Poverty and Effective Teaching: Teacher Development

This is the third of several articles on poverty and effective teaching. 

Teachers and schools provide an oasis of stability for children who live in poverty. Schools provide two, and in some places, all hot meals that these children get. Teachers may be the only adults these children have contact with that encourage them to read, learn and think. Yet often it is these impoverished children that wind up in an administrator’s office for some infraction or another (Jensen, 2009, p. 19).  Why? What can schools and teachers do to make learning something that these children strive for and expect from themselves? How can educators avoid losing these children to the streets where they are growing up?

As a researcher, I delved into the literature and found that there are three areas where we need to focus: early intervention, culture & climate, and teacher development. 

                                                         Teacher Development

To be effective, learning that helps teachers must be relevant to the teacher’s reality. Understanding how young minds work, what their development entails and how teaching can be adjusted for stressors is essential for student success.  Given (2002) provides teachers with knowledge of brain mechanics and the different types of learning that naturally occur due to the make-up of the brain. “I believe that when teachers understand how the brain’s major learning systems function, they will teach more effectively while gaining more joy in teaching” (Given, 2002, p. 6). Every teacher at some point has asked: why did this child react that way? This book helps teachers to begin understanding what stress and challenges do to children. Jensen (2009) expands on this work, and suggests ways that teachers can mitigate the effect of stress in their classroom environment.  Both of these books look at brain function and add to a teacher’s awareness of children’s learning systems. But what is the most effective way to teach a teacher?

Penuel, Fishman, Yamaguchi and Gallagher (2007) examine the results of teacher professional development on curriculum implementation in a quantitative study. This study used data collected from 454 teachers, who were working on implementation of a scientific inquiry curriculum (Penuel, et al., 2007, p. 936). They found that teachers who were given help setting up new equipment, time to plan along with ways to integrate local context into curriculum and had ample support were more successful with learning and implementation outcomes (Penuel, et al., 2007, p. 951). These learning outcomes are transferable to other content areas.  Sato, Wei, and Darling-Hammond (2008) used a mixed methods study to examine changes in teacher assessment practices through professional development. This three year longitudinal study looked at teachers who were going for National Board Certification and a control group that were not.  Teachers that had the highest gains over a three year period also had the highest gains in student surveys. Students of these teachers were more likely to know the learning goals for their classes and have opportunities for self-assessment (Sato, et al., 2008, p. 684-685). From the literature then it is imperative that teachers have development that is relevant to their experience and there is specific evidence of students reporting better learning outcomes from teacher development.

For schools to close the achievement gap that exists between students who are white and students who are ethnically diverse, teachers must have dispositions that humanize education.  Murrell, Diez, Feiman-Nemser, and Schusssler, (2010) take from Nieto that teachers should have “a passion for social justice” (p. 149). With this in mind, how do teachers develop cultural competence and demand social justice for impoverished students in a state like New Hampshire where the racial diversity of populations in schools and districts are growing? 

If teachers are going to help students participate in democratic society and have the skills needed to be global citizens, they need to understand how to create classrooms that are culturally competent (Minow, Shweder, & Markus, 2008, p. 236-237).  Developing the skills to deal with children who are African American, Latino, Asian or Native American is addressed in some pre-service programs for prospective teachers. Gere, Buehler, Dalavis and Haviland (2009) used qualitative grounded theory to examine race consciousness in teacher preparation programs. From their cases they found that race consciousness affected the way that pre-service teachers presented themselves, how they acted in interviews, affected their ability to interact with students and each other. For both future and current teachers it will be important to have this information as they begin to reflect on their own practices. 

Delpit (2012) shares a startling fact that emphasizes the importance of good teaching: “The students who had good teachers performed fifty percentile points above those with weaker teachers!” (p. 9). She goes on to question what bearing that might have on an achievement gap. Bias, culture and student achievement has new meaning when looked at through the lens of case studies and social justice.  

Teachers need structured time for learning built into their day. During that time administrators need to create opportunities to expand teacher's (and their own) cultural knowledge, provide in depth learning on the effect of poverty on students, and have teachers create evidence of their learning.  Teachers need to avoid working alone on these things! Working in a professional learning community is important for improving their own practice. 

Evidence of the professional learning community work might include: lesson plans that are culturally relevant, changed structure or classroom environment, documentation of changes, discipline logs, or a journal of their learning.  

So what specifically do impoverished children need to be successful? In the next installment of these blog posts, we'll look at what their needs are and how schools and teachers can effectively help them achieve academic success.  

                                                 References

Delpit, L. (2012). Multiplication is for white people:  Raising expectations for other people's children. New York, NY: the New Press.

Gere, A. R., Buehler, J., Dallavis, C., & Haviland, V. S. (2009). A visibility project: Learning to see how preservice teachers take up culturally responsive pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 46(3), 816-852.

Given, B. K. (2002). Teaching to the brain's natural learning systems. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with poverty in mind. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Minow, M., Shweder, R. A., & Markus, H. R. (2008). Just schools: Pursuing equality in societies of difference. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

Murrell, P.C., Diez, M.E., Feiman-Nemser, S., & Schusssler, D.L. (2010). Teaching as a moral practice. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press.

Penuel, W. R., Fishman, B. J., Yamaguchi, R., & Gallagher, L. P. (2007). What makes professional development effective? Strategies that foster curriculum implementation. American Educational Research Journal, 44(4), 921-958.

Sato, M., Wei, R. C., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2008). Improving teachers' assessment practices through professional development: The case of national board certification. American Educational Research Journal, 45(3), 669-700.