(NAME-MCE) Ruby Payne Article from Washington Post

Tue Apr 17 12:07:32 EDT 2007

________________________________

From: Herring, Jennifer 
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 11:06 AM
To: 'NAME-MCE - National Association for Multicultural Education
EmailDiscussion Group'
Subject: RE: (NAME-MCE) Ruby Payne Article from Washington Post

Response to Ruby K. Payne's book:  "Poverty:  A framework for
understanding and working with students and adults from poverty" (1995)

I agree...Ruby K. Payne's book deserves a review with a more balanced
opinion of students...the book clearly stereotypes groups of children
according to economics...

K-12 educators under the 'gun' from policies such as 'No child left
behind' looking for a 1-2-3 fix for handling children with not much time
to reflect and discriminate between what are the best practices to
follow encourages the spreading of such ideologies as this like
wildfire...I have always questioned Ruby K. Payne's 'Poverty' book,
especially in light of my own experience of being raised in a low-income
working class family...when I took Dr. Payne's 'Could you survive
poverty?' test on pages 83-85 (Poverty, 1995), I FAILED the poverty test
and guess what?  I grew up in poverty!!!...

      For example, as a child growing up poor:  I didn't know which
grocery stores' garbage bins can be accessed for thrown away food!  I
didn't know how to get someone out of jail!  I didn't know how to
physically fight and defend myself physically!  I did not know how to
get a gun even if I had a police record [which I didn't have...] I
didn't know how to keep clothes from being stolen at the Laundromat; I
didn't know what problems to look for in a used car...I didn't know how
to live without electricity and without a phone!  I certainly am lame at
entertaining my friends with my personality and stories [I am one of the
most boring African American women I know of...]!  I did not know how to
move in one-half day; I did not know how to get and use food stamps; I
did not know where the free medical clinics were; I did not learn how to
trade or barter [although I wished I had...]; and we always had a car
[even though it was a station wagon or a van]...

      So, multiply my experience times lots of children in this country
who are growing up in working-class families, poor families, yet for
whom this test for poverty does not apply, yet teachers are using
Payne's book as a yardstick to understand students from poverty...

      My parents did not go beyond the 6th grade but were extremely
intelligent, wonderful, working class people who operated the best they
knew how with us kids within the means, confines of the residue of Jim
Crow laws, racism, etc...We had no blaring television in the home, so I
was raised with two loving parents who read a lot; we all read books,
the newspaper, magazines, etc in our home...

     Ruby K. Payne's book has served more than anything to bring to
light the paradigm that some educators have been operating from...

It anything it has given me insight into why perhaps some middle class
teachers are challenged with teaching students from lower economic
status...

A book that deserves being promoted is one that was passed on to me by
one of my graduate professors, Dr. Gloria Contreras.  Every teacher who
teachers poor students might benefit from reading Martin Haberman's
"Star Teachers of Children in Poverty"...his book does a good job of
expressing the importance of teachers developing a meaningful
relationship with each student regardless of socio-economic status,
ethnicity...getting to know each student based on his or her own
situation, development abilities and merits and then teach students from
that vantage point...Peace.

=========================================

By the way, I responded to offer the entire link for both articles
referenced in Paul Gorski's email...the links didn't work because part
of the link was left off of the enabled hot link.'  The entire links are
below.  Thanks Paul...

Author's Poverty Views Disputed Yet Utilized

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/14/AR200704
1401402.html  

 Payne on Poverty: Critics Challenge Views

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/14/AR200704
1401287.html  

Jennifer Herring, Ph.D. 

Assistant Professor

Director - Field Experience 

Teacher Education Department 

University of Illinois at Springfield 

One University Plaza MS BRK 330 

Brookens 312 

Springfield, Illinois  62703-5407 

(office) 217-206-7587 

(fax) 217-206-6775 

http://people.uis.edu/jherr3 

==============================================================

 Become a NAME member: Keep up-to-date on Multicultural Education   

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-----Original Message-----
From: name-mce-bounces at nameorg.org [mailto:name-mce-bounces at nameorg.org]
On Behalf Of Menon, Meryl
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 10:40 AM
To: NAME-MCE - National Association for Multicultural Education
EmailDiscussion Group
Subject: Re: (NAME-MCE) Ruby Payne Article from Washington Post

Thanks a lot, Paul. I continue to hear about presenters who introduce

Ruby Payne's ideas without any reference to the controversy and about

school districts that adopt her views. As these articles clarify the

situation well, I plan on sharing them.

As I had trouble with the links in the original message, I am sending

the following ones:

Author's Poverty Views Disputed Yet Utilized

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/14/AR200704

1401402.html

Payne on Poverty: Critics Challenge Views 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/14/AR200704

1401287.html

Meryl

-----Original Message-----

From: name-mce-bounces at nameorg.org [mailto:name-mce-bounces at nameorg.org]

On Behalf Of Paul C. Gorski

Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 12:51 AM

To: 'Multicultural Pavilion's discussion group on equity, social

justice,and multicultural education.'; NAME-MCE at nameorg.org; 'Smiley,

Azure Dee'; paynep at mail.ips.k12.in.us; oseikofi at iastate.edu; 'roberta

ahlquist'; 'Virginia Lea'; team at edchange.org; 'Peg Lonnquist'; 'Dwight

C. Watson'; marahagedorn at comcast.net; 'Mary M. Gannon';

theresa.montano at csun.edu; jrury at ku.edu; jcng at ku.edu

Subject: (NAME-MCE) Ruby Payne Article from Washington Post

>From the Washington Post, Sunday, April 15 edition:

****

Author's

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/14/AR20070

4140

1402.html?referrer=emailarticle> Poverty Views Disputed Yet Utilized

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/14/AR200704

1401

402.html

By Ian Shapira

According to Ruby K. Payne, a consultant to school systems locally and

nationwide, teachers should know a few things about poor people.

****

Enjoy,

Paul

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