Critical Analysis Of The Ruby Payne Phenomenon

People who work with children are always looking for way to help them in areas that their families cannot. Ruby Payne may not explain the origins of poverty and I do not think she was attempting to, but she does help teachers understand students who live in poverty. Her “hidden rules” can be an aha moment for many educators. The authors of the article “Poverty and Education: A Critical Analysis of the Ruby Payne Phenomenon seem to take offense of the fact that Ruby Payne has made money from her crusade. It appears they do not like the fact that Dr. Payne see the primary positive role models in children from poverty being their teachers. It is true that children have other role models who can serve as their “sponsors”, but Dr. Payne
is a teacher and I believe she wrote her book aimed at teachers
Many of Ruby Payne’s critics say that she forms stereotypes about a class of people about whom she seems to know little. I do agree that Dr. Payne’s concrete stereotyping of people in poverty may be somewhat off. Even if that is true, she did manage to cause thousands of teachers to think and act on what is best for poorer students and stop thinking that everyone is raised with middle-class values. I think that Dr. Payne accomplished what she set out to do. Find ways for middle-class teachers to relate to and help their students overcome lives obstacles. Even if she does generalize some of her facts, I know that I will be forever changed since reading her book.