3/15/15 Senior Project Blog Post 2
This week I was bale to borrow a copy of Teaching With Poverty In Mind by Eric Jensen. This book looks at the relationship between academic achievement and low socioeconomic status (SES for short). Jensen starts off by making a couple of claims. First, “chronic exposure to poverty causes the brain to physically change in a detrimental manner”. Second, “because the brain is designed to adapt to experience, it can also change for the better”, meaning that it is very possible for poor children to success emotionally, socially, and academically. There are many theories as to why low SES students underachieve in school, many focus on the home/living situation. However in truth, the most crucial variables exist in school. The four main risk factors affecting low SES families are emotional and social challenges, acute and chronic stressors, cognitive lags, and health and safety issues. Students of low SES have much more difficult social and physical environments than their well-off peers. Poorer neighborhoods have greater traffics volume, higher crime rates, and have less green space for playgrounds. “Children in poverty tend to spend less time finding out about the world around them and more time struggling to survive in it” (8).
I find this a fascinating way to think about the question of school success. It suggests that the brains of those who grow up in crises--such as poverty--are, in fact, different than the brains of those who do not have to go through these stresses. I'll be eager to hear what you make of this.
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