BPY 3093PsychologyLearning and Education EducationalPsychology Issue: Poverty Prepared by DayangNur Sharmila binti Mohd YusofBPSY 1502-5634    Introduction             Psychologyof Learning and Education uses numerous psychological theories and apply themin teaching and learning to ensure an effective learning and overcome classroomchallenges and misbehaviours among other things. In this assignment, the taskis to identify, explain and discuss an issue relevant in education. I havechosen the issue of poverty in education. I chose this issue specificallybecause I think that poverty plays a critical factor in a students’ academicachievement.

 Poverty inEducation             Povertyis defined as the state or condition of having little to no resources, money,or means of support, it is a condition of being poor and deficient fromnecessary or desirable items (Dictionary.com, n.d.).

Some may find the wordpoverty to be uncomfortable or even humiliating, but it is important as aneducators to understand the importance to consider the constraints thatpoverty, that often present in the children’s life, and how these conditionscan influence their learning and academic performance.             Peoplein poverty, like other socioeconomic groups have their own values, beliefs,experiences, background, and life opportunities. Although it is also known thatpeople across the socioeconomic statuses have many overlapping values, but ifpoor people experiences are exactly the same, cognitively, socially,emotionally and behaviourally as those from the other groups, then the exactsame teaching provided would bring the exact same result, but unfortunately itdoes not work that way (Jensen, 2013). Students who live in poverty went toschool daily without proper tools as the others, and most commonly are leftbehind their classmates in their studies.  Effects of Povertyto children             Thereare three main dimensions that poverty affected in children’s education whichare their physical readiness, social-emotional readiness and their cognitivereadiness.

 Physical Readiness             Physicaldevelopment in a child life is important but their health and nutrition aremost commonly affected by poverty. This is due to people who are poor arerarely to take up exercising, seldom get proper diagnoses when they get sick,and usually do not receive appropriate treatment or will not be prescribed withappropriate medications or interventions. Some research suggested thatintelligence is linked to health, children living in poverty rarely gettreatment for diseases or infections and these can affect their attention,reasoning, learning and memory (Jensen, 2013).             Nutritionalso play an important role as children are exposed to food with lowernutritional value more frequently as compared to the other socioeconomicgroups. This is because fresh foods are more expensive than pre-packaged foods.The parents working conditions leave little time to supervise their childreneating habits and these improper nutrition will lead to poor health.

Childrenbecame more susceptible to a number of illnesses when they do not eat awell-balanced and regular meals. When children are malnourished it is harderfor them to concentrate, listen and learn. Improper nutrition can also affectstudents’ behaviour where they will either appear lethargic or hyperactive.             Otherthan that, poverty also places constraints on the family in procuring materialresources for the children to learn such as unable to provide a private orquiet environments conducive to studying or they may not own a computer andother resources necessary to complete outside classroom assignments or projects(Parrett & Budge, 2016). Socio-Emotional Readiness             Socio-emotionalplays a significant factor in poverty and education of students. The studentswho came from a poverty-stricken families can encounter numerous situationsthat can affect them socially and emotionally. Studies shows that many of thesestudents live in a single-parent households (LSU Online, 2017). The single parent suffers a great dealof stress as the burden of two parent have to be carried by a single parent toprovide their children needs.

The stressors are most commonly from theirfinancial struggles, stressing about health care, housing and food, moreover theyoften get inadequate rest and personal time which will be very straining for anindividual.            These negativeand unstable environments will in turn manifests in student’s behaviour atschool. The student’s often became insecure, uncertain and stressed by theirchaotic and absences or instability of their parents involvement in theirlives. The effects of negative and unstable environments manifest in children’sbehaviour at school. Different students act in different ways. While somestudents are more aggressive, impulsive, being disrespectful and talk back toteachers using inappropriate language, other students disengaged themselves andbecame passive and they became reluctant to respond to peers or teachers. Studentswho lose hope that their situation in life will never change may give little orno effort to succeed. Cognitive Readiness              Students’cognitive performance are determined by the physical and socioemotionalfactors, and living in poverty have a detrimental effects.

Most commonly,students show short attention spans, some have high level of distractibility,and some cannot effectively monitor the quality of their own work (Jensen, 2013). These issues canmake schooling harder for these students and many who struggles either act outor shut down. Students who struggle with reading, math, and followingdirections may have weak vocabulary, poor working memory, or poor processingskills.                           Suggestions to overcomesome of the problems caused by Poverty in School.             Thereare numerous suggestions on things that we can do as an educator to help thestudents coming from poverty. Overcoming Physical factors             Povertyaffects the physical readiness of students through their physical activenessand nutritional intake. An educator should remember that the two primary sourceof energy for the brain is oxygen and glucose and these can be provided inschool without any costs (Jensen, 2013).

Students should betaught to practice stretching and small exercises in class to increase theiroxygen intake.             Schoolrecess and physical education can help with increasing the oxygen intake, asevident that children that are more involved in physical education are able toperform well in academic as compared to those who doesn’t. The usage of games,drama, and movement will trigger the release of stored glucose in the body. Aproper level of glucose are shown to be related with stronger memory andcognitive functions.

Therefore, introducing physical activities for studentscan reduce some of the issues that came from poor nutrition and also help buildup student health.            InMalaysia, the Government had initiated the Rancangan Makanan Tambahan (RMT)which provided food for primary school students from rural areas and lowersocioeconomic groups. The RMT is an incentive for the students to attend schooland improve their academic performance through improving their health, nutritionalintake and eating habits (Kementeriaan Pendidikan Malaysia, n.d.).            Otherthan that, the school can provide a place accessible for students to studyafter school hours such as a study hall, library and also a computer lab whichare equipped adequately to accommodate the students.

These can help provide aconducive and quiet place to study and provide informational resources for thestudents. The teachers can also take initiative to give extra lectures inweekends and after school hours to help students who perform poorly. Overcoming Socio-emotional factors             Childrenliving in poverty faces numerous challenges that can affect theirsocio-emotional stability and are particularly in need of strong, positive andcaring adults. An educator should bridge the gap and increase              Based on evidence and opinions  Discussion             InMalaysia, the Government had taken measures to reduce poverty through creatingemployment opportunities for all Malaysians, an expanded labour force and alsothe accelerated programme for education and training for the Bumiputeras. Theseinitiatives has had a dramatic and positive effects in reducing poverty inMalaysia.

            TheMalaysian education system offers primary, secondary and tertiary educationwhich are funded by the Government and other private educational initiatives,but the Malaysian way of teaching still structured to support students with higheracademic achievement through a heavy weightage on examinations (Mannikar, 2017).             Theeducation system was supposed to be used as a way for future generations toescape poverty, but these view on teaching, where only the top students aregiven priorities will cause students that perform lower to be de-prioritized inthe educational system which can lead to a poverty loop . The quality ofeducation and resources available between rural and urban schools alsoinfluences the average marks on the international tests.            Most peoplewho faces poverty only send their children to primary and secondary educationas it is government funded, but rarely any progress to a higher education eventhough there are positive benefits to gain from continuing study past schooling.            Educationis important as it not only provide skills and experience needed foremployability, but it also prepares the individual to face social situationsand decision making. It is needed to help reduce poverty by improving livingstandards and income, and also to reduce issues such as crime and corruptions.Research done has suggested that an early education and development of mentalhealth can help prevent crime related behaviours in the future as individualswill be able to make smart decisions for themselves.            Althoughthe tertiary education is beneficial, the high costs of tuition fees made mostpoverty stricken families reluctant to invest the little money they have.

  Articulate my viewJustification through evidence (theories/research)   Conclusion