Journal Table Two

Hannah Walch
Important Societal Factors/Significant Course Content
Observations from Field Notes
C) How do specific arguments made by
Eric Jensen or any other scholars used
A) What are the specific important- on ANY OF the 6 Poverty
societal-factors-edfd-460-461-462 that Analyses (Areas Discussed in the Eric
serve as resources and challenges Jensen Reading located in the D2L
impacting the learning of the Discussion section) shape your present
learner(s) you are studying in your thinking about working with
clinical setting (See the following impoverished learners? (Cite specific
document: important-societal-factors- author arguments, examples, and page
edfd-460-461-462) (Remember to numbers here!!)?
focus on resources, not just
challenges!!!). After reading Eric Jensens argument on
impoverished learners, I have gained a greater
Specific important societal factors that serve understanding on working with those learners. I
as resources and challenges impacting the would not have taken the seven factors Jensen
learning of the learners I am studying in my mentions into consideration had I not read and
clinical setting at Winona Senior High are comprehended them. For example, difference
economic conditions, household dynamics, one discusses the importance of health and
institutional practices, and classroom nutrition when it comes to impoverished
dynamics. students (p.2). This relates directly to my field
of study as I am entering the field of Health
Economic conditions consist of the education Education and Physical Education. Jensen
level and training of members of the asserts that because of their economic status, the
household. This includes occupations, poor have less access to medical care, meaning
income level and certifications. The they visit the doctor less, and do not have
relationship between poverty and education regular checkups. This is concerning due to the
shows in the students level of cognitive fact that students cannot pay attention when they
readiness. The physical and emotional are not healthy. By having students engage in
element of living in low income areas have physical activity in short spurts throughout the
negative effects of students performance. day increases their attention capacity as well as
Poor nutrition and poor health also influence willingness to learn.
how children learn. Difference four also particularly stuck out for
me when working with impoverished children. I
Household dynamics are one part of a larger think it is always important to praise students for
system. Families exist as their own structure their accomplishments, and encourage them to
made of people who share bonds and always put their best foot forward. This build a
experiences as well as a sense of history. trusting relationship between teacher and
These qualities create the base for household student. Impoverished students struggle with
dynamics. Dynamics are affected by many engagement and staying focused, and rewarding
factors, including the number of children or a them for accomplishments is crucial.
family's culture. For example, a family with
many children may have rules pertaining to
which child does certain chores. This also
includes nuclear families, single parent
 Journal Table Two
Hannah Walch
families, extended families, stepfamilies, and
grandparent families. Many of the students in
my classroom come from different household
dynamics and it helps shape who they are as
individuals.
Institutional practices impact every student
individually at my clinical setting as both
resources and challenges. Examples of
institutions include housing and real estate,
health care, child care, social services,
banking services, and government programs
within a community.
Classroom dynamics directly impact students
in my clinical setting. Each decision made by
the cooperating teaching affects the students
in either a positive or negative manner.
Tapping into students prior knowledge
repertoire helps students make connections to
the content.
B) What developmental and/or learning
theorists learned in EDFD
400/401 can be used to argue why
these specific Important Societal
Factors are significant?
Jerome Bruners theory of constructivism can
be used to explain why Important Societal
Factors are relevant. To Bruner, important
outcomes of learning include not just the
concepts, categories, and problem-solving
procedures invented previously by the culture,
but also the ability to "invent" these things for
oneself.
Both Bruner and Vygotsky emphasize a
child's environment, especially the social
environment, more than Piaget did. Both
agree that adults should play an active role in
assisting the child's learning.
The main theorist that relates to why
household dynamics is a significant societal
D) How do you see your Cooperating
Teacher addressing (or missing the
opportunity to address) students
development of soft skills (Be specific
