Glenda Allen-Jones is chair of the Early Childhood Department at Southern University at New Orleans, Louisiana.
Making ends meet” is a common phrase that refers to covering expenses based on limited income. For many, making ends meet is more than an occasional occurrence, it’s an everyday way of life. Poverty can be the cause of many social ills, including poor housing, access to grocery stores, access to health care and decreased academic achievement for poor students.
According to 2009 Health and Human Services guidelines, the poverty line for a family of four is $22,050, but as living expenses increase, it is almost impossible to support a family of four on this income. The National Center for Children in Poverty reports lack of formal education, living in a single parent household, being a minority or having immigrant parents places a child at a higher risk for poverty.
All of these by-products of poverty can lead to increased pressures for schools. In “Social-emotional development in early childhood: What every policymaker should know,” Janice Cooper, Rachel Masi and Jessica Vick stated that children who live in low-income neighborhoods are at higher risks for problems in behavior and these problems can impact their overall development.
How do those in poverty survive difficult financial situations? Some have family help, a supportive church or help from social service agencies. Any of these support systems can be considered “resiliency networks.”
Resiliency is the ability to face difficult situations and bounce back. In “Resilience and Families,” Marilyn Coleman and Lawrence Ganong distinguish between the terms “resiliency” and “resilience.” The former relates to surviving difficult times; the latter refers to traits of survival inherent in the individual.
While many people immediately think of poverty as an inner city problem, Maria Vandergriff-Avery, Elaine Anderson and Bonnie Braun reported that although all families face life stressors, rural families often lack access to social support services, which may place rural families — and children — at greater risk.
Life stressors such as unemployment, illness, relationship discord and overall sense of helplessness can cause tension in relationships among family members, the trio stated in a 2004 article in Families in Society. Mothers reported difficulties in parenting, relationship problems, being a single mom, health issues, economic problems, living conditions, employment problems, concerns about religion and issues with reliable transportation as life stressors.
Families in rural poverty do have access to some protective factors that can offset the impact of stress, including:
Whatever strategy works for them, it is crucial for families to have recovery-based strategies or resiliency mechanisms to cope in difficult times.
Unfortunately, resilience in one area does not necessarily transfer to all areas of life. An American Psychological Association task force report, Resilience in African-American Children and Adolescents, said that a child may be resilient in coping with difficulty at home but not be able to cope with problems faced at school.
Stories of resilience
During nine months in 2003 at a Head Start Center in Blue Island, Illinois, I conducted interviews of parents, teachers and administrators to learn their thoughts regarding parental involvement. Head Start is a federally funded early childhood program developed as a response to extreme poverty.
Examples of resilience manifested in personal narratives of the families as parents shared the challenges they faced in everyday life. Those challenges range from an inability to attend school due to lack of evening childcare to a lack of financial resources to cover general expenses.
My memories of the families serve as testament to the will of their human spirit. One mother worked two jobs to earn a living and still found time to volunteer in the center and serve as president of the parent policy council.
While in Blue Island, I observed parents helping each other by sharing information about sales in the neighborhood, sharing coupons, providing advice about parenting and sharing insight about life situations. The following narratives demonstrate various aspects of resilience.
Managing money
Angela, a young single mom, shared a life lesson about money management that she teaches her 4-year-old daughter Destiny:
I gave her $10 and she was able to buy one toy at Toys ’R Us one time. ... Then the next time I took her to Family Dollar, I gave her $10 and she was able to get a whole bag of stuff.
Angela emphasizes the importance of smart purchases with Destiny, teaching her how to be positive and resourceful with money. She believes the life lesson of thrift will influence her daughter’s development of good spending habits. Teaching life lessons is an example of a resiliency factor being passed from parent to child.
Language barriers
Mrs. Gonzalez, an assistant teacher in Head Start, shared that when she arrived in the United States from Mexico she could not speak English. She took a job as a cook at a Head Start center to support her two young children. While working, she took English as a Second Language (ESL) courses.
Head Start helps in many ways. You grow as a person (and) you get a better job. It is wonderful.
Mrs. Gonzalez highlights perseverance against giving up in the face of linguistic adversity.
Teaching and resiliency
As chair of an early childhood program at Southern University in New Orleans, Louisiana, I see firsthand the aspects of resiliency in the students I teach. Many have shared their hopes and dreams of making a difference in the lives of children they hope to teach some day.
I listened as they told me of their experience and the experiences of their family members during Hurricane Katrina. Two students went out of their way to educate me on the merits of an emergency plan in the hurricane season. It was easy to feel the resiliency in their stories about preparedness and the necessity to be prepared for any hurricane season.
In a graduate seminar I taught several years ago, each term I shared with students the premise that everyone has the potential of being in situations that increase the risk factors in their lives. That’s why teachers need to understand the research on resiliency, as well as learn strategies for working with and engaging the families of the children they teach.
I also taught a family involvement course during the summer, and many of my students commented they believe in the essential nature of working with families. However, they lacked the strategies to establish working relationships with families.
Some of the students were parents, and they shared how they would like to be treated and included in the education process. The suggestions provided were geared to teachers. However, they can be used by others who work with families and set policies for schools.
Teachers should ask for input about the child’s behavior at home to gain a holistic view of the child. The interests children have at home may be used as a way to engage them within the classroom (i.e. a little boy who loves books about horses at home would benefit from having opportunities to read books on horses at school).
It also is important to listen to concerns from the family in a non-judgmental manner that promotes discussion. However, trust must be established with families to create rapport before these conversations will happen. How can this rapport be achieved?
We are all interconnected and our positive actions can help build people’s spirits. The impact of a smile, a friendly wave or a kind hello can transform the person we encounter. The need to assist in the building of resiliency networks is paramount to a healthy society and increased student achievement.
References
Glenda Allen-Jones, “Our lives, our stories: A study of parental involvement,” unpublished dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2004
Glenda Allen-Jones, “Repairing toys at the center: Two African-American fathers and their experiences with parental involvement,” The National Journal of Urban Education & Practice, 2009
American Psychological Association task force, “Resilience in African-American children and adolescents: A vision for optimal development,” Washington, D.C., 2008, Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/cyf/resilience.html
Marilyn Coleman and Lawrence H. Ganong, “Resilience and Families,” Family Relations, 2002
Janice L. Cooper, Rachel Masi and Jessica Vick, “Social-emotional development in early childhood: What every policymaker should know,” National Center for Children in Poverty Brief, 2009
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines, “The 2009 Health & Human Services Poverty Guidelines”
Maria Vandergriff-Avery, Elaine A. Anderson and Bonnie Braun, “Resiliency capacities among rural low-income families,” Families in Society, 2004