What does money really have to do with it?
In this week's module, we covered the poverty myth and the experiences that children from lower-income families go through in our school system. In one of our articles, The Poverty Myth, Jacqueline Ching brings to light the misconception that if you are lower income, you cannot achieve. We learn that that is simply not true. Teachers may often have the predisposed idea that the children who come from lower-income families are not as well equipped to succeed as other children from higher-income families. This translates to the way that they treat these children, and can end up "[signaling] disdain or [having] lower expectations for these students" which shows in various ways such as labeling them, seeing them as unstable, or poorly motivated. In the state of Texas, we have faced a long battle of equal funding for all students in our school system. In the video we watched, Texas Funding Still Unconstitutional, they go over how funding in schools is proportionately in favor of higher-income students. Also in It's About More than School Finance, Chandra Villanueva explains that the state of Texas continues to delay finding real solutions for this problem of unequal school funding, which causes our schools to fall even further behind.
So, what does money really have to do with it? Long answer short, everything and nothing. The truth is, the amount of money that a child's family has has nothing to do with their achievement and success. But on the other hand, when we as a school system are failing to provide equitable funding and resources for these lower income students, we are directly jeopardizing their success rate in comparison to their higher-income peers.
Hi Willow! Your blog post was really interesting, especially about what you had to say about lower income myths and I completely agree with how we should let kids or anyone believe them. Money has nothing to do with a students ability on wanting to learn and wanting to succeed in the classroom and in life. Money has nothing to do with how a child will do in a classroom and how they will succeed. It's how a student chooses to learn and how they choose to learn and succeed on their own and how they choose to be seen with it. I would also like to know how you plan to change teacher minds about it and how you want to changes people attitude and change the myths in their heads about how they believe because they come from a low income means they don't care about learning because it's not true money has nothing to do with how a child will succeed.
ReplyDeleteHi Willow! I really loved reading your blog and your opinion with money myths this week! I completely agree with your statement about how there is a huge misconception of lower income people not being successful which is false. There are many people who come from nothing and become billionaires from working hard and moving their way up. I like how you pulled supporting evidence from each article or clips about how teachers often misjudge and label students as things that don’t really fully resemble them. I thought it was interesting to read how Texas often delays the fixing of major issues within schools since that should be a top priority and not something to just glaze over. Children make up the schools and they often move on to major careers that should be valued. I like how you stated these labels are jeopardizing the true potential of these students compared to those with money.
ReplyDeleteHello Willow! I really loved reading your blog post this week. One thing I really liked that you added on at the last paragraph was that money had to do with everything and nothing. I think this is so important because money is such a big thing in this world and it influences a lot of things. Money can give better resources to some schools and not others. Teachers who also get paid less than some teachers can also not want to put in effort for their students succeed so I think this is where money deals with everything. However, some really good teachers make do with what they and want their students to succeed just like in the article showing that money is not everything. Overall, I really liked reading your thoughts on the subject.
ReplyDeleteHi Willow i thought you brought up really amazing points in your blog. I believe it's super unfair that higher income students continued to get privilege's that lower income students should be getting instead. It's super sad that the system is this way, but even with the advantages teachers should still see their students fairly and not assume that one is set up for success or failure based on how much money their family is making. Yes, it can help in some ways, but money doesn't determine whether somebody is intelligent or not. I want to ask what do you think we can do as teachers to make sure all students understand that they all have the same probability of intelligence and success as anybody else no matter their family income?
ReplyDeleteHello Willow, I enjoyed reading your post. I like how you touched on the article, "The Poverty Myth" and how you discussed the importance of understanding this myth. All students can be successful if given fair and equal opportunities. I agree that our school systems are at fault and we are failing these students. It saddens me to think educators and schools often fail to support low income students or judge them and assume they cannot succeed. Students who grow up in low income areas or grow up in poverty should have the same opportunities and resources available to other schools and students. Most Importantly, I love the fact that you stated that money has "everything and nothing" to do with it. This is absolutely true. Yes, some schools are better funded than others, but this does not mean that we accept this as an excuse to neglect the students who come from lower income areas or live in poverty. Money has nothing to do with the child, after-all they have no say in where they go to school or how much money their family makes. This is why all schools and educators should work hard to ensure that their students have the resources they need to succeed, no matter their budget.
ReplyDeleteHi willow, I loved how you worded everything so well in your blog it was very intriguing! I liked how you included the source about the misconception about "if you are low income you cannot achieve" I think this is a very serious statement that has clearly been proved wrong multiple times. I also agree that money has everything and nothing to do with learning, you can handle certain things well or poorly depending on your mindset. Every student has their choice to learn or not, their background which they cannot control should not control how they learn. We need passionate teachers who are willing to go above and beyond in lower income schools. The down side to this is some people do not agree with that statement and with schooling not being equitable it can be hard to change people's minds. Do you think we will ever be able to not make money a factor in learning?
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