Framework Of Poverty

Dr. Ruby Payne’s book “A Framework for Understanding Poverty” highlights a lot of important things for students in poverty. Registers of language, being an effect role model, discipline, creating relationships are only a few of the many important points. All the point that Payne makes could be used in the classroom At the beginning of the school year teachers want to establish a good relationship with your students. Creating these relationships with these students is important. According to Payne the relationships are essential for survival in poverty, which the most significant motivator for students in poverty. Payne references S. Covey’s Seven Habit of Highly Effective people, or the emotional bank account. The first step of creating
a relationship is to make deposits in the relationship. In a school setting the emotional deposit is made to the student. Emotional withdraws should be avoided but most importantly the student should be respected. In building this relationship there are clear boundaries. Payne gives some example of deposits and withdraws. Examples of deposits are using an adult voice sot that they know boundaries, assisting in goal setting to help the students get where they need to be or want to be, those are only two of the many examples that Payne gave. For a student in poverty a good role model is important.
Like in creating relationships there needs to be clear boundaries. In order to establish clear boundaries it is important to understand the Karpman triangle. The Karpman triangle has three roles but a person can’t take on all three roles at the same time. Rescuer, victim, and abuser/bully/persecutor are the three roles of the triangle. Once a person becomes one of the roles it usually becomes an endless cycle to get out. Payne gave an example of a boy who came home and told his mother that he was board in school. His mother asked him whose problem it is was and he said that it was the teachers. The story goes on to include the principle and the father. Each person would at some point take on all three roles but not at the same time. The situation would not have continued if the mother had gotten in to the triangle. The only way to not get in to the triangle is to ask
questions. Hidden rules among the middle class are unspoken cues and habits of a group. Payne included some short quizzes. When I took the quiz I was in the middle class like the most people that I socialize with or hang out with. Some of the things under the poverty section that I thought were interesting was that students who live in poverty know how to get a gum even if they have a police record, know how to live without electricity and a phone and how to get and use food stamps or an electronic card for benefits. I know how to do none of these but students who live in poverty either know or are being taught how to do this stuff. For students or people who live in poverty tend to spend more time on relationships. When working with students who live in poverty the registers of language are important to understand.
The five registers are frozen, formal, consultative, casual, and intimate. In the school setting frozen an inmate should not be used. Frozen register is language that is always the same like wedding vows and the Lord’s Prayer. Intimate register is between lovers, but if used in school setting it is considered to be sexual harassment. The most common form of register used in school is the formal register, which is standard sentence and word choice. This form is used because complete sentences and specific word choice are used. When talking with a student one on one consultative register can be used. Consultative register is like the formal register but is used in conversation but not as direct as formal register. The casual register can be used but with caution because it is a language that is used between friends. The word choice is general and not specific and the conversation is dependent on nonverbal assists. In the school setting the formal and consultative register should be used with sometime the use of causal
register. Discipline for a student who lives in poverty is important. For the student in poverty the forgiveness is a cycle it starts out that the student believes he or she is fated and that he or she is the way they are which leads to them doing something wrong. He or she tries not to get caught but when he or she gets caught they deny it, because they get caught he or she is punished and then he or she is forgiven but then the cycle starts over. Payne says that the participation of the students is a way to break the cycle. While the teacher is analyzing the student also must analyze too. Payne says to have the student fill out a four-part questionnaire. The four-part questionnaire has four question as follows; what did you do, when you did that, what did you want, list four other things you could have done instead of the choice you made, and what will you do next time? Payne also says that there are three voices the child, parent, and adult voice. The child voice is defensive, victimized, emotional, whining and strongly negative nonverbal. The parent voice is authoritative, directive, judgmental, evaluative, win-lose mentality, demanding and sometimes threatening. The adult voice is not judgmental, free of negative nonverbal, factual, often question format, and attitude of win-win. In the school setting the adult voice should be used. Lastly for students living in poverty improving his or her academic performance. Payne says that mediation is simple way to start improving their academic performance. Mediations is three things: identification of the stimulus assignment of meaning, and identification of a strategy. Simply put what, why and how. The example that Payne used in the book is that you don’t cross the street without looking because if you don’t look you could get hit by a car, so before you cross the street look both ways. Also mediation is a way to build cognitive and with these strategies it gives he or she the ability to plan and handle new information in an organized way. When working with students in poverty it is important to build a relationship with him or her in building that relationship being an effective role model is key. With the relationship that has been made and being a role model as the teacher teaching him or her the hidden rule of the middle class and disciplining them is important. Once all of those things are established his or her academic performance should improve.