Angela Edgerton
Educational Psychology
Professor Don Messmer
Meeting the Needs of Students Who Live in Poverty
3-1-12
There is no single cause or effect of poverty. Some of the causes and effects include poor health care, dangerous and unhealthy home environments and/or neighborhoods, limited resources, family stress, discrimination, exposure to violence, and/or homelessness. These things may lead to school failures. Sometimes the cycle seems to continue because school failures tend to lead to low-paying jobs and/or criminal actions and those things tend to lead to another generation born into poverty (Woolfolk, 2001). There is no single cause or effect on a child's ability to benefit from schooling. In order to help students who live in poverty, education systems can use Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs include biological and physiological, safety, belongingness and love, self-esteem, and self-actualization. The poor effects of poverty can begin before a child is even born. Families who live in poverty have less access to good prenatal care and good nutrition. Some mothers may not receieve prenatal care at all. Poor mothers are more likely to have premature babies and that is associated with cognitive and learning problems. Children living in poverty may be exposed to dangerous and unhealthy home environments, and they are breathing polluted air and/or drinking contaminated water. Poor children are twice as likely to suffer from lead poisoning, which is associated with long-term neurological problems (Wollfolf, 2001). Some children who live in poverty experience higher levels of stress hormones than children of higher social economic status children. Children living in poverty are more likely to be exposed to illegal or legal drugs and alcohol. Some of these children feel the effects of family stress by being exposed to violence and child abuse. High levels of hormones can interfere with the flow of blood in the brain and/or the development of synaptic connections. Stress hormones can deplete the body's supply of tryptophan; an amino acid that clams impulsive and violent behaviors (Woolfolk, 2001).
Other explanations for the effects on children who live in poverty is these students may experience tracking and have different academic socialization. They are actually taught differently. They may be tracked into low-ability, general, practical, or vocational classes. They may be taught to memorize and be passive. The teachers and other students may assume that thses students are not smart. Teachers may avoid calling on them to protect the children from embarrassment of giving wrong answers or because they make the teacher uncomfortable (Woolfolk, 2001). Some children who live in poverty try to be part of resistance culture because, in order to maintain identity and their status within their own group, the low social economic status students reject the behaviors that would make them more successful in school. These students do not study, cooperate with teachers, or may not go to school at all. Competitive grading, public reprimands, stressful testing and assignments, and repetitive work, is too hard or too easy and can encourage resistance (Woolfolk, 2001). Poor children may have low self-confidence. Low expectations become institutionalized and the educational resources provided are inadequate. The children come to believe they are not good at schoolwork and it has a powerful effect on their academic self-concept. low expectations, along with a lower-quality educational experience, can lead to learned helplessness. Children that have learned helplessness seem to become convinced that it is difficult if not impossible for them to advance in the "normal" way by doing well in school. about one-fourth of students who live in poverty drop out of school. Without getting a high-school diploma, these students find few rewards awaiting them in the work world (Woolfolk, 2001). Maslow (1954) presented his Hierarchy of Needs pyramid which can be divided into two basic needs. The basic four and most fundamental layers of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
pyramid are what he called deficiency needs. These are the biological and physiological, safety, love and belonging, and self-esteem. The top layer, Maslow referred to as a growth need is selfactualization. Maslow's theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must be meet before motivation, desire, and focus upon the next level of needs will kick in. If the lower level of needs have been reasonably satisfied, one may be able to reach the highest level toward selfactualization. Everyone is capable and has the desire to move up the hierarchy toward the level of selfactualization. Unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by failure to meet lower levels. Some may never reach to top layer of self-actualization. Maslow (1954) noted only one in ten people become fully self-actualized because our society rewards motivation primarily based on esteem, love, and social needs. Hanson (2011) states students may move back and forth on the hierarchy, so it is important for teachers to have ongoing assessments of how well their needs are being met. to meet the need of students living in poverty, schools must start with students' biological and physiological needs. The biological and physiological needs are literal requirements for human survival. They include air, food, water, shelter, warmth, and sleep. One way schools apply this level of Maslow's hierarchy is by offering breakfast and/or lunch programs. Gunderson (2012) states in the United States, schools provide low-cost or free lunches for children in need. The schools that offer a breakfast program provide it at low-cost or free for children in need. The National Lunch Program provides a nutritious meal that contains one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowance of necessary nutrients. For parents, the program offers a convenient method of providing a nutritionally balanced lunch at the lowest price possible. For schools, the program enhances children's learning abilities by contributing to the students
