Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evaluating Impacts on Professional Practice

            I have experienced poverty at one point in my life and now I have a neighbor that has two small children and she has recently become unemployed after making $80,000 a year and she is struggling for existence.  The city recently turned her water off about 4 months ago and recently her gas was turned off and it is winter time.  I have let her fill up bottles of water from my home on a regular basis and my husband bought the family a space heater.  I am sharing this story because times are hard economically for families and while some people are born into poverty which is devastating, there are some people that are suddenly thrust into poverty and it is just as devastating emotionally and physically.  Most of the parents at my early childhood facility are on vouchers and they live in homeless shelters, transitional housing, or inept apartment dwellings.  Classism can render horrific situations and poor families often give up the hope of moving up economically in society.  The question I ask is “How can I make my students and families feel good about themselves?”

            In my classroom I witness many forms of poverty where parents cannot afford to send a change of clothes for their children, and the children are so hungry that they ask me several times during the day when the next meal will be served.  My heart aches for these children and while I understand the struggle they may be experiencing, /I have not felt the feeling of hopelessness that their parents are experiencing.  When children are born into a low socioeconomic status, statistics show that they struggle academically because they do not hear a lot of language in the home (Berger, 2012).  When children are hungry it affects brain function which makes it hard to grasp cognitive skills.

            To help remedy these situations teacher can do several things like become good listeners to children and families and refrain from making judgments (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).  Educators should offer family activities such as a “Culture Share” that invites parents in to share some good news about their families.  In neighborhoods where food is a scarcity, teachers could offer baskets of fruit in the morning, take home food items in the afternoon.  Each classroom should have a parent resources corner that offers information about family assistance programs.  I would also like to set up parent network meetings so parents, teachers, and social service personnel can exchange helpful information.  Poverty affects all of us in some way and it is an issue that we can try to eradicate together.  My professional career involves addressing the needs of the whole child.

References

Berger, K. (2012). The developing person through the life span (8th ed.). New York: Worth.

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and

            ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children

            (NAEYC).