| Read a Post for Miseducating Teachers about the Poor: A Critical Analysis of Ruby Payne's Claims about Poverty |
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but Ruby Payne promotes empathy and allows dialogue
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| Posted By: Veronica Barlee on September 6, 2007 |
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I Although this article presents a very well-researched critique of Ruby Payne’s “Framework of Poverty” I think it is unduly harsh; the article does not acknowledge that Ruby Payne provides the opportunity for dialogue about children living in poverty and her workshops promote empathy and encourage teachers to connect to students.
I heard Ruby Payne speak to hundreds of educators earlier this year and, although her observations did not resonate with me and I found many of her conclusions objectionable, she had a remarkable ability to foster empathy, especially among educators who did not have personal or family experience of poverty. Her workshops also emphasize the difference that a teacher can make in the life of a child. Please see the June 10, 2007 New York Times article about Ruby Payne for similar observations.
Before Ruby Payne came along, where were the opportunities to learn about the impact of poverty on students’ educational achievement?
As Jennifer Ng and John Rury note in their thoughtful July 2006 critique of Ruby Payne:
“Perhaps it is time for the research and education community to take up the challenge of poverty and begin to engage the questions that Ruby Payne has addressed so actively in the past decade or so”.
The academic criticism of Payne is well-founded but I really wonder who is making more of a positive impact on children’s lives? Maybe Ruby Payne.
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