Implications poverty can cause for pedagogical practice and my final thoughts

Chances are throughout my teaching profession I will work alongside children and their families who live in poverty. As I have come to realise poverty is a huge social issue in New Zealand society which is clearly reinforced by statistics. Poverty is an issue that is evident throughout our bi-cultural society and can cause a number of implications for early childhood teachers.

One of the main concerns I have discovered throughout the research is a lack of understanding. I believe this highlights the importance of strong and open relationships with children, their parents and whānau. By developing good relationships and working in collaboration helps build successful outcomes for the child. As Te Whariki states “the health and well-being of the child [is to be] protected and nurtured” (Ministry of Education, 1996, p. 46).

Consequently, knowing the children and their families and having an understanding of their home environment allows teachers to promote practical solutions. For example, growing a communal edible garden not only involves children and their families but allows food to be shared amongst families.  Or, encouraging unwanted clothes to be donated and swapped between families and the local community at the centre, provides useful help for those in need.

However, not all relationships are genuine. Sometimes assumptions and judgements are made without teachers knowing the real background on a particular child. Unconsciously, teachers look at a certain situation and assume parents and whānau are not meeting the full needs of the child. However, sometimes the choices parents make may be the only way in which they can meet a certain need. Similarly, if true relationships are not formed between whānau and teachers there is likely to be missed opportunities to support families.

Within relationships implications can occur when effective communication is insufficient, as relationships rely on effective communication. This allows parents to feel comfortable when asking for help and when a teacher may be expressing concerns. “Families bring knowledge and experience of their child as an individual, and [teachers] bring [their] knowledge of children In general…” all of this information will create “the optimal experience for each child” (Feeney, Moravcik, Nolte & Christensen, 2010, p. 422).

However, having effective communication and positive relationships with a child’s family may not always ensure families will ask for help. Firstly, they may feel too embarrassed to ask, and secondly a family may not know how to ask for help. This highlights another implication for teacher’s pedagogical practice as teachers have an ethical responsibility to ensure a child’s basic needs are being met. Under the Code of Ethics and Te Whariki it clearly states that teachers are to promote the physical and emotional well-being of children (New Zealand Teachers Council, Code of Ethics for Registered Teachers, 2004 & Ministry of Education, 1996).

My final thoughts

Writing this blog and researching about the social issue of poverty has made me aware of the importance of teachers to commit to on-going learning. Ideally all teachers will be qualified and have learnt about social issues and how these effect children and teaching practice. But all teachers qualified or not, need to make sure that they stay current with the latest information, policies and statistics of the social issues in New Zealand. This way  they can make informed choices about their teaching practice when working with children and hopefully make a difference for those children in need.

Hope you enjoyed my blog

References

Feeney, S., Moravcik, E., Nolte, S., & Christensen, D. (2010.). Who am I in the lives of children? An introduction to early childhood education. (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Ministry of Education. (1996.). TeWhāriki: He Whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa/Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

New Zealand Teacher’s Council Code of Ethics for Registered Teacher’s. (2004.). Retrieved from  http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/required/ethics/index.stm

The effects poverty has on a child's health

This blog will be focusing on health issues that poverty can cause for children.

Firstly, overcrowding is one implication within poverty which can have a huge impact on a child’s health. On the Child Poverty Action Group website I came across an essay writing competition for medical students, I read one written in 2011 by medical student Sarah Merry. She had moved from South Africa to Auckland, she said New Zealand “seemed a land of milk and honey” until she went on a placement, doing home visits with the community team. On her rounds she soon realised the true meaning of overcrowding with one three bedroom home housing twelve people. One of the children she visited “suffered severe bronchiolitis (a serious chest infection) and at the same time scabies infection, both spread by human contact” (Merry, 2011). 

Scabies

For Sarah Merry’s full essay click on the link below:

 http://www.cpag.org.nz/assets/sm/upload/ix/0n/26/bf/Report%20Sarah%20Merry.pdf

Furthermore, on the Child Poverty Action Group website, I watched TV3’s John Campbell interviewing Auckland paediatricians on the preventable diseases that children are admitted for. In this interview it is said by one of the paediatricians that it is more often than not the homes these children live in. Damp, cold, overcrowded, just what germs and diseases would class as heaven, places to grow with many people in these homes becoming their hosts, always though, the youngest child being the most venerable. I found this interview very heart wrenching especially when one of the doctors said that all the admissions he was seeing, was just like working in South Africa a decade ago and this is our country, New Zealand, not a third world country. As he said we should not be seeing these types of diseases. I totally agree with the last doctor seen in this interview, she said this is “state child neglect” because we have known about this and we have known about this for the past ten years! Why has nothing changed?         

