Running head: CULTURAL AWARENESS PROJECT 1

1
Michael R. Matthews Sr.
Dr. Demir
Practicum Mathematics 4470
27 November 2014

CULTURAL AWARENESS PROJECT

The effect of economics on culture will be the focus of this paper. The economic differences that produce
cultural differences and distinctions between poor students and their peers and how those distinctions
impact the education of young learners will be my focus. The group of students that I am focusing on in
this paper is the (2-4) % of the pupils in the distant suburbs whose family income falls below the poverty
line.
In the area of educational motivation, there is a general relationship between parents behavior
toward their children and the childrens behavior toward school. That behavior is often related to the
education, financial well being and socialization of the parents. The children are usually a reflection of
what they have been taught by their parents to be or do. Most students do not act out after being called to
attention by the teacher. Most students follow the rules regarding dress and hygiene. In the school where
I am located education is valued highly for the vast majority of pupils. Social acceptance is known to be
crucial for young teenage students. The school community benefits from this desire for social acceptance.
The students conform to good behavior, and it becomes socially acceptable to fit in by not acting out. On
the other hand for some students, it is harder to adapt and adjust their behavior. Some of the students
from low-income homes may not receive the direction, lessons and or reinforcement from their parents on
how to behave in school. Regarding behavior, what the parents do not know they cannot teach their child.
This problem is seen in the classroom when students act and react in inappropriate and unnecessary ways.
The students are frequently behaving in an inappropriate way because they have not been taught how to
act differently. This can happen for many reasons. According to published reports by the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, children are impacted by what their parents cannot teach them in the area of
appropriate behavior and ways of being and interacting at school. It has been my observation that there is
a relationship between the way the students dress and their interaction with the other students. There are
some students who dress noticeable less well than the other students. Their clothes appear to be less clean
and more worn. Some of these boys of this description frequently look unkempt. This may seem

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insignificant or unimportant, but this contributes to the student in question becoming socially and
academically isolated. As the students social and academic persona get further away from the norm many
of students accept this as who they are. If the students are not lead or encouraged by their teachers and
other professionals at school to find interest in a group, club or athletics these students can begin to drift
toward a no mans land. They become isolated and do not develop friends and good relationships. All of
this is to indicate that parents income and social skills play a role in how students are perceived and
interact at school. The impact of poverty at home is very real and active. For some low-income students,
the school building is a welcome refuge. Some of the low-income students parents cannot afford to pay
heating and electric bills during the cold winter months. There is a physiological impact on these students
when this type of problem happens. When they are at school on freezing days, they may not concentrate
as well as their peers because they know they will be going home to a cold house. Also, they may not
seek out friends for fear that their social situation will become known by their peers. In this brief writing,
we are hoping to convey that economic differences become cultural differences; these cultural
differences contribute to a deficit of motivational skills and development among many of these poor
students. For some of these low-income students, there are few positive male role models for them to
emulate. It is also known and accepted as common knowledge that a child that does not have a useful
forward moving task, interest or sets of proscribed activities will become complacent about life in general
and academics specifically. If a child is not taught or provided an opportunity to practice and succeed at
something useful, they will do something not very useful, or they may stumble into destructive behavior.
It is the belief of this writer that these situations are more likely to develop in the life of a low-income
student. Other areas where income affects students school lives include participation in activities and
events which require fees or up front down payments to participate. Low-income students simply may
not have the seemingly small amounts of money needed. Entry and participation fees of $(5-15) will
represent huge stumbling block to poor students.
The United States is known as the land of opportunity, yet many people find themselves
seemingly trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty. I submit the students from the group being discussed fall
into this category in much higher numbers than their peers from more affluent income backgrounds.
Many parents in the higher income families are exposed to self-help philosophy repeatedly. For many of
these higher income parents, the constant exposures to the strategies for successful social and financial
development become active daily habits. The higher income parents practice patterns that benefit them
socially and financially; these parents pass many of these skill and characteristics on to their school age
children. Unfortunately, it seems these same types of positive modeling do not occur as frequently among

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the lower income students parents and families. The students do not learn the benefit of grit, and
determination. They are not taught about setting goals and standards for them self. They do not get the
benefit of learning that setting goals and sticking to rules for behavior and learning produce good results
in and out of school. These low-income students do not know that grit, and determination and resiliency
produce success in all domains.
Part 3
An observation of students and an analysis of published literature are used as a Case Study
Students who are from families that participate in the Head Start Program are more likely to not
do well in school. This situation is true even when the academic achievement in the same area is
increasing. Some of the risk factors for poor health include poor diet, smoking, high blood pressure,
physical inactivity, high cholesterol, air pollution. Problems in these areas contribute to the onset of
chronic disease. The factors which influence health are:

