EDL 711
Pete Prichard
Prompt 3
Wright State University
Prompt 3: Questions for Dr. Payne
If you had the opportunity to visit with Dr. Payne over coffee, what are two open-ended questions you would likely ask her regarding the framework?
I mentioned in an earlier post that I attended a “Bridges out of Poverty” workshop several years ago. This workshop issued a “Bridges out of Poverty “workbook and it was conducted by Philip E. DeVol and Terie Drussi Smith. These presenters co-authored the “Bridges out of Poverty” book along with Ruby Payne. This workshop addressed a small audience of 20-25 people so we were able to ask a lot of questions about the different cultures and gain some real insight into our own perceptions about the poor, middle class and wealthy. Since the workshop was so small Philip DeVol sat with me and another coworker during lunch and we had the opportunity to ask him several open ended questions, it was much like the scenario in the prompt. Most of the questions centered on the poverty culture and how we can better reach them. I think I would ask Ruby Payne some to the same questions to gain a full benefit of her and her colleague’s perspective. I would also ask some questions that have come to mind since then and since I recently got reacquainted with her work.
1. The first question I would ask is: What keeps people in poverty and how does someone break out of generational poverty?
This question has fascinated me for some time now. I have wondered how people in the poverty culture continue to stay in that culture and why would they choose to stay there. After years of experience working with people in this culture I began to observe that all people have support systems that they rely on. These support systems can be good or bad relationships and often a resource is used as a bargaining chip or leverage to control someone in these relationships. This control is what I see as a huge barrier, however I know that there are other barriers as well. Knowing this, I wonder how a person in a generational poverty family can ever get out of that situation. I know that education is a huge step, but what other steps does one have to take in order to transition out of poverty?
2. How can attitudes or actions that we take keep individuals in poverty?
The rational for this question stems from the thought that I could perpetuate one staying in poverty by a subconscious attitude or action. I am troubled to think that what I believe to be a good deed could create a persistence of one not wanting to change or grow. I wonder if all of our efforts to provide services to those in need create a condition that is known as “learned helplessness”. I am aware that certain behaviors contribute to one living in the poverty, but can my actions also contribute to its continuance?
I think these questions would create a dialogue that will generate more questions. I also think that it would motivate me to study the cultures in more detail and learn how I can help grow or aspire to achieve more. Finally at very least, I think the conversation would make me more aware of the poverty culture, the middle class culture and the culture of the wealthy which will help me to be more empathetic. If being more empathic is all anyone can take out a conversation I think much was gained.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
EDL 711
Pete Prichard
Prompt 2
Wright State University
Prompt 2: Impact on Professional Practice
What are some things that you will implement (or have already implemented) and/or do differently regarding your interactions with children and/or adults resulting from your understandings of Payne's framework?
My entire instructional career has been in adult education teaching those who come from generational or situational poverty environments. During my first assignment I noticed a few things where I needed to make adjustments in the classroom. Ruby Payne’s book reaffirmed much of what I learned and also reaffirmed the adjustments I made.
1. Most of the time the students I taught always respected education, but they were afraid of advancing their own education due to past negative experiences. This inhibited many of them from reaching their fullest potential in the classroom and in some cases life. In order to remedy this I personalized my instruction by lecturing almost the whole day. During the lecture I used a lot of analogies and created a story to emphasize important concepts. I also referred to the textbook as a tool and I never used a test as a form of discipline. I took time to explain to the students that the tests were given to see if we were on the track during the course of instruction. This seemed to satisfy them and I gained a tremendous amount of cooperation among what many would consider a very tough group of adults. Had I read any of Ruby Payne’s work prior to teaching in 1987 I would have been better prepared to teach the audience I was assigned to.
2. I have become very concerned about our adult learners understanding of the formal register of English. So, recently I decided to implement a speech rubric for our students to use when they give a presentation. This rubric was designed to enhance the students speaking skills in the workplace. It emphasizes complete sentences and organization of the student’s thoughts and ideas. Initially the students balked at this form of assessment, but just recently they have come to rely on the rubrics when organizing information for a report.
