavioral health, etc. Research has found that the main contributing factors for children living in homeless families are the lack of affordable housing, poverty, and domestic violence (Aratani, 2009). Similarly, mental illness, substance abuse, and lack of affordable housing are the top contributing factors of homelessness among unaccompanied youth (Aratani, 2009). In addition to analyzing the factors that can cause homelessness, the article explores the impact that homelessness can have on youth. For example, homelessness can often lead to food insecurity since food supplies can be scarce, which can then have a negative impact on the child/youth’s overall health.
They don’t know where they are going to be tomorrow or how they are going to spend the night tomorrow. They have to work multiple hours to support themselves which makes dropping out of classes or the college entirely a very high possibility. In the article, Bader gives us an idea about how homeless students can be helped. Funding programs or institutions like LeTendre that helps to support the homeless students is a good way to help. Administrators can let the students use their facilities.
“Overall, researchers were able to document a ‘poverty-related effect’ on children’s mental health and behavior” (Bassuk 499). In the state of Michigan there were more than 38,000 homeless children attending public schools in the year 2013 (Seidel A2). Homeless children are at increased risk of dropping out of school because their parents are not aware of the federal law that was passed in 1987 specifically to prevent homeless children from dropping out of school. The law is called the McKinney-Vento law. Prior to 1987 homeless children were unable to meet enrollment requirements in schools because they could not show proof of residency, and did not have school and health records.
Homeless in the United States (U.S) as a Vulnerable Group Vulnerability, the propensity to harm, is caused by an interaction flanked by the obtainable resources to persons and communities as well as the life problems they encounter. However, vulnerability develops from developmental challenges, individual incapacities, underprivileged social status, insufficiency of interpersonal systems and supports, tainted neighborhoods and settings, and the multifaceted contacts of these aspects over the life course. However, the priority given to unreliable vulnerabilities/their neglect reflects social values. Vulnerable group include racial and ethnic minority, uninsured, underinsured, low-income children, frail older adults, mentally disabled, and homeless among others (Clapham & Clapham, David, 2015).
We must value the importance of homelessness being a temporary state and acknowledge the redefinition of homelessness. As a society, we also must self-reflect and value our own standpoint in correlation to the research being done. Standpoint is not just determining or concluding the results to be one thing or another; but it is more complex and one must recognize that particular perspectives’ you won’t be able to fully understand unless you were in the same predicament or circumstances as the homeless. With all the research in the world, we do not understand how it feels to be in that situation, but based on empirical evidence, we can imagine how it
In “Homeless on Campus” author, Kingsborough Community College English Department Instructor, Eleanor Bader explains the increasing amount of homeless students and ways the public can help get them into various necessary living situations. Bader has two main audiences whom she is addressing. The first audience is homeless students. This report helps homeless students feel as if their voice is being heard and that they are not the only ones going through this. The second audience is teachers and college faculty members.
Homelessness on Campus “Over 58,000 students identified as homeless on the 2013 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) , a 75 percent increase over the last three years”(Dunning). Homelessness on college campuses is damaging to the individuals who are affected by it. Homelessness is damaging to the individual because it makes graduating from college difficult. To find a way to solve homelessness we need to figure out what the causes of homelessness are.
Homeless youth are always dealing with poor nutrition, victimization, substance use, and abuse. Unfortunately the services provided are very limited and cannot help a huge chunk of the homeless youth. Homeless youth experience more substance abuse and drug addiction than non-homeless youth, this causes them to be mentally unstable and unable to be a functioning member of society. There are many temporary services provided such as shelters, drop-ins, meal programs, literacy improvements, and counselling programs; although these are available and there to help the youth, they are all flawed in their own ways. What the government does not take into consideration is the long term solutions to put youth in poverty to an end.
Every individual has a different background and it is our job as educators to take that into consideration as we educate our students. While reading the articles and watching the film, I realized that not all students are fortunate enough to have a stable household and some may not even have a roof over their heads at night. I was in awe by the amount of homeless youth that are out on the streets of Chicago every night. In the film, The Homestretch, it stated that 2,000-3,000 homeless youth were out on the streets every night. It also stated 19,000 students are registered as homeless within Chicago public schools.
Do you know that according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), there are over 138,000 homeless children under the age of 18 in the United States of America? Many of them are unaccompanied as well. 4. As per the National Centre for Homeless Education, in public schools itself, there are over one million homeless children in America who have been forced to share accommodation with
making Mental illness the third major cause of homelessness. C. Most people believe it 's their own fault or it is over drug and alcohol abuse or just being lazy period, but according to rock center by Jessica Hopper believe it or not 20% of people that have jobs who are not on any alcohol substance or drug abuse are also homeless, which leads us to the requirement wages in order to afford a place to stay in. Not just in TN but in every state more than minimum wage is needed, Families need to earn a housing wage of 15$ an hour in order to afford a two-bed room apartment. Transition: it is very clear to us that homelessness is a major problem in our society, and that we need to take action, let 's look at some ways we can help to aid these types of situations. II.
2/28/18 Poverty and Education For this literature review, I conducted an analysis of poverty and how poverty affects children and their education. For my internship I work in a low-income school system, I really wanted to dive into what and how this has a role to play in brain and education. The major question that I feel needs to be answered in order to continue this research project is: has been shown to negatively influence child brain development, thus interfering with their success in the academic setting? There are many environmental factors that influence how a child’s brain develops before the age of six. These effects include prenatal care, health conditions, and poor school readiness skills in their language. Children raised in poverty are adversely affected both indirectly and directly through their family’s lack of resources and education.