Social Justice Issue: Poverty

In our country over the past few years, there has been an average of 20% of all people living below the poverty line. Although that number has been fluxuating a little, this number is still way to high. In reality this means that 20% of all United States citizens cannot afford the basic needs for living. This is scary to think that this many people cannot afford food, shelter, or clothing for their families. And although this is people of all ages suffering, I can't help to think about the children living under these kind of conditions. In 2006 the percentage of minors living below the poverty line was 21.9%. These were all children and teenagers under the age of 18 who were starving or homeless. It's really sad that our government knows this, and not much seems to be done about it.

Over the past thirty years, poverty has had changes, but for the most part it has only gotten worse. Poverty among children has gotten much worse, especaialy those children whose parents immigrated here. Once these immigrants get here they immediately find a job, even if the money is sufficent enough to provide for their family, they need to make some income. Therefore these immigrant's children end up suffering.

The increase in poverty in our country has also been linked to different family situations. When a child lives in a situation where only one parent is present in their life, they are much more likely to be living in poverty. Whether the other parent is deceased, or just not around, there chances of being in poverty are much greater. This is true for the single parent too. With no help from another income, and our country's current economy, it can be a even more of a problem to get by as a single parent.

With the rise of children in poverty, what effect does this have on their education? If children are coming to school unfed, or not taken care of, their ability to do well in school decreases signifigantly. With no food, or not enough, a child can't possibly focus, or succeed while in school. Children who are living below the poverty line, are twice as likely to repeat a grade, than those who are living above the poverty line. Students living below the poverty line also don't achieve as high as others on the standardized tests.

When it comes down to it, something has to be done for these people living below the poverty line, especially the children. Either our government or some sort of financial help needs to be given to the children. Every child deserves the opportunity to a good education, and if things at home are taking away from that opportunity, that's just not right. Poverty is something no one should have to deal, and I know it couldn't be changed overnight, but maybe with our new president, there will be hope for change.

http://www.answers.com/topic/overview-of-poverty-and-education

http://www.civilrights.org/library/features/023-census-poverty-data.html

http://www.helium.com/items/594336-why-are-there-so-many-people-living-below-the-poverty-line-in-america

http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?ID=188

Montessori Schools

One of the types of schools that I find particularly interesting is Montessori schools. I never went to one myself, and I only know one person who has attended one. These schools are alternatives to the public or private schools commonly found everywhere, they are harder to find. The teachiong methods vary from those of public or private schools, but seem to be just as successful.

Maria Montessori was the founder of these schools in 1907. The first school was in Italy and known as the "Children's House." It wasn't until later that the name was changed to Montessori. Maria studied how children learned and developed and this was ho w she came up with her teaching methods and ideas to be used in her schools. The main idea behind Montessori schools is that children teach themselves. They do this by taking in and absorbing their surroundings. There is the idea of children having a self-creating process, so through Montessori schools they create and choose who they are.

These schools began to spread from Maria Montessori's homeland of Itlay, to the United States. In 1913 Alexander Graham Bell and his wife opened the first Montessori school in the US in Washington D.C. Maria came over to the US and began to teach people how to be teachers in a Montessori setting. And shortly after this sort of schooling became more and more popular.

Although the teaching of Montessori schools may be very different from others, they seem to do the same job. Montessori schools look more at building children's confidence, self-esteem, and respect for those around them, rather than drilling them with book material. Montessori schools teach through things like stories, timelines, things from nature, charts, and other conventional materials to teach rather than text books. The classrooms are also multiaged too. People can attended from preschool to high school, just as public schools do.

These type of schools are interesting to me since I have never been a part of one. I think it's neat that the teachers aren't following a strict curriculum when they teach, they get to use things other than books. I also like that the ages are mixed. Even though people my be on different learning levels, I think it would be interesting to have a diverse group. I have a cousin who is 4 years old and she is attending a Montessori school. So far she absolutely loves it and I can't wait to see how this type of school effects her as she gets older.

http://privateschool.about.com/od/privateschoolfaqs/f/montessori.htm

http://www.amshq.org/montessori.htm

Howard Gardner

After looking at all of the educational philosophers I can say that I would align myself and my beliefs with those of Howard Gardner. He has written a few books, and still speaks today about his theories and findings throughout his life. He grew up in Pennsylvania, and ended up attending the Phillips Academy, not all that far from Salem State. His theories and work is very interesting, and it all seems to be very valid too.

Howard Gardner is best known for his theory on multiple intelligences. He developed a list of seven different types of intelligences which he believed every human to have atleast one of, although most have more than that. There were three catgeories to these intelligences, ones valued in schools, ones valued in an art setting, and others known as personal intelligences. The seven intelligences are linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinisthetic, spacial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Garnder wrote about these in his book Frames of Mind, and believed that these were apparent in most cultures. Not everyone accepts his tehory but there have been many schools that have based their teachings around the idea of multiple intelligences.

I align myself with Gardner because I truly believe in this theory of multiple intelligences. I think every person is intelligent in one way or another even if they appear not to be. Having this variety of intelligences allows people to view others as intelligent in some way or another. For example you may have someone who isn't very logical or isn't very good with numbers, so they may not have a high logical-mathematical intelligence, but they may be the most skilled musician or performer, with a very high musical intelligence. Everyone is different which I think is waht makes Gardner's theory so acceptable. I can remember taking quizzes in psychology in high school, to show us which intelligences we possesed the most. I like Howard Gardner mainly because his theory makes sense to me where as other philosophers may confuse me.

http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm

http://www.pz.harvard.edu/pis/hg.htm