3. Coping strategies is a life lesson that all of us have to work on no matter what social economic background we come from. In order to assist our students in acquiring and developing coping skills I am planning to have a “take a break with the Adult Education Director” for our fulltime students (72). It is my hope that I can discuss with students the plight of being a fulltime student. I would like to have them share with others some of the ways they cope with all the pressures of going to school while trying to support a family. We have discovered that many times those who have had a hard time completing a training program is normally due to home environment and lack of support systems outside of school. It is my hope to discuss these things the students and discover how we can address any issues so they can be successful.
Several years ago I was invited to one-day workshop in fact the presenters of the workshop said that they modified the program from two days in one day. This particular workshop changed my thought patterns about the poverty culture and the middle class culture and how I interact with people throughout the day. Every day I go to work I am reminded of something about that workshop and how my understanding of the poverty class and middle class hidden rules has helped me to better understand the paradigm from which I operate and how that impacts my service to others. I can strongly recommend to anyone in who is in education, social work or any service industry that they attend a “Bridges out of Poverty” workshop. The workshop will be well worth your time.
References
Payne, R. (2005). A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Highlands, TX: aha!Process, Inc.
Pete Prichard
Prompt 2
Wright State University
Prompt 2: Impact on Professional Practice
What are some things that you will implement (or have already implemented) and/or do differently regarding your interactions with children and/or adults resulting from your understandings of Payne's framework?
My entire instructional career has been in adult education teaching those who come from generational or situational poverty environments. During my first assignment I noticed a few things where I needed to make adjustments in the classroom. Ruby Payne’s book reaffirmed much of what I learned and also reaffirmed the adjustments I made.
1. Most of the time the students I taught always respected education, but they were afraid of advancing their own education due to past negative experiences. This inhibited many of them from reaching their fullest potential in the classroom and in some cases life. In order to remedy this I personalized my instruction by lecturing almost the whole day. During the lecture I used a lot of analogies and created a story to emphasize important concepts. I also referred to the textbook as a tool and I never used a test as a form of discipline. I took time to explain to the students that the tests were given to see if we were on the track during the course of instruction. This seemed to satisfy them and I gained a tremendous amount of cooperation among what many would consider a very tough group of adults. Had I read any of Ruby Payne’s work prior to teaching in 1987 I would have been better prepared to teach the audience I was assigned to.
2. I have become very concerned about our adult learners understanding of the formal register of English. So, recently I decided to implement a speech rubric for our students to use when they give a presentation. This rubric was designed to enhance the students speaking skills in the workplace. It emphasizes complete sentences and organization of the student’s thoughts and ideas. Initially the students balked at this form of assessment, but just recently they have come to rely on the rubrics when organizing information for a report.
3. Coping strategies is a life lesson that all of us have to work on no matter what social economic background we come from. In order to assist our students in acquiring and developing coping skills I am planning to have a “take a break with the Adult Education Director” for our fulltime students (72). It is my hope that I can discuss with students the plight of being a fulltime student. I would like to have them share with others some of the ways they cope with all the pressures of going to school while trying to support a family. We have discovered that many times those who have had a hard time completing a training program is normally due to home environment and lack of support systems outside of school. It is my hope to discuss these things the students and discover how we can address any issues so they can be successful.
Several years ago I was invited to one-day workshop in fact the presenters of the workshop said that they modified the program from two days in one day. This particular workshop changed my thought patterns about the poverty culture and the middle class culture and how I interact with people throughout the day. Every day I go to work I am reminded of something about that workshop and how my understanding of the poverty class and middle class hidden rules has helped me to better understand the paradigm from which I operate and how that impacts my service to others. I can strongly recommend to anyone in who is in education, social work or any service industry that they attend a “Bridges out of Poverty” workshop. The workshop will be well worth your time.
References
Payne, R. (2005). A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Highlands, TX: aha!Process, Inc.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
EDL 711
Prompt 1
Pete Prichard
Wright State University
Prompt 1: Key Understandings
As a teacher leader, what are three key understandings you learned from the Payne text that you would deem appropriate for sharing with a colleague, administrator, and/or parent? Describe why these understandings were selected.
After reading this material many thoughts ran through my mind about things that I want to address. After listing almost a dozen different things I wanted to elaborate on, I narrowed it to five and then flipped a coin. Actually I decided to highlight what I think is most relevant to our adult learners and how discussion with our adult education staff could foster a better understanding of our students and perhaps help us tweak our curriculum a bit. The first topic I chose to discuss is the ramifications of not being able to use the formal register of English, followed by shifting demographics from increased poverty to decreased middle class students. Finally, I was and still am fascinated by the hidden class rules and how understanding these rules can give us many advantages no matter what class one comes from when dealing with the real world.
