Sessions

Educating Students of Poverty

What does it mean to leave no child behind? What does it mean to be from poverty and go to school in America? Through sharing her journey out of generational poverty, findings from her doctoral research on generational poverty, successful completion of a Bachelor's degree, and fifteen years of working in schools struggling with educating students from poverty, Donna Beegle frames the discussion of how to successfully engage students and families from generational poverty in the education process.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss the impact and meaning of education for students from generational poverty
• Understand how poverty in the U.S. is internalized as a personal deficiency
• Understand how to develop a welcoming climate and meaningful curriculum for students
  from poverty backgrounds
• Explain the difference between immigrant poverty and poverty in the U.S.
• Discuss the confounding of race and class issues in developing strategies for educating students from poverty
• Explain the barriers perceived by people in poverty when dealing with educators
• Understand how to implement changes in communication, teaching and learning styles to enhance education success for students from poverty
• Discuss ways to motivate and provide meaningful incentives to students from poverty backgrounds
• Understand how to connect in meaningful ways to redefine the meaning and value of education
• Explain how to frame education goals from the perspective of students and families from poverty

Breaking Barriers: Concrete Tools for Working Working with Students and Families Living in Poverty

This session will provide participants with the concepts of oral and print culture to enhance skills necessary for educating and communicating effectively across poverty barriers. Most of our educational systems are set up to support students and families coming from a print culture orientation and they often are alienating to students and families who have an oral cultural world-view. How we get our information shapes how we relate to one another and how we experience the world. Many people from generational poverty backgrounds get their information verbally... creating an oral culture thought process. Most students and families from middle and upper class backgrounds gain their information from reading ... creating a print culture thought process. Understanding these different thought processes could improve teaching and learning and create a more inclusive school climate. Opportunities for success in education are enormous when these concepts are understood and incorporated into every aspect of the education process.

Learning Objectives:

• Obtain techniques for understanding and valuing oral and print culture styles
• Understand how to focus and build on the assets of oral culture students and families instead of only seeing problems
• Understand how to include oral culture learning styles in the curriculum
• Explain how to overcome misunderstanding that can arise when diverse communication and learning styles are present
• Discuss why poverty and oral culture orientation are main determinants of education
• Evaluate curriculum and school climate for inclusiveness of oral culture students

Mentoring students and adults out of poverty:

This hands on session uses role play and application to help participants gain skills and knowledge for effectively mentoring students and adults who live in the crisis of poverty. The research is clear, for people to move out of poverty, they need mentors who have benefited from education and/or a career. The isolation of poverty ensures that people living in it only interact with others who struggle with education and careers. Anyone can be a mentor, but there are specific research based characteristics of mentors that make a difference for those living in poverty that go beyond traditional concepts of mentoring. This session teaches unique skills for mentoring students and adults who live in the crisis of poverty. Participants will gain knowledge that prepares them to communicate and connect in ways that promote success. Four characteristics of mentoring are introduced along with different levels of mentoring.

Learning Objectives:

• Illustrate the importance of mentoring for helping students and families move out of poverty
• Describe four characteristics of an effective mentor for students and adults in poverty
• Explain levels of mentoring
• Demonstrate techniques for initiating and sustaining effective mentor relationships
• Explain how mentoring students and families in poverty is different from traditional mentor models
• Understand how to bring additional mentors on board to support the success of those being mentored

Education Leadership for Breaking Poverty Barriers

This session is designed to give leaders step-by-step methods for creating a school climate where students living in poverty can thrive. This climate requires advanced leadership with specific skills targeted toward eradicating poverty impacts on learning. Inspite of good intentions and lots of caring, students who live in the crisis of poverty continue to be the least likely to become educated. Education ends up being an added stress to students and families in poverty. Educators are often overwhelmed with the complexities of poverty, its impacts on learning, and at a loss for how to make a difference for their students. There has never been a more opportune time for leaders to provide a blueprint for change. What would that change look like in your school? What skill sets do you need? Dr. Beegle will demonstrate proven skills and actions necessary for providing leadership that makes a difference. Participants will gain three new tools and the ability to apply the tools in their school setting.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss three different skills needed to be a leader who changes the static that students in poverty do not get educated.
• Understand the top seven ways that poverty impacts learning.
• Describe seven ideas for eradicating poverty impacts on learning in your school.
• Provide examples of 10 proven actions that you can do in your school to close the achievement gap.