Demographic and Diversity

Economy and Basic Needs
Housing
Education and Child Activities
Transportation
Community Engagement-Safety
Environment

According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), Report on Income, Wealth and
Health there is a strong a pervasive relationship between income, wealth, and health. As an example, life
expectancy at age 25 is closely correlated with income as a percentage of the federal poverty level. Life
expectance at age 24 was more than six years longer for people earning more than four times the federal
poverty level compared with those earning less than the federal poverty level. An additional factor which
contributes to the life style problems of the lower income is the rent to income ratio. Families who spend
more than 30% of their income on rent are more likely to have economic difficulty when job or health
issues arise. The high foreclosure rate reported on CNN Money report is connected to the lack of
affordable housing for lower income residents. This in turn impacts the amount of homeless families and
those living in substandard dwellings. One study in 2010, Heather Schwartz, a RAND Corporation
education policy researcher noted in her report on Montgomery County MD that poor students who
moved from a poor neighborhood to an affluent neighborhood did much better in school than their
counter parts who did not attend school in an affluent area. The issue is easy to understand when you

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consider the information from Douglas Harris. Mr. Harris, an economist at the University of WisconsinMadison, has found that only 10 percent of high-poverty, high-minority schools are high performing,
compared with 57 percent of low-poverty, low-minority schools. The argument becomes middle income
parents are better able to fight for and maintain school improvements. Childrens happiness and sense of
well being are connected to their parents situations. If a parent uses inappropriate behavior modification
strategies, the children will be negatively impacted. If a parent is depressed by their poor economic and
social condition, they are more likely to pass these characteristics on to their children. These relationships
between parent and child may be healthy for the parent, but they may not seem very secure or strong to
the child. In an academic environment, the children of the poor may not have been exposed to or learned
the appropriate social behaviors for school success. The children of the poor have a lot to overcome. In
many cases they have deficits in the areas of humility, forgiveness, empathy, optimism and compassion.
They may also need to work on social skills of sympathy, cooperation, gratitude and shame. Teachers can
become confused by the types of behavior that result from the problems listed above. The teachers may
see associated actions as choices by a bad student and nothing else. All emotional response other than
anger, joy, disgust, surprise, sadness and fear must be taught to a child. What the child has not been
taught at home becomes the schools problem. The school and its teachers have a significant task of
teaching. Because students need to feel a sense of acceptance from their peers, those students who are
relatively poor either economically or emotionally may not easily fit all school settings. It is imperative
that students not feel the mental impact of not having heating or electricity in the winter. Students who do
not have water at home may develop stigmas associated with their difficulties. Some of these same
students may not have home internet services and may not do well on homework that requires research.
These students are not likely to volunteer this information or speak about it to others. These types of
problems create stress. Stress can destroy children socially, emotionally, psychologically and

cognitively. These issues can lead to emotional, social and academic problems for school aged
learners.
The nature of communities has changed over the last 40 years. The lack of community cohesions
contributes to social malaise in urban and suburban neighborhoods. According to Dr. Robert
Putnam, author of Bowling Alone social capital in the United States has declined.
http://www.Rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/issue_briefs/2011/rwjf70448

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The purpose of the writing is to describe, outline and present a plan of action for having a
positive effect on the students in my class who have special non-academic needs. The purpose is
to increase my knowledge of the diverse cultural needs that exist among my students.

Section 3,
Modification or enhancement to curriculum and teaching to affect the needs of student
population:
Modification to curriculum and teaching for the students affected by low economic status
will include the following:
Preparing a flipped class for students who must miss class to assist a parent with
crisis management such as being present at a place like Partnership for

Community Action
The teacher can assign a homework buddy to a student needs to assist or

accompany their parents to handle personal matters

Providing a homework box on the outside of the classroom door for students of

may have lost home internet connection and need the assigned work
Once a month distribute a flyer to students in a sealed envelope
the flyer contains a list of resources for families in crisis and students who can

benefit from positive behavior modification plans

Teacher can use the school Web site to send parents email for homework
Teacher can text parent in order to provide homework assignments
Teacher can establish parent, student and teacher meeting or phone conferences
Teacher can assist the parent with contacting a school affiliated social worker
Teacher can assist the parent with contacting a parenting class organization

