Poverty and Teaching

It only seems reasonable, based on the work we do in impoverished areas, to spend some time talking about the multiple meanings of poverty, its manifestation inside schools and outside the walls of the building, the effects of poverty on students and the implications for teachers in terms of how to handle it in the classroom.

This effort will take a number of postings as poverty isn't, by any stretch of the imagination, merely a matter of dollars and cents. Poverty rears its ugly head in so very many ways. And what may be poverty on the southside of Chicago may not look the same in parts of NYC or LA. The length of time a family or neighborhood has had to endure poverty, the degree of poverty (for example; are they underemployed, do they earn a decent wage but have no health insurance, the number of children, illnesses, etc.) and more are critical to understand.

I hope you will follow our blog over the next week of two as we endeavor to better understand the various issues and concerns surrounding the plight of students living under such conditions.

Thanks,
Dick