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.