Part 4
Cultural Awareness Reflection

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The focus of my interest for this project was to determine if there is a connection between
student families who have extreme financial hardship and the students school lives. There were
three areas of interest at the onset of this project. I selected a facility that would provide me with
an opportunity to observe first-hand how families manage extreme financial crisis. I acknowledge
that my observation in no way allowed me to feel what these people were feeling. I did witness
several people being turned away from getting help because they had arrived after the maximum
number of walk in (without an appointment) people were present. The first part of the topic that
was investigated was my prior knowledge of the subject or situation. The second area of interest
that was examined was a case study of students who would be impacted by the situation and the
problems that it would produce for them. The third area of interest was to complete an action
plan to address the needs that arose as a result of the students financial situations.
My project was to visit a facility that provides assistance to people who are experiencing
economic crisis. The facility that I visited is the Partnership for Community Action. As of 2012
this organization received more than 90% of its budget from federally funded grants. This facility
is operated in DeKalb County. The facility is set up to provide emergency services to citizens of
Gwinnett, DeKalb, and Rockdale counties. This facility provides emergency funds for housing
and utilities for those who can demonstrate they have are in a crisis or have an impending crisis.
The people served by this center seem to be 90% African American. I suspect this correct
because the racial demographics of the area where the facility is located is predominately African
American.
My personal connection to the experience or prior knowledge of the subject had been
forgotten by me. While at the DeKalb county facility I had a conversation with a 20-year-old
young man who had been accepted into the Navy, but he has been placed on a medical hold for
more than one year. The conversation with him about his circumstance caused me to remember a
time when my personal situation was very similar to his. I began to reflect on my own life as 19
years old during the summer of 1980. I had returned to Atlanta from Army Basic Training at Fort
McClellan Alabama. I searched and searched metro Atlanta for a job, but I was either over
qualified or under qualified. The other problem was the businesses were waiting for the college
students who were holding the jobs to quit. After four weeks of looking and looking for a job, my
money began to run out. I called a social services agency seeking some help. I was told that I
would need a letter from my mom to prove my financial dependence. I did not want any part of
this path to a solution for my problem, since it could have had negative consequences for my
mom. The next day I called my mom in Maryland and borrowed $300.00 from her. Since that

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time, I have not had that type of situation. As I write this document, I am also caused to
remember working three jobs and going to college full time. This was very stressful and did not
produce the best results. My investigation of this topic as it relates to school age children
generally 18 years old and younger, had led me to believe my original thoughts were correct.
Students are impacted by the economic status of their families, specifically the students from lowincome households. The first noticeable area of impact of low economic status is the behavior of
the children. The well-intentioned parents cannot teach their children skills which they do not
know them self. It is frequently the case that the busy parents of low-income families work more
than one job. The parents time spent away from home was also needed at home to model good
and appropriate behavior for a school setting. There is a snowball effect to the parents not being
able to teach their children how to behave at school. I agree with the sited articles disposition
that when the parents do not transfer good behavior skills to their children, the teacher is left to
fix the problem. If the teacher does not correct the problems of speaking out of turn, being
intentionally disruptive and actively contributing to an environment that is not conducive to
education, the student is headed toward a self-destructive destination.
As mentioned above, the problems produced by low economic status include bad and
inappropriate behavior. The problems also include low self-esteem from the students because of
the lack of financial tools in the social world of middle and upper middle income students. These
students do not get new shoes and clothes once every 5-6 weeks. Based on my observation, these
students do not interact as freely with their peers as other do. The students who might be tasked
with visiting a facility like Partnership for Community Action will likely miss (1-2) day of
school. One of the biggest problems a student faces because of low economic status is being
found out. These students like most other citizens are very interested in keeping their financial
business private. The financial status of these low-income deep suburban students is more of a
burden because they do not have many financial peers to share their situation with. The planning,
preplanning, and general awareness of a teacher can be very beneficial for students of poverty.
The teacher can lessen the educational blow of a student who was taken to an emergency
assistance facility by their parent and forced to miss school. The teacher can be proactive and
prepare the make-up work for the student.
In the end, the students financial status will impact the student socially, emotionally, and
academically. One last, but still important area of discussion is the students motivation. It is
well known in the academic community the grit and motivation can be essential components to

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the success of a student. Unfortunately like other aspects of like, this area also improves
immensely when it is modeled by a parent.
Sources included: Partnership for Community Action, Barbara Williams and Heather Smith
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation