Review of “Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind: Practical Strategies for Raising Achievement,” by Eric Jensen, 2013. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 176 pp
Eric Jensen provides some hints and strategies for dealing with the special and difficult problems our poorer students bring to the classroom. The number of students living in poverty has grown exponentially, yet many educators are not aware of the realities. Jensen shows a good understanding of some of the difficulties and challenges students face, and he uses a research basis in this text.
Fresh after the New Great Depression, this book was timeless then—and is timeless now. Published in 2013, the book paints a bleak picture of a bleak nation. I am sure Jensen had NO idea there would be worse days, COVID-19, and a burgeoning homeless population in this country. One thing the USA can produce is homeless families. There are over 10,000 homeless families in Chicago alone!
We Americans have become very successful at making more homeless people every day!
This text appeared is still relevant because the number of persons on the streets has risen, a huge number of families rely on food stamps and free lunches, and the homes of many families have been boarded up for a number of years, with most people not able to afford a house and the original occupants of those dwellings now living with relatives, in shelters, or in their cars.
The main problem facing struggling families still today is how to afford a place to live. Housing is expensive. In many cities, very few people have any interest at all in providing affordable homes or apartments for poorer people to live in. You can count on one hand the cities that have actually addressed the problem of “where to put the poor people.
Chicago has yet to prove it is interested in housing the homeless and the other poor residents of this big encampment.
All of that having been said, the question is, “How do we begin to help students who face the stressors of hunger, despair, and stigma each day?” It is important to serve and protect the students now, while they are poor, and deal with housing and other services later.
How do we teach them? Feed them? Encourage them?
Jensen shows the data from research on these students, starting with health and nutrition issues and ranging to the stress levels and daily hassles students face. These and five other areas constitute the seven types of challenges facing students living in poverty, though I would suggest many of our students, in addition to teachers and teacher candidates, face many of these same difficulties. Jensen calls these “the seven engagement factors,” and the other ones are: vocabulary; effort and energy; mind-set; cognitive capacity; and relationships.
Jensen bases his approach here more on the stressors facing poor students and less on technical information about the poverty numbers and facts out there. For that technical data, we would have to go to other sources.
Jensen proposes “five rules for engagement” for teachers to employ in the classroom as a means of getting poorer students involved: upgrade your attitude; build relationships & respect; get buy-in; embrace clarity; and show your passion. Though I think these are good to use with any student, they seem to make sense in dealing with students who face the hassles and challenges of living with poverty on a daily basis, a seemingly unrelenting set of difficulties. Clarity is important, for example, because students living in poverty are often hungry and tired, and they need straightforward definitions and examples, in addition to encouragement and a positive learning environment.
Jensen acknowledges hunger and stress and the power they hold over students. He reminds us that students should be treated with dignity, and that they are the reason we have a job. The students are the future of our country, Jensen reminds us, not prison inmates.
Students living in poverty, especially, come to school wondering if someone there cares about them, wondering if they are important. They may have difficulty concentrating, and difficulty feeling that the school day may offer something interesting and relevant in a world that may have forgotten them, they may feel. Younger people, especially, have trouble making sense of a world in which there is so much hunger.
I will never forget one day when I was teaching at my first job in a community college. This was years ago, in the time when there was more money out there. One day on campus there was a special picnic. Hot dogs and chips were being served outdoors. For a few cents, students could buy a whole lunch. A student who had taken my English 101 class the previous semester came up to me at the campus picnic and begged me for 50 cents, saying he had not eaten in two days. I did not hesitate to give him the money. I told him to come to me anytime he was in that situation.
What made me feel terrible was that the student was actually SURPRISED I WOULD GIVE HIME THE MONEY. I gave him $1.00 and I thought he was going to cry.
At the time, I was astounded there would be a student who needed food that badly. Now I know hundreds of students—some by name, and some by sight—who do not have 50 cents on them, have not eaten for two days, and do not have any idea where to go to get lunch!
I can think of some other texts from years ago that are still relevant. If Jensen’s older book is to be used in a topics class on dealing with poverty issues or other such use, including professional development meetings or retreats, I would definitely recommend one or more additional texts---both of them older/older editions fine—with more specific information on poverty be included. One good additional text would be: Poverty in America: A Handbook, Third Edition, 2013, by John Iceland.
Another good text would be: Someplace Like America: Tales from the New Great Depression, Updated Edition, 2013, by Dale Maharidge, Photographs by Michael S. Williamson. These could both provide more of the technical information not included in the Jensen text.
In summary, I would recommend this text because of the good teaching strategies and scenarios included. I think most of what Jensen includes is good information for working with any student, and certainly any student facing stressful situations.
The number of homeless children in Illinois has risen again, according to the latest numbers. In just under ten years, we have successfully maintained and increased the number of homeless children in our state.