Education, Voice and Empowerment: Learning with and from Children in Poverty

Despite what is known about gender inequalities and the links between smoking, smoke exposure, and poverty, mothers who fail to protect their children from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), are often stigmatized as uncaring mothers by the media. Here I describe the process of talking to mothers of young children about the wider social context(s) within which the act of smoking takes place, and their reflections on the paradox of why many women caring for young children still expose their children to tobacco smoke in home environments. By articulating the complex interrelationship between smoking, the maintenance of social relationships, caring for children, and coping with poverty, the women present an alternative conceptualisation as to why and how mothers direct their agency to enable them to care for their children in poverty, which questions the timing, messages and ultimate effect of giving home smoking advice to mothers with young children.

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Child Care Policy as an Anti-Poverty Strategy: The Need to Address Neurophysiological Self-Regulation

Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1177/23727322211031579 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 237273222110315

Author(s):

Steven J. Holochwost ◽

Lindsay A. Gomes ◽

Cathi B. Propper ◽

Eleanor D. Brown ◽

Iheoma U. Iruka

Keyword(s):

Self Regulation ◽

Early Care And Education ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Early Care ◽

Care Policy ◽

High Quality ◽

Children In Poverty ◽

Education Environment ◽

Short And Long Term

High-quality early care and education can mitigate the short- and long-term effects of poverty on young children’s development. Therefore, policies that expand access to high-quality early care and education can be an effective anti-poverty strategy. A number of programs demonstrably foster volitional processes of self-regulation—the capacity to control emotions, thoughts, and behaviors—among young children in poverty. However, relatively little is known about how the activity of the neurophysiological systems that form the interface between brain and body supports these processes of self-regulation in early care and education settings. Maximizing the efficacy of early care and education as an anti-poverty strategy requires adopting policies to advance three interrelated goals: understanding, accommodating, and reconfiguring young children’s neurophysiological function in the early care and education environment.

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Developing University-School Partnerships to Support Students and Teachers in Rural Schools

Handbook of Research on Leadership and Advocacy for Children and Families in Rural Poverty - Advances in Human Services and Public Health ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-2787-0.ch014 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 295-318

Author(s):

Cheryl Y. Lambert ◽

Lori Allen ◽

Lisa Barron

Keyword(s):

School Districts ◽

Rural Schools ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Rural Poverty ◽

Rural School ◽

School Partnerships ◽

Children In Poverty ◽

University School Partnerships ◽

Support Students

This chapter examines the potential for positive impact from partnerships between rural school districts and universities, currently underexplored and overlooked. The challenges facing rural schools offer opportunities for school districts and university partners to develop, organize, and implement strategies for productive collaboration. Examining the rural, educational landscape through the lens of children in poverty, this chapter offers a view of urgency for educational reform. This chapter examines the challenges of high-poverty, rural schools; the rationale for building university-school partnerships with rural schools; insight into building trust with rural school leaders and teachers; and suggestions for developing practical programs which benefit children in rural poverty. Practical suggestions for improving the quality of the educational experiences of children in poverty are included in this chapter.

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