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What Teachers Need to Know

What Teachers Needs to About Poor Students and Students of Color Roberval Oliveira

EEDUC 6162 Equity and achievement: A Socio-Political Approach, Spring 2008


Vivian Dalila Carlo, Ed.D. March 3, 2008

What Teachers Need to Know

What teachers need to know about poor students and students of color is the topic of this research paper. In this research paper I will attempt to synthesize some of the research available on this issue. There are several reasons why understanding the needs and capabilities of poor students and students of color is important to me as a future educator.

Coming from a working poor background in Brazil is the first reason. I feel frustrated when I hear other students and teachers in this program at Lesley University express negative stereotypes about poor people. There is a tendency to generalize the situation and associate poor people with depraved, delinquent behavior and assume that all poor people do not value education. My personal experience shows the opposite. My family entrenched me with good moral values and made clear the importance of education. I lived among other humble families who had the same expectations for their children. Finding the research that upholds my positive experience is important as I prepare be an educator.

Furthermore, as a student of color myself, I am very much in tune with the challenges that students of color face in the classroom. It is important to me to have a deep knowledge of the research, so I am better able to make a difference in these students lives. All children need good, caring teachers. However, the lack of achievement of poor students and students of color is much greater. Therefore, I feel an obligation to serve these students well, to be a teacher that supports them and does not weigh them down with stereotypes.

What Teachers Need to Know

Professionally, I plan to be working primarily with poor children and students of color as a teacher or in any other capacity whether I am living in here in the U.S. or in Brazil. It is clear to me that these students need roles models. Furthermore, I am impelled by the belief that education can be a tool for social justice. Moreover, the more knowledge I have about the reality and capabilities of these students, the better positioned I am to assist good intentioned white educators and others educators of color as well. Educating Poor and Students of color According to Ryan (2002) there are several ways that teachers can positively affect the academic success of poor students and students of color. According to the author, teachers need to first and foremost develop an awareness of their own identity, beliefs and a critical consciousness about economic inequalities and how that effects students outcomes. In addition Love (2005) referring to works of (Boykin, 1983, 1994 & Willis, 1992, 1998) emphasizes that African Americans students are more likely to succeed in school environment that are personal, relational and like an extended family. Furthermore, Ferguson (2003) analyzed data collected by the Minority Student Achievement Network and concluded that African Americans and Hispanic students are more responsive to teachers encouragement of their efforts than teachers demands . Moreover Dworin and Bomer (2008) concluded that in order for educators to be effective in their work with poor students they need to reflect on their attitudes on social class and poverty.

What Teachers Need to Know

In attempting to provide an effective education for poor students, teachers need to be aware of negative views of the poor. Dworin and Bomer (2008) found that negative discourses about the poor have deep historical roots. The middle class always viewed poor people as lazy, as dregs, as the only ones to blame for their own poverty and as dangerous. In addition the authors add that although poverty is a risk factor for crime, violence and abuse, this is not the whole story for all households that come from poverty. The authors (citing Gonzalez, Moll & Amanti, 2005; Moll, 1992; Taylor & DorseyGaines, 1998) found that many poor families carry the same middle class values for their children. Furthermore, the communities where these families come from are often great source of resources for knowledge and languages that can be incorporated into the classroom.

Theory to Practice In addition to confirming what I already knew about best practices with poor students and students of color, this research made me realize other strategies that I will need to implement in my curriculum and in my goals as a teacher.

In order for me to an effective teacher for students of color, among other strategies, the classroom should be structured in such a way that I respect the cultural differences of my students and I am conscious that all students are able to learn. I also need to incorporate the languages of students of color into the classroom as a way to show that their home language is valued and respected. It is also clear that the material that I chose to use in the classroom makes a difference in how students of color respond to it. Delpit (2006)

What Teachers Need to Know

found that African American students are more likely to get engaged in science projects that use variables that they can relate to. Furthermore, I need to be aware of the European-centric tendencies of textbooks and the simplistic treatment that non-white culture receives in these textbooks. As a result, I need to seek out and make use of progressive educational resources.

In this research, I learned something very interesting about developing reading habits with African American students. Since reading is a solitary and individualist activity, African Americans in general, but certainly not all, find it difficult to engage in reading since it goes against their sense of community and interaction with others.

Similarly to the experiences of students of color, this research confirms what I already expected as best practices to be an effective teacher for poor students and made me aware of new ones that I should implement. For instance, it confirmed to me that although there are risk factors associated with families living in poverty, there is more than just depravity, crime, laziness and violence coming from these families and communities. The research also confirmed to me that it is imperative to the get to know these students well on a personal level. I also confirmed that due to poor students circumstances, they may not be able to perform as well as others students. I also learned new insights. For instance, I learned that negative views about the poor have deep historical roots among the white middle class and since the majority of teachers are white and middle class, they may bring to the classroom these biases about students and their families. In addition I

What Teachers Need to Know

learned that whether I am serving students of color or poor students I need to include their families and the community in their education.

While this topic provided support for what I already suspected and gave new insights, there is one area that I would like to further explore. All the articles that I investigated identified the achievement gap as a crisis among students of color and poor students. I would like to see the data on achievement of middle class students of color. Although it is clear to me that social class is factor in students success, the journals that I found do not make it clear. So it leaves an impression, that just because one is student of color, he or she will struggle in school.

Finally, I recognize the challenges of helping students of color and poor students succeed in a school environment that reflects white and middle class values. However, more education for teachers on the realities of their students, continued affirmation of multicultural education in the classroom and the belief that education can be tool for social change are places to start in changing this reality of low achievement for poor students of color.

What Teachers Need to Know Bibliography


Dworin, Joel E., & Bomer, Randy (2008). What we all(supposedly) Know about the poor: A critical discourse analysis of ruby payne "framework". English Education. 40,2, 101-121.

Delpit, Lisa (2006). Other people's children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York, Ny: The New Press. Erwin, Flaxman (2003).Closing the achievement gap: Two views from current Research. Eric Clearinghouse on Urban Education . 1-6. Love, Angela (2005).Teacher beliefs and students achievement in urban schools serving african american students. The journal of Educational Research. 99 No. 2, 87-97. Ryan, Ann Marie (2002).Core elements of preparing teachers for culturally relevant practice. Reports Descriptive. 1-27.

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