A Framework for Understanding Poverty: A Cognitive Approach

 Payne, Ruby K. A Framework for Understanding Poverty: A Cognitive Approach. 2013. 239p. ISBN 978-1-938248-01-6. Available at 362.5 PAY on the library shelves.

Poverty is a powerful force that shapes many of our students. This is even more so for people who are in the second or more generation living in poverty. The skills and methods of operation are very different than those of the middle class and of the wealthy few. Worries about money, unstable housing and food situations, shifting relationships, and low-skilled or no work make it hard to focus on a goal and future opportunities. Instead, people in poverty are concerned about survival on a daily basis. Entertainment becomes important. Keeping time, not so much. Students who come from poverty lack skills that are considered important in schools: attention to detail and follow-through; inability to plan complex multi-steps processes; and relationships that work through entertainment.

Through a cognitive approach, the author presents a series of case studies, questionnaires, and charts, and explains how the world of those who live in poverty operate differently from people in the upper economic classes. She proposes many solutions that schools can implement to assist these students in gaining the skills they need to successfully operate in a middle class environment like a public school. She demonstrates how learning patterns can be changed for the better through simply devising strategies that address the core skills that these students lack, and not blame their poverty for their lack of success. All educators should read this book!