Poverty and Education

             The article "Poverty and Education" by R.W. Connell discusses a topic that is a very controversial one for me personally, the impact of poverty on children's education. The discussion on poverty and education begins with the concept of power and education, and the author relates that schools are institutions of power, and this idea of control primarily effects lower class students. This portion of the article presented an argument that I had never considered, nor do I agree with. Although it is true that the dominant classes control the education system, I do not feel as if those in power have developed our nation's schools as a means to exclude the poor, as the article implies. One example of this power that the author provides is the creation of programs in more affluent schools that children of poverty do not have access to, such as talented and gifted programs. While it is true that a great deal of programs such as this depend on the school's funding, which is based on the tax income for the area, a large number of schools in poverty stricken areas are now receiving more funding than the wealthier ones. My son attends a Title I school and the students there have access to greater resources than many of the schools in the more affluent areas, and situations such as this seem to eliminate this argument of wealth determining power in education.

            The article also discusses some different strategies to help address the issues of poverty in the education system. One point that the author makes is that a whole school curriculum should be developed in which diversity is embraced, rather than a curriculum developed by the dominant, or middle and upper classes. I personally don’t feel as if this will produce any significant changes in regards to the issue of academic struggles among children living in poverty. In contrast, I think that beliefs such as this only reinforce the stereotypes of lower socioeconomic classes. Creating a curriculum that caters to a diverse group of learners is beneficial for many reasons, but I cannot see how accepting the differences between these students and more affluent ones will help them perform better academically. 

On a personal level, I generally disagree with a great deal of what I have read that addresses the topic of students in poverty and their academic performance. Most of the information I have encountered provides the typical stereotypes of those living in poverty and rarely gives viable solutions. There are a number of reasons why students in poverty struggle academically, and I frequently see these reasons generalized in education literature. Many assume that the parents are not involved in their children’s education, the children are rarely exposed to any type of educational resources outside of school, and that the schools in less affluent areas do not receive enough funding to support their students. While these are all valid reasons, they are not necessarily always the norm, and I think that although this article does express some very useful information, it is only a small portion of the whole picture of poverty and education.