I know from experience about teaching students from low income communities, and who live in the city projects. I will admit: it is a more challenging task than “ordinary” teaching, and one demanding higher levels of dedication, enthusiasm, energy, and emotional investment. Traditionally, teaching such students is seen as one intensely dedicated teacher fighting their students’ aggression and apathy, struggling to make a difference in young and rebellious lives before it is too late. Behind this very typical scene, nonetheless, are realities of which I am very aware. Various studies confirm that children from poor neighborhoods and households are generally apathetic in class and inclined to resentment and absenteeism. That these students also live in high-crime areas only reinforces negative influences, and distances them further from the classroom. In plain terms, there is truth behind the exaggerated representations of teaching in low-income areas. Unfortunately, it is even more difficult today, as these students use iPhones, iPods, etc., in class, which makes the teaching process even more frustrating.
Considering all this, I trust to a simple and very effective strategy that I used while teaching accounting courses to undergraduates at a small private college in NYC, and that also could be used in the future to ensure academic success for such students in my class. First, I start each new class by learning my students’ first names, setting the stage for a personal esperience. This tactic, I believe, gives them a sense of personal involvement on my part. Then, I always pay close attention to their appearance, mood, tone of voice, and how active they are in class. All of this provides me with vital information; I begin to relate, and am then equipped to note if anything is distracting them from a successful learning process. Thirdly, I rely on the approach I feel right for all students – persistent commitment to what they may achieve. It is one thing to acknowledge challenging circumstances that separate the student from learning, but it is quite another to allow these elements to block or greatly influence what must be a personal and engaged effort from the teacher. Underprivileged or otherwise, each student in my class is an individual with potential. My focus on this single reality goes beyond life situations and other difficulties, simply because I believe all students seek on some level to achieve, and despite all odds.
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"Teaching in Low Income Communities: Challenges, Problems, and Academic Success".
It is also a serious mistake to believe that these students’ parents are not interested in their children’s education. Many are and, in my opinion, parents are more actively involved in their children’s learning when they are encouraged by any success, and thus make efforts to eliminate the home-related hurdles impeding the education. Most importantly, I know from my own experience in adapting to a new country and culture that challenges are only challenges, and that the key to achievement lies in reaching the individual at any age. In basic terms, my way of succeeding with students from low-income communities and city projects is based wholly on the reality that they are, first and foremost, students with great potential. Essentially, every great teacher’s goal is to discover each student’s natural gift that may lie under the mask of apathy and