This is a link to John Campbell’s interview:

 Healthy homes = healthy kids

The overcrowding within these homes can cause many serious infections. “Infectious diseases such as meningococcal disease, rheumatic fever, tuberculosis, and respiratory infections…” (Howden-Chapman & Wilson, 1999, p. 133). Fletcher and Dwyer’s (2008) report ‘A fair go for all children’, also add other infectious diseases such as asthma, skin diseases, depression and other mental illness. Additionally, infectious diseases among children under five years accounts for 64% of acute admissions for Maori children, 68% for pacific children, compared with 55% of European and other children. This information was discovered when reading a published piece of research from the University of Otago, Wellington, discussing the increase in hospital admissions within the last two decades (Baker, 2012). This is the link to this research:

http://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/otago030366.html

Not only is it the homes in which some of these children live that can make them sick, it could also include affordability and accessibility regarding appropriate health care. Fletcher and Dwyer’s (2008) report ‘A fair go for all children’ stated affordability can be an issue for parents living in poverty. If a child under six years is registered at a G.P practice the cost can often be at low-cost or free within normal working hours. “However, after-hours charges are highly variable and can be as high as $120 an hour” (Turner & Asher, 2008, cited in Fletcher & Dwyer, 2008, p. 55). This makes me question, when families are living in poverty do they own or have access to a vehicle within normal working hours? And if they do not own their own vehicle, is waiting for a family member or friend after-hours the only option they have? Therefore, it seems to me that if the latter is the case, how are parents supposed to afford to take their children to the doctor? Additionally, within this report Fletcher and Dwyer have proposed four objectives that may help to improve the health of these children: 

1. “Ensure that all children are enrolled in Well-child and a general practice service at birth.
2.  Ensure children can get after-hours and weekend medical attention and prescriptions at all times, without cost.
3.  Improve immunisation rates to match the best-performing OECD countries.
4.  Progressively extend free medical visits to children of all ages in all areas” (Fletcher & Dwyer, 2008, p. 56).

I do agree if visits to the doctor were free, more children would get seen before such infections and diseases get to a point where they could potentially affect a child for a lifetime. Personally I have to admit that I have thought twice before I have taken my own children to the doctor, purely because of the cost. As a parent I know that when my children get sick, they generally go downhill after-hours – always the way!

"Many things we need can wait.  The child cannot.  Now is the time his bones are being formed; his blood is being made; his mind is being developed.  To him we cannot say    tomorrow.  His name is today." (Gabriela Mistral, n.d., cited in, Child Poverty Action Group)

This is a link to the full Fletcher and Dwyer (2008) report:

http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/media/6348/A%20fair%20go%20for%20all%20children_full.pdf

When children are living in poverty for extensive periods of their life, not only will they be at higher risk of health issues as children, but this could continue throughout adulthood. Fletcher and Dwyer (2008) stated that in New Zealand a child that has grown up in poverty “is associated with higher rates of heart disease, alcohol and drug dependence, and worse oral health at age 26” (Poulton et al., 2002, cited in Fletcher & Dwyer, 2008, p. 14). In turn this may have an impact on their children, thus potentially repeating the same cycle.

Therefore, putting the proposed objectives suggested by Fletcher and Dwyer (2008) in place for children living in poverty may help prevent poor health and other implications. Likewise, provide positive experiences and teach those living in poverty how to source future help.

Within my next blog I aim to consider what I have learnt about poverty and how this will affect my teaching practice.

References

Baker, M. (2012.). Alarming increase in serious infectious diseases in NZ. Retrieved from http://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/otago030366.html

Campbell, J. (2008.). The future of New Zealand depends on the well-being of every child. Retrieved from http://www.cpag.org.nz/topics/

Fletcher, M, & Dwyer, M. (2008.). A fair go for all children: Actions to address child poverty in New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/media/6348/A%20fair%20go%20for%20all%20children_full.pdf

Howden-Chapman, P, & Wilson, N. (1999.). Housing and health. Retrieved from http://www.healthyhousing.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/SIHch7.pdf

Merry, S. (2011.). Child health and child poverty In New Zealand: A medical student’s experience. Retrieved from http://www.cpag.org.nz/assets/sm/upload/ix/0n/26/bf/Report%20Sarah%20Merry.pdf

Housing and Employment

As previously stated, this blog will be focusing on polices and the criteria the government requires to stipulate whether a person or family is eligible for help.