1. The ramifications of not being able to use formal register of English (29).
Many of who have acquired an education or grew up in household where formal register of English was the norm or expected have a hard time understanding how the lack of this skill can put one social economic peril. When thinking about not being able to acquire formal register of English skills many things came to light. Since working with adult students who have come back to school to gain new employable skills I have witnessed time and time again how their interpersonal communication skills have become their demise in obtaining better employment. I have also witnessed how many people I have gotten a resume written for them by a job service provider and believe that they are a “shoe –in” for the next employment opportunity because of that resume, only to have their aspirations diminished because they fail to communicate in the same context from which their resume was written.
I would share these observations with colleagues and ask them by not fully educating those who need it, on the use of the formal register of English are we short changing them? Of course my answer is yes, because even though we have helped them obtain technical skills that can be used on a job we have not fully prepared them in getting and retaining a job. I believe the acquisition of formal register English skills is one the things that can assist our students in developing new skills long after their formal training or education is complete. These skills will help reveal the middle class hidden rules that they so desperately need to have in order to obtain and maintain self-sufficiency.
2. The shifting demographics which are seeing an increase in generational poverty and decrease in the middle class culture (61).
The shifting demographics of an increasing generational poverty population indicate many challenges for us in education and society as a whole. Ruby Payne is quick point that she recognized that children from poorer school districts are not less intelligent than children from wealthy districts (2). This means that our population is equipped with the raw intellectual potential as it always has been but due to home environments and family structures students born into poverty have a limited chance of getting out. I believe that this topic would generate much discussion among my colleagues. I would ask my fellow colleagues about their thoughts on this and also ask them if they recognize any behaviors that could perpetuate their adult students to stay in poverty. I am also curious if there are any attitudes conveyed towards those trying to make substantive changes to move upward that keeps them in poverty.
It would be my hope that awareness of this demographic shift would better prepare instructors for changes in their classroom so they can adjust curriculums and the delivery of those curriculums. In addition, this information can be helpful to administrators planning professional development activities. Many times we fall into a rut and we fail to adjust our programs and instruction for those that we serve, instead we leave it up to the student to adjust to us and many times the result is not positive.
3. How hidden class rules are so important for survival in poverty, middle and social classes (42, 43).
I chose to discuss the hidden social class rules because I deal with adults and due to a lack of understanding of these rules I believe an invisible wedge can become bigger. A few years ago I was invited to participate in this event called TANF Town. It was a simulated training program on what the daily life is like in the poverty class. I must admit I did not do well in the poverty class setting because of my middle class rule application. In follow up discussion we talked about how we applied our knowledge to the simulated situations that are experienced regularly in the poverty culture. Some of the facilitators were people who grew up in a generational poverty environment and it was good for us to hear how they would deal with the problems we faced.
The TANF Town experience was enlightening and humbling all at the same time. In a short period of time it emphasized the hidden rules of the poverty class and made me more empathetic to all the socioeconomic classes. I would like share Ruby Payne’s research of all the class rules with my colleagues and ask them how they could win a game or sport where they didn’t know the rules.
The key understandings I chose dealt primarily with understanding and empathy of the poverty culture for our adult instructional staff. I know that many are empathetic without much understanding of the hidden rules of the social classes. Additionally, I think that a true concerted effort to assist in the acquisition of the formal register of English would help our adult population in many ways. Often we let our instructional goals of technical skill attainment look past the other skills necessary for survival. Finally, knowing that there are societal demographic shifts that we can prepare for will make us better in what we do and how we do it. Ruby Payne’s book does a really nice job of bringing these points to light.
References
Payne, R. (2005). A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Highlands, TX: aha!Process, Inc.
Prompt 1
Pete Prichard
Wright State University
Prompt 1: Key Understandings
As a teacher leader, what are three key understandings you learned from the Payne text that you would deem appropriate for sharing with a colleague, administrator, and/or parent? Describe why these understandings were selected.