with concrete examples of these soft
skills See Closure to the Poverty
Analysis Discussion) and any specific
21st Century Framework Skills
discussed in the following
resources: P21 Framework Definitions
and Descriptions (Dont just say some
lame sentence about Smartboards here!!)
Some soft skills that I have observed my
cooperating teacher using were working
independently and teaching students to receive
feedback and what to do with that feedback.
The way he incorporates independence is asking
students to create their own workout plan in the
weight room. He expects them to achieve a
certain amount of minutes in their targeted heart
rate zone, but how they reach that is their own
choice.
My cooperating teacher teaches students to deal
with feedback from him, peers, and heart rate
monitors. The students are expected to give
feedback to each other when doing specific
exercise. It is stressed to them that it is good to
give constructive feedback because it could
avoid injuries.
E) How do you see (or fail to see) how your
cooperating teacher demonstrates any of
the concrete strategies for working
with impoverished learners that you
learned from your outside scholar that
you used for your groups Poverty
Analysis Discussion OR as identified
by your classmates outside scholar
discussed in their specific Poverty
Analysis? (Cite the specific outside
scholar, the title of the article, page
numbers, and specific, concrete
strategies discussed in said article!!).
 Journal Table Two
Hannah Walch
factor that influences is Bronfenbrenner. A
students microsystem is the smallest and
most immediate environment for the student.
This includes their daily home, peer group or
community environment. Interactions within
the microsystem typically include personal
relationships with family members,
classmates, teachers and caregivers. The
microsystem and mesosystem in his theory
deal with environments such as peers, family,
school and siblings. The exosystem deals with
students parents or guardians work and the
environment surrounding that. Because
Bronfenbrenners theory deals with a
students environment it relates to why
household dynamics is an important societal
factor that impacts a students development.
Goddard, Roger & Salloum, Serena &
Berebitsky, Dan. (2009). Trust as a Mediator of
the Relationships Between Poverty, Racial
Composition, and Academic Achievement.
Evidence From Michigan's Public Elementary
Schools. Educational Administration Quarterly.
The author, Roger Goddard, in the article, Trust
as a Mediator of the Relationships Between
Poverty, Racial Composition, and Academic
Achievement Evidence From Michigans Public
Elementary Schools, concluded through his
study that poverty was related to academic
achievement. They did a study that took random
samples of elementary aged children, and tested
the relationship between trust and achievement
in relation to their social academic achievement
and their racial composition. Additionally, this
study also had an interesting spin to it. The
author also used trust in his study to see if that
too would have an impact on a childs academic
achievement.
Through the study the author was able to argue
his conclusion that: racial and economic
disadvantage were related to achievement only
indirectly through their negative views on trust.
The trust relationship appears to, ultimately,
mediate the relationship that is built between
school disadvantages and academic
achievement.
Future researchers may wish to study whether
programs seeking to increase trust in schools
can effectively minimize the academic
disadvantage typically associated with poverty
and racial composition.
Journal Table Two
Hannah Walch
F) List the 2 Human Resources, 2
Academic Journal Articles, and 2
Curriculum and Instruction resources
you will possibly use for your Annotated
Bibliography.

Dawson-McClure, S., Calzada, E., Huang,

K., Kamboukos, D., Rhule, D., Kolawole, B., . .
. Brotman, L. M. (2015). A Population-Level
Approach to Promoting Healthy Child
Development and School Success in Low-
Income, Urban Neighborhoods: Impact on
Parenting and Child Conduct Problems.
Prevention Science, 16(2), pp. 279-290.
doi:10.1007/s11121-014-0473-

Goddard, Roger & Salloum, Serena &

Berebitsky, Dan. (2009). Trust as a Mediator of
the Relationships Between Poverty, Racial
Composition, and Academic Achievement.
Evidence from Michigan's Public Elementary
Schools. Educational Administration Quarterly.

Brown, S. L. (2004). Family Structure

and Child Well-Being: The Significance of
Parental Cohabitation. Journal of Marriage and
Family, 66(2), pp. 351-367.

Thomas, D. (2007). Teaching Technology in

low socioeconomic areas: Technology education
will help break the cycle for low socioeconomic
students. The Technology Teacher, 67, no. 3, 4-
8.
Human Resources
Dr. Mally Physical Education Professor at
WSU
Amy Olson SPED professor at WSU.