(picture retrieved from http://www.hawkesbay.co.nz/general-stories-page:/52532-napier-housing-action-group-to-return-to-parliament.html )

The suburb of Maraenui Napier has nearly 100 empty Housing New Zealand homes, therefore families who once tenanted these homes have had to move into private rentals which are not affordable or move in with family which can be overcrowded. I have read an article regarding a petition that was put forward to the government by a community group called Tu Tangata Maraenui. The petition was a protest against the changes made regarding the Housing New Zealand criteria. This is a link regarding the petition the group took to parliament:

 http://www.stuff.co.nz/hawkes-bay-sun/news/7946016/Marchers-in-Wellington

Arapera Brown a spokeswoman for Tu Tangata Maraenui explains that the changes made to the criteria have left families unable to afford private rent therefore two and three families all have to live together under one roof. Additionally, the houses that are left unoccupied are an open invitation for teenagers to use these homes for drinking, partying and criminal activities, thus making an unsafe community (Brown, 2013). I decided to try and find out exactly what the criteria is to be eligible for a housing New Zealand home. I went to their website and found that the information provided was very limited, which meant if I wanted to know exactly what the criteria was, I needed to ring the 0800 number. This made me question why this information was not provided on the internet and is this because the criteria can differ for individual cases. However, I did find out how they prioritised successful applicants. Housing New Zealand has priority A, “assessed as being at risk” B, “assessed as being serious” C, “assessed as being moderate” and D, “assessed as being low” (Housing New Zealand Corporation, 2013), the link below has how many applicants are on waiting lists for each region and how many under each priority:

 http://www.hnzc.co.nz/rent-buy-or-own/rent-from-housing-new-zealand/waiting-list-by-nu

As housing may be unaffordable for some, this puts pressure on a child’s health and well-being. Having multiple families overcrowding in the one home can mean compromised personal space which may have an effect on the families health, according to Howden-Chapman and Wilson (1999) overcrowded homes “are more likely to have low socioeconomic status and higher unemployment” (p. 133). However, I saw on TV One News Paula Bennett, the Minister of Social Development, explain that the beneficiary numbers had in fact dropped, meaning more people have gone back to work. But, this statement was then challenged when Major Pam Waugh from the Salvation Army stated that the food bank demands have actually risen, even though Howden-Chapman and Wilson state that the overcrowding can be due to higher unemployment, this may not always be the case. This shows that even when people do have jobs it is not always enough to get food on the table, additionally this shows that it is not always beneficiaries that are struggling. So although benefit numbers are down the cost of living in this country has risen to a point where more and more people need support. This is the link regarding what Major Pam Waugh says about the food bank and Paula Bennett’s opinion for the drop in benefits:

 http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/poverty-group-slams-benefit-cuts-5406591/video

The above information led me to think about human rights and the rights of the child. "International human rights law lays down obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups" (United Nations Human Rights, 1996, p. 1). Moreover, the Human Rights Commission (2010) explains children's rights are usually advocated as falling into three sections. One of these being 'provision rights' which states "provision rights include the right to an adequate living" (Human Rights Commission, 2010, p. 4). This lead me to wonder what happens for those families who do not meet the criteria? or those families who may not seek help or even know where to start. Does this mean children's rights are being denied? In my opinion yes because if families do not meet the criteria, children are the ones who suffer having to bunk in with family in overcrowded situations.
     

My next blog will look more at a child’s health due to overcrowding situations, and the implications that come from poor health for a child in regards to early childhood and other educational settings.

References

Brown, A. (2013.). Napier housing action group to return to parliament. Retrieved from http://www.hawkesbay.co.nz/general-stories-page:/52532-napier-housing-action-group-to-return-to-parliament.html

Housing New Zealand Coperation. (2013.). Retrieved from http://www.hnzc.co.nz/rent-buy-or-own/rent-from-housing-new-zealand/waiting-list-by-nu

Howden-Chapman, P, & Wilson, N. (1999.). Housing and health. Retrieved from http://www.healthyhousing.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/SIHch7.pdf

Human Rights Commission. (2010.). The rights of children and young people. Retrieved from  http://www.hrc.co.nz/hrc_new/hrc/cms/files/documents/20-Aug-2010_12-25-25_Childrens_chapter_v3.pdf