After reading this material many thoughts ran through my mind about things that I want to address. After listing almost a dozen different things I wanted to elaborate on, I narrowed it to five and then flipped a coin. Actually I decided to highlight what I think is most relevant to our adult learners and how discussion with our adult education staff could foster a better understanding of our students and perhaps help us tweak our curriculum a bit. The first topic I chose to discuss is the ramifications of not being able to use the formal register of English, followed by shifting demographics from increased poverty to decreased middle class students. Finally, I was and still am fascinated by the hidden class rules and how understanding these rules can give us many advantages no matter what class one comes from when dealing with the real world.
1. The ramifications of not being able to use formal register of English (29).
Many of who have acquired an education or grew up in household where formal register of English was the norm or expected have a hard time understanding how the lack of this skill can put one social economic peril. When thinking about not being able to acquire formal register of English skills many things came to light. Since working with adult students who have come back to school to gain new employable skills I have witnessed time and time again how their interpersonal communication skills have become their demise in obtaining better employment. I have also witnessed how many people I have gotten a resume written for them by a job service provider and believe that they are a “shoe –in” for the next employment opportunity because of that resume, only to have their aspirations diminished because they fail to communicate in the same context from which their resume was written.
I would share these observations with colleagues and ask them by not fully educating those who need it, on the use of the formal register of English are we short changing them? Of course my answer is yes, because even though we have helped them obtain technical skills that can be used on a job we have not fully prepared them in getting and retaining a job. I believe the acquisition of formal register English skills is one the things that can assist our students in developing new skills long after their formal training or education is complete. These skills will help reveal the middle class hidden rules that they so desperately need to have in order to obtain and maintain self-sufficiency.
2. The shifting demographics which are seeing an increase in generational poverty and decrease in the middle class culture (61).
The shifting demographics of an increasing generational poverty population indicate many challenges for us in education and society as a whole. Ruby Payne is quick point that she recognized that children from poorer school districts are not less intelligent than children from wealthy districts (2). This means that our population is equipped with the raw intellectual potential as it always has been but due to home environments and family structures students born into poverty have a limited chance of getting out. I believe that this topic would generate much discussion among my colleagues. I would ask my fellow colleagues about their thoughts on this and also ask them if they recognize any behaviors that could perpetuate their adult students to stay in poverty. I am also curious if there are any attitudes conveyed towards those trying to make substantive changes to move upward that keeps them in poverty.
It would be my hope that awareness of this demographic shift would better prepare instructors for changes in their classroom so they can adjust curriculums and the delivery of those curriculums. In addition, this information can be helpful to administrators planning professional development activities. Many times we fall into a rut and we fail to adjust our programs and instruction for those that we serve, instead we leave it up to the student to adjust to us and many times the result is not positive.
3. How hidden class rules are so important for survival in poverty, middle and social classes (42, 43).
I chose to discuss the hidden social class rules because I deal with adults and due to a lack of understanding of these rules I believe an invisible wedge can become bigger. A few years ago I was invited to participate in this event called TANF Town. It was a simulated training program on what the daily life is like in the poverty class. I must admit I did not do well in the poverty class setting because of my middle class rule application. In follow up discussion we talked about how we applied our knowledge to the simulated situations that are experienced regularly in the poverty culture. Some of the facilitators were people who grew up in a generational poverty environment and it was good for us to hear how they would deal with the problems we faced.
The TANF Town experience was enlightening and humbling all at the same time. In a short period of time it emphasized the hidden rules of the poverty class and made me more empathetic to all the socioeconomic classes. I would like share Ruby Payne’s research of all the class rules with my colleagues and ask them how they could win a game or sport where they didn’t know the rules.
The key understandings I chose dealt primarily with understanding and empathy of the poverty culture for our adult instructional staff. I know that many are empathetic without much understanding of the hidden rules of the social classes. Additionally, I think that a true concerted effort to assist in the acquisition of the formal register of English would help our adult population in many ways. Often we let our instructional goals of technical skill attainment look past the other skills necessary for survival. Finally, knowing that there are societal demographic shifts that we can prepare for will make us better in what we do and how we do it. Ruby Payne’s book does a really nice job of bringing these points to light.
References
Payne, R. (2005). A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Highlands, TX: aha!Process, Inc.
Friday, December 4, 2009
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