Eric Jensen ENGAGING STUDENTS WITH POVERTY IN MIND —Practical Strategies For Raising Achievement
I haven't met a student yet who doesn't want to know what is going on. They are in general, busy and curious little people who are trying to make sense of the world, how it works, and more importantly, how they fit into the pattern of it all. Isn't that what we love most about them> They are sponges in the pool of life.
Eric Jensen is passionate about all of our children experiencing that highly engaging environment, especially our students living in poverty. Did you know if you are a child living in poverty not only will you be less likely to graduate high school, you only have a 10 percent chance of experiencing a highly engaging classroom with quality instruction. These students don’t experience curiosity, but rather boredom and irrelevance.
Eric Jensen is passionate about all of our children experiencing that highly engaging environment, especially our students living in poverty. Did you know if you are a child living in poverty not only will you be less likely to graduate high school, you only have a 10 percent chance of experiencing a highly engaging classroom with quality instruction. These students don’t experience curiosity, but rather boredom and irrelevance.
Would you want to go to school in those classrooms? Jensen
recommends if we want to get our students of poverty to school and to graduate we need to create
classroom systems that are “relevant, engaging, and full of affirming
relationships” and “make good things happen every single day.” We need to help them develop a mindset where
I get to go to school rather than I have to go to school.
Jensen’s work with economically disadvantage students
focuses on seven engagement factors with a high degree of impact documented by
their substantial effect size. “Teaching
matters more than any other factor in a student’s school year. In fact,
research (Hanushek, 2005) tells us that quality
teaching can completely offset the devastating effects poverty has on
student’s academic performance.” Jensen gives us seven engagement factors that
are critical to enhance student engagement and are closely tied to socioeconomic
status. Here are insights from each of those strategies. For a full
description, see the summary posted by ASCD here.here.
Seven
Engagement Factors
Factor 1: Health & Nutrition
“Poor health and nutrition cannot be ignored; nor
should they be used as an excuse for letting students underperform.”
“Creating
a highly engaging classroom can help compensate for behavioral and cognitive
issues resulting from poor nutrition.”
Factor 2: Vocabulary
“Both the quantity and the quality of phrases directed
at the children by caregivers correlated directly with income levels” (Meaningful
Differences, Hart & Riley, 2003).
“Teachers must be relentless about using nonverbal
communication, visual aids, and context to add meaning and incorporate
vocabulary building in engagement activities whenever appropriate.”
“Knock off the coping terms from the glossary as
vocabulary instruction.” (Miles, 2014)
Factor 3:
Effort & Energy
“When the learning got your excited, curious, and
intrigued, you put in more effort.”
“When
you care about your students, they respond.”
Factor 4: Mind-Set
“Poverty is associated with lowered expectations about
future outcomes.”
“Teacher’s
positive, growth-oriented mind-sets can help compensate for students’ negative
mind-sets.”
Factor 5:
Cognitive Capacity
“Poverty affects the physical brain.”
“IQ
is not fixed.”
Factor 6: Relationships:
“In poor homes, the ratio of positive affirmations to
negative reprimands is typically a 1 to 2.”
“Learn
to reframe your thinking: expect that students may be impulsive, blurt
inappropriate language, and act disrespectful; until you teach them otherwise.”
Factor 7: Stress Level
Both aggressive and passive behaviors, “are often
interpreted as being signs of an attitude or laziness, but they are actually
symptoms of stress disorders” and can reduce motivation and effort.”
“Give
students more control over their classroom experiences as part of the
solution.”
Jensen explains the “five core rules” teachers must internalize in their own practice to
improve student behavior and learning. These usually are not taught in our
teacher education courses, but are essential for success for all of our
students.
- Upgrade Your Attitude: “A positive, optimistic attitude is critical.”
- Build Relationships and Respect: “Students need to see, hear and feel the caring.”
- Get Buy-In: “Sell the learning to them.”
- Embrace Clarity: “Plan with purpose.”
- Show Your Passion: “Feelings are contagious.”
Finally,
Jensen gives us detailed actions each of us can implement in our classrooms to enthusiastically
support our students living in poverty. Specifically engaging our students for:
Positive
Climate
Build
Cognitive Capacity
Motivation
& Effort
Deep
Understanding
Energy
& Focus
Many
of us have teachers who made a difference in our own lives. Jensen’s message is
to ensure that each of our students has that same experiences so they want to
come to school, be ready to learn, and are prepared for success now and in
their future.
