Entry #13

Good morning!

The day has come - today I post my last entry for the summer! My research work term officially ended on August 3rd, so now it's time to relax and mentally prepare for my last year at StFX. Before I do though, I want to share a few final thoughts on the subject of poverty and education, as a way of synthesizing some of the personal conclusions I've made through my research, and as a way of saying goodbye.

I've developed a list of things that I think we should all keep in mind:
1) As I've said before, students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged are less likely to have books, access to the Internet, the means of hiring a tutor, school supplies, and countless other resources that impact academic achievement (Sirin, 2005). I realize teachers can't "out-teach" poverty, and that creating access to these resources will require significant societal change, but I think it's important that teachers are just cognizant of the range and number of factors outside of school that impacts the students in their classroom. Being mindful of the deficit of resources students can access can make the classroom more equitable and self-aware, which I think students can sense.

2) Speaking of being self-aware, it's important to remember that students are aware of the resources they lack. They know too well the opportunities that they miss out on, the extra-curriculars they can't join, and the tools they don't have access to. The barriers to success that disadvantaged youth perceive tend to lower their academic confidence and motivation - they don't believe they can do the work, and because of that belief, they often choose to not try (Legault, 2006, p. 571). Teachers should actively work to build student confidence, give them reasons to care about their work and see themselves as successful, valuable people. Students need these reasons, because, after a lifetime of feeling academically inadequate (which is often the fault of less-than-kind teachers), they deserve to have someone in their corner who celebrates their strengths and interests and gives them a reason to want to be their best.

3) In the words of Rita Pierson, "Kids don't learn from people they don't like." This is true especially for students who experience poverty. In a study conducted by Carrington (2013), teachers who were perceived as angry, mean and ‘uncool’ by students were also disengaging in the classroom, while teachers who were described as fun and ‘nice’ were more engaging (p. 28-29). This is to say that teachers who adopt a more authoritarian teaching style tend to discourage students from the start, creating a classroom environment that isn't conducive to engagement or learning. Again, being relational and aware of the dynamic in the classroom is critical in making students feel safe and valued. If as adults we crave a congenial and positive work environment, why are young adults so often denied that same kind of space in schools?

4) None of this can be achieved if teachers lack experience. The problem is low-income schools tend to see high rates of teacher-turnover (Johnson, 2013), meaning that the teachers who work most with disadvantaged youth tend to lack the preparation, temperament, and personal efficacy that would make them and their students successful (p. 27-31). Really, the thing to remember is that teachers who are new (like us pre-service teachers) are often so busy just trying to get lessons together and not be terrible that the relational and mindful stuff sometimes gets lost in translation. It's no one's fault really, but it's a balance that's learned over time and with experience. Areas that have high rates of poverty will likely struggle to change the teacher-turnover rate (p. 2-4), but they can offer more practical forms of teacher training and professional development geared towards helping struggling students, which I think will at least provide teachers with some new strategies and ways of thinking.

Image retrieved from
http://www.glasbergen.com/wp-content/gallery/teacher-amp-
education-cartoons/?C=S;O=A

5) Teachers with high personal efficacy are more likely to be well-versed in instruction, period. The more comfortable a teacher is with curriculum and subject-area content, the more comfortable they'll be adapting their lessons to better suit the needs of students who struggle (Cantrell, 2013). Really, everything I've been telling you all summer can be directly related to this very point, because students who experience poverty and struggle in school need someone who can be clear, who can be understanding, and who can be adaptive. I think a lot of these practices comes from experience, but, they're still skills that can consciously be practiced. That being said, knowing your material is something you should be doing from the get-go - your teachable subject is YOURS to know and to teach, so do it well, and do it with some passion. Students can sense from a mile away when a teacher isn't interested in what they're teaching anymore, so love what you do, and use that love as motivation to change things up once in a while. And, frankly, if the students aren't as excited about the subject as you are, that should be an even stronger motivator. Too often do teachers focus on what the students "won't" or "can't" do rather than the why. If you know what you're doing, and you do it well, you should be practicing new teaching strategies that are directly linked to the question of why it matters, and more importantly, why it should matter to them.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: It's easy to decide that your students are just lazy. It's easy to assume that they don't care about their marks, and that they don't care about what you're teaching. But, if you get to know your students, it's also easy to see why students do and say things about themselves, and about school. There's a fine line there, of course - don't assume you know everything there is to know about a student after teaching them for 2 months - but remember that people do things for a reason. No matter what age group you work with or what subject you teach, we are working with young people who will remember the way they were treated, the teachers who genuinely cared, and the lessons that were personally valuable to them when they leave school. It wasn't too long ago that we were in school ourselves, so, when in doubt, question your beliefs about your school experience. What made it successful? What made it unsuccessful? Who were my favourite teachers, and why? Who were my least favourite, and why? Did my teachers assume things about myself, or my classmates? Did they love teaching, and was it noticeable? Did they ask me about my day? Did they adapt their lessons, or listen to what we as students had to say?

Image retrieved from http://jaycwolfe.com/2015/09/30/celebrate-world-teachers-day-an-infographic-by-grammarly/

All in all, I think researching this subject has made me think about those questions more often than I did before. I've found myself reflecting a lot, thinking about the lessons I still remember today that were taught by genuine, interesting, and thoughtful teachers. When we talk about students who experience poverty, we talk about students who have lived challenging lives. Students who, for the most part, have limited access to the resources and opportunities that some of us have never really had to worry about. As teachers, we need to think about what we can do to even the playing field, it really is that simple. Nothing that I've reported in this list is new (I hope), none of it is ground-breaking or unrealistic. All it takes is some time and effort. We can make a world of a difference for disadvantaged youth who need that extra time, and frankly, there are no good reasons for why we can't offer it. We were all students once, we know how we were and wanted to be treated, so why can't we apply that to all of the students who walk into our classroom? Why can't we be our best, so that they can be their best?

Thank you all for reading my ramblings this summer - it's been a lot of fun, and I looked forward to potentially sharing more when I start working with Dr. Mitton-Kükner again in the fall. I hope you all have a fantastic August, and I look forward to seeing some of you at X in September!

Goodbye for now!

Savannah MacDonald

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Cantrell, S. C., Almasi, J. F., Carter, J. C., & Rintamaa, M. (2013). Reading intervention in middle and high schools: Implementation fidelity, teacher efficacy, and student achievement. Reading Psychology, 34(1), 26-58.

Carrington, S., Bland, D., Spooner-Lane, R., & White, E. (2013). Identifying engaging features of schooling: Assessing the psychometric soundness of student-generated research. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 17(7), 714-731.

Johnson, S. M., Kraft, M. A., & Papay, J. P. (2012). How context matters in high-need schools: The effects of teachers’ working conditions on their professional satisfaction and their students’ achievement. Teachers College Record, 114(10), 1-39.

Legault, L., Green-Demers, I., & Pelletier, L. (2006). Why do high school students lack motivation in the classroom? Toward an understanding of academic amotivation and the role of social support. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(3), 567.

Sirin, S. (2005). Socioeconomic status and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review research. Review of educational research, 75(3), 417-453.