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Payne, Ruby (2008). Nine powerful practices. Educational Leadership: Poverty and Learning, 65, 48-52. In her article, Nine Powerful Practices, Ruby Payne gives teachers of impoverished, low-income students ideas and intervention techniques to raise student achievement. Her strategies mimic much of the current research on large populations of students who are living in poverty.
Her nine strategies are as follows: build relationships of success; make beginning learning relational; teach students to speak in formal register, assess each student’s resources; teach the hidden rules of school, monitor progress and plan interventions; translate the concrete into abstract; teach students how to ask questions; and forge relationships with parents. Ruby Payne suggests that teachers take an understanding and therapeutic approach when educating impoverished students. She believes that their learned norms may actually conflict with school rules, procedures, and expectations.
Therefore, she suggests that teachers are especially sensitive to the issues and challenges faced by those living in poverty. A major strength of the article is that Ruby supports her nine practices with concrete examples from her own teaching experiences. She is actually demonstrating her seventh practice of ‘Translating the Concrete into the Abstract. ‘ In this section of the article Ruby states, “Mental models enable the student to make a connection between something concrete he or she understands and a representational idea. A mental model is anything that puts a picture into the students’ minds ??? from a story to an actual picture. Through storytelling, Ruby has thoroughly explained her practices in the article. It is easy to agree with Ruby’s charge to form relationships with both the student and the student’s parents. Ruby believes that without a positive and working relationship with a student’s parents, it would be hard to accomplish anything. She also thinks that the most important bond that must form is that of the teacher and student. The teacher and student should have a mutual respect for one another.
This respect is based on the interest a teacher shows in the student, both verbally and through nonverbal actions. Ruby’s third practice, ‘Teach Students to Speak in Formal Register,” left me with many questions and an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach. In fact, I felt like I had recently read a conflicting statement in Good and Brophy’s, Looking in Classrooms (2008). Good and Brophy believe that a teacher may actually hinder a student from answering a question or responding by expecting a “perfect” answer (Good & Brophy, 2008). This “perfect” answer sounds too similar to “speak in formal register. In fact, I believe that a student may be discouraged to answer if they feel like they must answer a specific way. I understand that Ruby wants students to be successful in the business world as well as in school; however, I believe that this language will come in time. A student’s language will become more consultative and less casual more through teacher modeling than through correction of a student’s language upon response. Ruby even tells us that many students refer to consultative language as “white talk,” which ironically is also expressed in a case study in the Good and Brophy work.
However, Ruby fails to see that true learning can take place without formal or consultative language. Ruby’s example of correcting a student’s language is admirable, because it is done through writing. Proper language is important in writing responses and expressing one’s self. However, a student could become discouraged from participating and learning if required to respond formally all the time. Ruby insight into student’s individual circumstances is bright and thoughtful. Teachers must understand a student’s home-life and family-structure to properly intervene.
This is a valuable teaching technique and should be implemented across the board. It would be difficult in a high-school setting where a teacher may only see the student once a day, but could still be accomplished through teacher collaboration. I currently have my students construct questions to facilitate learning. I can often tell if a student understands what they have been taught if they can ask an appropriate question. Ruby Payne offers many suggestions that I will implement into my classroom. They are practices that would help any student succeed.