EDE 4943 Blog 2

Weekly Readings:

1. The Myth of the Culture of Poverty (Gorski, 2008)

This article was made to inform future teachers as well as others about how they can help eradicate the culture of classism. Janet is a teacher at an urban midwestern elementary school and has started to give in to the myths of poverty. One of them is the "culture of poverty" which means that poor people have different beliefs and values than wealthy people, in this case specifically about education. However, after much research and studies, this has been disproven. There are many factors that explain why this myth, along with many others, is false. The culture of classism does exist though and it is our job to make changes that will help make it disappear.

2. Building a pedagogy of engagement for students in poverty (Gorski, 2013)

As teachers, we must always have high expectations for our students. We can express these high expectations through our teaching pedagogies. We must make it engaging and also always think twice before we give out certain projects or homework. Althought technology is becoming more popular every day, not every student has access to a computer, the Internet, or a printer. So, we need to assure we do not assign homework they are unable to complete. Also, time should be given in class to complete this work because some students may priortize other things when they are home such as taking care of their siblings.

Artifact(s):

This is an image of what a child wrote on her "About Myself" page in her reporter's notebok.

Reflection:

I believe that it is a great thing that people research and conduct studies on the "culture of poverty." It is myth that too many people believe in. Some do not even realize when they are judging students or their parents based on their socioeconomic status. It is eye-opening to see all of the factors that affect students who live in poverty and sad to see the way they are seen educationally because of it. I know people who without knowing, believe in the culture of poverty. They think that because one student is wealthier than another, that he or she will be more successful. However, all students deserve high expectations and hopefully little by little the "culture of poverty" will diminish until gone.