physical and mental well being. Studies have shown that children whose nutritional need are met have fewer attendance problems and are more active in class. The safety and security needs include stability, protection; strength in the protector, dependency, freedom from fear, structure, order, law, and limits. When safety needs are not met students can experience post-traumatic stress disorder and trans-generation trauma transfer. When it comes to personal safety students have to feels safe mentally and physically before they can let their guard down and learn. It is essential that teachers must address these issues and create a safe learning environment (Hanson, 2011). Teachers can do this by paying attention and doing something if they witness any wrong doing to students. Teachers need to stop the students that are bullying other students. Teachers need to provide a structured classroom and enforce rules in the classroom and of the school. The belongingness and love needs include family, school, community groups, and other types of relationships. Students will desire for affectionate relations with people in general, namely, for a place in one's family or group, and they will strive with great intensity to achieve this goal. Children will want to attain such a feeling of belongingness and love more than anything else in the world. These needs involve both giving and receiving love. There can be destructive effects on students that move around often. These students suffer from being without roots; one's origins, one's group, and one's class. They also suffer from being torn from one's family and home, friends and neighbors, of being a transient or a newcomer rather than a native. These students can experience social anxiety and depression. Teachers need to encourage games and teamwork exercises because interaction help students feel more involved (Hason, 2011). Teachers need to communicate and establish relationships with their students.
Self-esteem needs include achievement, self-confidence, status, independence, dominance, prestige, and managerial responsibility. Majority of students have a need or desire for a stable, firmly based, unusually high evaluation of themselves, for respect, self-esteem, and for esteem of others. If children do not feel satisfaction of the self-esteem need it produces feelings of inferiority, weakness, and helplessness. These feelings may give rise to either basic discouragement, compensatory, or neurotic trends. Teachers need to promote self-esteem. Satisfaction of the self-esteem need leads to feelings of self-confidence, worth, strength, capability, and adequacy, of being useful and necessary in the world. Teachers can help make students fell like they are making a contribution and let them know they are valued as individuals. A simple praise, such as, "Well done" goes a long way to help students (Hanson, 2011). The self-actualization needs include realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth, and peak experiences. They are compelled by growth motivation rather than deficiency motivation. They are problem-centered but not self-centered. One's ability to look at life objectively. (Mcload, 2007) These people accept themselves and the past that they have had. They except other for what and who they are. What a man can be, he must be; one must be true to their own nature; examples, a musician must make music, a poet must write, and an artist must create art. The need related to the ability to apply what students have learned and be able to "give back" and become involved with the betterment of the larger community. Teachers should have students who are very good in a subject help other students (Hanson, 2011). Teachers should have students involved in the community and their school. There may not be a single cause or effect on a child's ability to benefit from schooling but education systems can help students who live in poverty, by using Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy
of Needs. The education systems that truly strive for the betterment of their students will show higher scores of success. For the children who live in poverty, school might be the only place they feel their needs are reasonably satisfied. All teachers should strive to make a difference in the lives of their students and try to produce great productive members of society.
References Gunderson, G.W. (2012, February 20). The National School Lunch Program Background and Development. National School Lunch Program. Retrieved February 23, 2012, from http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/AboutLunch/ProgramHistory_5.htm Hanson, J. (2011, January 07). How to apply maslow's hierechy of need to education. EHow. Retrieved February 2, 2012, from http://www.ehow.com/how_7771899_apply-maslows-hierarchy-needs-education.html Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. NewYork, NY: Harper & Row. Mcload, s. (2007). Maslow hierarchy of needs. Retrieved February 15, 2012, from http://www.simplepsychology.org/maslow.html Woolfolk, A. (2001) Educational psychology (Eleventh ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.