Victims of generational poverty may use hidden rules of conduct

Teachers and students may share the same classroom, but they often inhabit different worlds - with different priorities, values, communication styles and language.

The reason is that increasing numbers of students are living in the "culture" of poverty while teachers more often than not live in a middle-class culture and hold middle-class values.

Ruby Payne, author of A Framework for Understanding Poverty, helped to bridge the two worlds for participants at CTA's Urban Issues Conference in San Francisco recently. For the nearly 700 teachers crowded into the ballroom, it was like having an anthropologist explain what makes another culture tick - as well as explain how teachers can work effectively with students and parents belonging to that culture.

Payne spoke for three uninterrupted hours, a long time even by block schedule standards. However, teachers were both fascinated and enthralled with the wisdom that Payne shared in her folksy and often humorous style.

A resident of Texas, Payne is a former teacher who considers herself a member of the middle class. Her husband, who grew up in poverty, exposed her to a world she had never known. As she met his family and other "players" in the neighborhood, she began to realize there were major differences between those living in poverty and the middle class, and that the biggest differences were not about money.

"Sixteen to 40 percent of all children live in poverty," depending upon the statistics you choose to believe, said Payne. Minorities make up the highest percentages. "But generational poverty and situational poverty are different. Generational poverty is defined as living in poverty for two generations or longer. Situational poverty is a shorter time and is caused by circumstances such as death, illness and divorce. People in situational poverty may still think like the middle class."

Payne said she did not want to stereotype people in generational poverty, but, in her experience, there are certain common characteristics that teachers should understand. For example, relationships are placed above all else by people living in poverty, since possessions may be few. People, in a sense, become "possessions" and express a great deal of fear about leaving their culture and bettering themselves through education.

Other commonalities are:

Background noise - usually television - is always on, no matter what the circumstance.

Entertainment takes on enormous significance because it brings respite from having to worry about survival. Even those struggling to survive may have the latest CDs and a satellite dish on top of the trailer.

Personality is important. The ability to entertain, tell stories and express a sense of humor is highly valued.

Discussion is survival-oriented. Discussion of academic topics is not generally valued. Discussions usually center on people and relationships.

Living in the moment is valued. Being proactive, setting goals and planning ahead are not part of the mindset with generational poverty. Money is meant to be enjoyed, not saved. When Payne asked, "How many of you have students on free and reduced lunches who wear Tommy Hilfiger shirts to school and have the latest CDs?" hands went up throughout the room. This also explains why sports figures may make millions and lose it, she said.

Lack of order and organization is common. Living in crowded apartments may mean clutter and mess.

Destiny and fate , not choice, are major tenets of the belief system.

A wide range of behaviors is acceptable. Parents may not necessarily agree with what a school believes is "unacceptable" behavior.

All conversation tends to be in the "casual register." Casual conversation between friends is usually limited to a vocabulary of 400 to 800 words.

Survival skills in one culture may be useless in another. In the middle class, survival skills might include knowing how to use a credit card, checking account and savings account. Survival skills in poverty might include being able to fight, to move out of an apartment on a moment's notice and to manage without electricity or a phone.

One "survival skill" teachers said they have seen is that more parents may try to classify their children as being "504" - or requiring special education - because they will receive more money from the government. Children are sometimes told to "act crazy" so the family can have enough money for food.

There are also "hidden rules" that govern those living in poverty. A student may resent a teacher looking at him or her because, on the street, someone looking at or "mad-dogging" someone is perceived as a threat. "You might need to explain to that student that you need to look at them to see if they are learning," she says. "That way they won't feel threatened."

"For our students to be successful, we must understand their hidden rules and teach them the rules that will make them successful at school and at work," said Payne. "And most of these hidden rules are nonverbal. Students living in generational poverty may decide to work for you based on whether they like you. And it may be based on nonverbal things that you do."

"You are never respected among those living in generational poverty unless you are personally strong," said Payne. "Never show fear, even nonverbally. These kids may put you on the defensive to see how you act. It helps to use humor. One boy came up to a teacher and put a fist near her face and asked, 'What would you do if I hit you?' She said, 'Why, I guess I'd fall on the floor and have six weeks of paid vacation.'" The student backed off and left her alone. Another student who said "f- you" to a teacher was shocked when she told him, "Why, I can't. I'm in a committed relationship." He never bothered her again.

A student who constantly talks and cracks jokes can be distracting, but sometimes it helps to offer that student a forum, said Payne. "I knew one student who would make funny comments all during class. His teacher said that if he could keep all his comments to himself, he'd get 15 minutes on Friday. It got so popular that people from the community started coming on Friday to hear him and they had to move to the gym."

"One of the biggest mistakes teachers make is thinking that if they are nice, students will be nice back," said Payne. "But what you need is mutual respect. You have to learn it, teach it, earn it - or they won't give it. You have to reciprocate. Have high expectations. Offer support to meet those expectations and insistence. You don't have to be buddies."

It may also help to acknowledge that there are two sets of rules and that what is acceptable at home may not be acceptable in the classroom. "It's OK to say, 'You can't do that in school. You can't do that here.'"

According to Payne, one of the biggest reasons students don't learn is that moving from poverty to the middle class means that an individual must give up relationships at least for some period of time. The cost of achievement may be too dear.

"One of the myths of the middle class is that everyone wants to be in the middle class. I say, 'I'm not trying to change your culture; I'm trying to give you a choice. If you're not educated, you have no choice.'"

Rather than telling students they need to learn things just so they can go to college, it helps to emphasize that information will give them two things respected in the culture of poverty - control and respect. "Tell them that if they drop out, they won't have control and respect. School will make them smarter, tougher and stronger. They won't be cheated because they will have knowledge. The mind will be a weapon no one can take away."

She often tells parents that, yes, their child may have to leave to get an education. "But I remind them that it will only be for a while. And when he or she comes back, it will be with the resources to keep the parent safe when he or she is older."

"Teachers are what stands between students and repeating the patterns of poverty," said Payne. "We must neither excuse them nor scold them. We can help them make it out. For the children of poverty, you are indeed the greatest hope."

Sherry Posnick-Goodwin

For more information on Ruby Payne, call (800) 424-9484 or visit her website [http://www.ahaprocess.com/].