1Confidential © InsideTrack, 2015 Confidential © InsideTrack Empowering Students from a Background...

1Confidential © InsideTrack, 2015Confidential © InsideTrack

Empowering Students from a Background of PovertyLiz Derrough 24 August 2015

2Confidential © InsideTrack, 2015

What frustrates you?


Oral and Print Culture (Dr. Donna Beegle)

Oral CulturePrint Culture


• Relationships• Spontaneous• Repetition• Holistic• Emotional• Present-oriented• Agonistic

Oral Culture

Dr. Donna Beegle


• Linear• Time• Analytical/

Abstract• Self-disciplined/

Focused• Strategic• Delay

Gratification

Print Culture

Dr. Donna Beegle


Types of Poverty (Dr. Donna Beegle)

Generational

Working Class

Immigrant

Situational


• Owned land• Known anyone to

benefit from education

• Known anyone to move up or be respected in a job

• Highly mobile• High family

illiteracy

Generational

Has never

FOCUS:

Making it through the day

Dr. Donna Beegle


• Working, but very little $ for extras

• Most don’t own property

• Living paycheck to paycheck

• Poverty seen as a personal deficiency

Working Class

FOCUS:

Making it 2 weeks or through the month

Dr. Donna Beegle


• Little or no resources

• Language and cultural barriers

• Often a stronger sense of self, often do better

• Poverty is viewed as a system problem

Immigrant

FOCUS:

Making it through day/week to a better life

Dr. Donna Beegle


• Surrounded by education and those who earn a living wage

• Attends school regularly, has healthcare

• Generally able to make it back to middle class

• Has not internalized poverty as a personal problem

• Doesn’t recognize advantages

• Harsh judge

Situational

Dr. Donna Beegle


Questions so far?


Introducing Michael


Michael’s story

• No preschool• Limited Reading• Early Kindergarten

0-4 years


Michael’s Story

• Difficult transportation• Limited parent participation• Limited wardrobe• “Special” classes• “Free” Lunch

4-12 years


Michael’s story

• Belonging• Peer group?• Asking for help?• Academics?• Mentors?

12-18 years


How might all of this impact the behaviors of the students you are trying to support?


Wow. That’s a lot to take in. So now what?


• Do not expect easy buy-in – you may be seen as just another authority figure who may not really care (or who may not stick around)

• Self-disclose as appropriate, potentially more than with other students

• Laugh, especially at yourself

• Tell the student how much you love what you do and why you love it

• Imagine that you are sitting on the front porch with a student, not in an office or classroom. Imagine that you have been invited there despite the student not fully believing (yet) that you care

• Do not be a teacher, at least at first. Be a person who believes in the possibility that all people can succeed. Cherish the opportunity and the responsibility that comes with being that person in a student’s life

• If your student chooses to talk to you on a regular basis, even if they are distracted by other things at the time, recognize that the student is including you in his/her list of relationships that matter

Building Relationship


• Above all, be real. Do not get caught up in official or academic language. Your relationship is going to be built on who you are before it’s built on what you do.

• Know and always inquire about those who are close to the student (e.g. kids)

• Establish your role early and ask – what do you want me to do/say when you feel like giving up? (This is not a judgment – all students feel like this at some point, even if it’s just about one paper)

• Transparency, potentially more than with other students. Especially when you are pushing the student, it is essential that you regularly remind them why you are doing this and tie it back to your care for the student. The student is going to very easily believe you are judging them and will need to be pulled back to the trust that has been built over time.

Language and Strategy


• These students are often true survivors. Find out from them the strengths that they have used in their everyday lives and connect those strengths to success in school.

• Praise = specific action of student + character trait/value + how that connects to success in college

• Analogies: Don’t just give advice or make recommendations. Find some experience that the student actually has had in their life and find a way to use that to describe what you are recommending.

Examples: For learning to communicate in a way to get what you want: “How would you want your cousin to ask you for 20 bucks?” For a discussion of “budgeting” time and energy for school: “You may not always be able to afford A’s (Nordstrom shoes) but you still need to pass and progress (have shoes!).”

Language and Strategy


Contact Information

Liz DerroughTraining ManagerInsideTrack

[email protected]

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