In her speech Dr. Payne discusses the subject of poverty, its relationship to other social concepts such as knowledge, and the differences between different social classes. In order to better understand her perspective, it is necessary to compare it to the class readings on the same subject. First, it should be established that both sources agree that poverty affects people on a multi-faceted level. Aside from simply limiting the ability of an individual to buy things, it becomes a determinant of one’s daily habits, thought patterns, relationships and future. On a larger scale, poverty has the ability to shape entire generations of people, their living conditions and their attitudes toward life.
Another important facet of poverty the text and Payne’s speech highlight is that it severely affects people’s mental health and ability to connect with the community. Being poor is a constant source of stress, and a struggle that follows an individual through all stages of their life. Because of these two factors, both works additionally assert that it is extremely difficult to escape poverty, and the conditions poverty-stricken people endure are in many cases cruel. Where the two sources differ, however, is in viewing the particular effect poverty has on generations of people. The course reading supposes that through the help of local communities and connection, it is possible to overcome challenges set by poverty.
Dr. Payne, however, highlights that the changes brought by the condition are much more deep-seated, and require more than one generation to pass. In particular, those whose families were affected by generational poverty suffer from a limited access to language itself, severely affecting one’s prospects for learning and interaction. Adding to this idea, Dr. Payne argues that being affected by poverty has a profound and unmistakable effect on people’s character. This includes the ability to follow regulations or one’s susceptibility to instruction. The perspective provided by Payne’s speech is closely aligned with current research, that shows the children of poorer families often struggling to attain education or engage in necessary learning (Merga, 2019). I think there is some truth to the assertions made by Dr. Payne, and that it is necessary to create frameworks of supporting learning for those affected by generational poverty.
Reference
Merga, M. K. (2019). “Fallen through the cracks”: Teachers’ perceptions of barriers faced by struggling literacy learners in secondary school. English in Education, 54(4), 371-395. Web.