Empty Tissue Boxes: Considering Poverty in Diversity Discourse

Autor/inn/en	Cuthrell, Kristen; Ledford, Carolyn; Stapleton, Joy
Titel	Empty Tissue Boxes: Considering Poverty in Diversity Discourse
Quelle	In: Childhood Education, 83 (2007) 5, S.273 (4 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0009-4056
Schlagwörter	Preservice Teachers; Poverty; Preservice Teacher Education; Personality Traits; Student Diversity; Cultural Pluralism; Student Teacher Attitudes; Consciousness Raising; Coping; Teacher Role; Teacher Student Relationship + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Armut; Lehramtsstudiengang; Lehrerausbildung; Individual characteristics; Personality characteristic; Persönlichkeitsmerkmal; Kulturpluralismus; Bewusstseinsbildung; Bewältigung; Lehrerrolle; Teacher student relationships; Lehrer-Schüler-Beziehung
Abstract	A preservice teacher doing her internship overhears some of her students asking a classmate why he regularly takes home empty tissue boxes. The boy replies that he builds cities and bridges with his empty boxes. His classmates then ask why he does not just build a city with Legos or building blocks. The preservice teacher listens intently as the little boy explains, matter-of-factly, that he does not have any Legos or building blocks; what he does have are the empty tissue boxes his teacher saves for him. The preservice teacher begins saving empty tissue boxes to give to the child. When she gives him the tissue boxes, the child reacts as if it were the best gift in the world. A few weeks later, the clinical teacher learns that the child will be moving. The child solemnly asks his teacher to please write a letter to his new teacher, asking his new teacher to save empty tissue boxes for him. This child is not going to accept any deficit as a limitation. He is willing and able to create his own resources. For the preservice teacher, this was a lesson in the resiliency of children and the importance of knowing and understanding her students' diverse needs. This article talks about how poverty is being taken into consideration in diversity discourse. Diversity is a complex issue, consisting of multiple components that challenge today's educators to think beyond the traditional lines of race and ethnicity. This article discusses preparing teachers to work with children in poverty and what teacher preparation programs can do to better equip preservice teachers to work with students of poverty. (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Association for Childhood Education International. 17904 Georgia Avenue Suite 215, Olney, MD 20832. Tel: 800-423-3563; Tel: 301-570-2111; Fax: 301-570-2212; e-mail: headquarters@acei.org; Web site: http://www.acei.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10