Motivating people who live in poverty:

People in poverty are often described as unmovitated. They are critiqued for not following through. This session helps professionals understand the “why” behind that behavior. Assumptions are made about why people do not act in a certain way. Participants in this session will gain tools for helping people who are seemingly "stuck" to get "unstuck" and take steps for moving ouf of poverty. Eight simple steps for motivating people in the crisis of poverty are provided.

Learning objectives:

• Describe the basis for understanding human motivation: What was done (act), Who did it (Agent), When or where it was done (Scene), How she or he did it (Agency) and why (Purpose).
• Apply motivation concepts to real world examples.
• Describe the most five effective communication techniques for motivating others.
• Describe three strategies that help people to change behavior.
• Demonstrate two most effective tools for changing an attitude.

Improving Communication Across Barriers:

This session provides tools for improving your communication style and language for working more effectively with people living in poverty. Concrete communication strategies are provided for ensuring the messages you are sending are the ones being received. It also teaches fundamental communication principles for building better relationships with those you serve. Participants will explore their own dominate styles for communicating and receiving information and gain insights for improving their skill sets. For dominant styles of recieving information are introduced to help provide a foundation for better understanding and working with people who live in poverty.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the role of identification, empathy, and perception in
  communication.
• Demonstrate how to use “We” language to build common ground.
• Understand the importance of “I” statements.
• Undersand the four dominate ways of receiving information.
• Explain the differences in oral and print culture communication styles.
• Identify your dominate style of sending and receiving information.
• Discuss the difference between descriptive language and judgmental language

Beyond Coping: A Comprehensive Approach to Breaking Poverty Barriers.

Students and adults living in poverty need more than help with an overdue assignment, a three day box of food, or assistance with getting their utilities turned back on to move out of poverty. The typical approach to helping students and adults living in poverty is to focus on the immediate need. At best, this model helps students and adults cope, but does not provide opportunity and hope for moving forward. This hands on session provides tools for addressing poverty with a comprehensive approach.Whether you are an educator, social service provider, health provider, or a professional in the justice system, this session will help you gain skills for being proactive in
increasing success of those who live in poverty. Participants will participate in a simulation that demonstrates the difference between the coping model and the comprehensive model for helping students and families move forward. Participants will develop a template for creating a custom community inventory and gain hands on practice for uncovering resources and assets to help in their efforts to educate and help people to move forward.

Learning Objectives:

• Obtain techniques for understanding the difference between coping
  models and comprehensive models
• Gain insights on how to frame moving forward help from the
  perspective of those living in poverty
• Understand how to gather resources necessary for providing a
  comprehensive approach
• Demonstrate ability to present resources in dignified respectful way.
• Discuss how the coping model perpetuates poverty
• Explain how the comprehensive model provides hope and opportunity
  for moving out of poverty

Other Sessions

(Send us an email for the learning objectves)

Poverty Competency:

Is your organization really serving people in the crisis of poverty well? Do you have the tools and resources you need to be competent in helping people move out of poverty? Are you systemically setting people who live in poverty up for success? This session provides tools for examining your organization, policies, and practices to ensure more successful outcomes.

Helping with respect and dignity:

This session explores those awkward moments where we wonder how to help without offending or embarrassing people? Explore easy strategies for helping people in poverty, while maintaining their dignity.

Assessment Alternatives:

This session is designed with strengths perspective theory. It focuses on providing skills for moving beyond red marks and negative feedback.

The history of poverty in the US:

If we do not understand history, we are doomed to repeat it. This session describes models used to address poverty, labels we have used to describe people in poverty and illustrates how our history of poverty has shaped our current approaches and attitudes for addressing it.

Poverty Barriers:

Examine current and past poverty theories, research and models. This session concludes with participants developing a current action plan for addressing poverty with those they serve.