I interviewed two professionals in my area through my local elementary school. I was unable to use a child care center because it requires a teacher with a BA. I will be one of the very few people with a BA once I get it. People in my area work in the public elementary or high school if they have a BA. So I had to refocus and am glad I found a mentor close by at the elementary school.
I received some great suggestions for advocacy. Literacy, math literacy, nutrition, integrating curriculum, and ADHD. All of these topics need advocacy in our area according to local professionals. I am going to follow the suggestion of my mentor for this project and research the topic of breaking the cycle of poverty. My subtopics can be 1. How poverty affects the learning of young children. 2. What programs does the local school have set up to break the cycle of poverty. 3. Programs from other states that are set up to break the cycle of poverty.
Is anybody familiar with the cycle of poverty? I live in an area that has a very large population of generational poverty. Does anybody have programs they are familiar with that addresses poverty?
Wendy,
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of us will be seeing generational poverty in the field of early childhood. Due to all of the budget cuts our porgrams face, the only people that will be served are those well below the poverty level.
I work for a Head Start Program and we have children in our program that have parents that were once in our program, or their grandparents are raising them and they had sent their children to our program.
Early childhood education's focus is to give children the extra jump start to be successful in school. With Head Start we service the family unit as a whole and try to help them get on their feet, yet we are still seeing generational poverty. What do you feel will be your biggest hurdle in writing this paper?
For me the biggest hurdle will be having the time I need to do the research and writing. Our elementary school faces 70% of the families living in poverty (according to the teacher I interviewed). That is HUGE! What do you think will be your biggest hurdle?
DeleteWendy,
ReplyDeletePlease make sure you have these comments in your Blog.
Please make sure you answer the following prompt in your blog.
Insights gained from your interviews regarding current advocacy efforts and needs in your area of interest within the field of early childhood
How these interviews may have influenced your decision about which area of interest and topics to choose for your research paper
Which area of interest you are thinking of focusing on for your paper as well as the related three specific topics
Questions you have for your colleagues related to your area of interest and/or three topics
Where do you live? Sounds like a great topic and one that you will really find a lot of research on. It's sad that in this country we have so many people at the poverty level (especially today). Only ticket out of poverty is education.
ReplyDeleteHi Professor Sisie,
DeleteI live in Montgomery, Vermont. In the center I am the director at, we have fewer working families than families who are placed with us because of their special needs or because the state has placed the children with us for their protection. Families are plagued by drug dependence. Children live in homes where there is known domestic violence and the state leaves the children in the home to witness the abuse over and over. How are these children supposed to come to school to learn when they are suffering the trauma from their every day life? I have seen children stop learning and regress because they can't move forward until they come to terms with what is happening to them. I am hoping there is a way to help these children and families.