Individual and Structural Attributions for Poverty and Persistence in Family Literacy Programs: The Resurgence of the Culture of Poverty

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Autor/inn/en	Prins, Esther; Schafft, Kai A.
Titel	Individual and Structural Attributions for Poverty and Persistence in Family Literacy Programs: The Resurgence of the Culture of Poverty
Quelle	In: Teachers College Record, 111 (2009) 9, S.2280-2310 (31 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1467-9620
Schlagwörter	Poverty; Persistence; Economically Disadvantaged; Adult Education; Adult Learning; Adult Students; Adult Educators; Interviews; Adult Literacy; Family Literacy; Educational Principles; Educational Theories; Critical Theory; Misconceptions; Educational Environment; Socioeconomic Influences; Rural Areas; Urban Areas; Pennsylvania + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Armut; Ausdauer; Adult; Adults; Education; Adult basic education; Adult training; Erwachsenenbildung; Adulte education; Student; Students; Erwachsenenalter; Studentin; Schüler; Schülerin; Adult education teacher; Adult education; Teacher; Teachers; Adult educator; Erwachsenenbildner; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Bildungsprinzip; Educational theory; Theory of education; Bildungstheorie; Kritische Theorie; Missverständnis; Lernumgebung; Pädagogische Umwelt; Schulumwelt; Sozioökonomischer Faktor; Rural area; Ländlicher Raum; Urban area; Stadtregion
Abstract	Background/Context: Educational researchers have long sought to understand the factors that enable or constrain persistence in non-formal family literacy and adult education programs. Scholars typically posit three sets of factors influencing persistence: situational (learners' life circumstances), institutional (programmatic factors), and dispositional (learners' personal experiences and attitudes). This body of literature tends to emphasize institutional and dispositional factors such as program quality, learner motivation, and self-efficacy. Situational factors (e.g., lack of childcare), are often considered less influential and/or beyond practitioners control. However, by focusing on individualistic and programmatic factors, scholars and educators risk overlooking the ways social structures and community contexts shape educational participation and achievement, thereby underestimating the chronic socio-economic insecurity experienced by families in poverty. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The purpose of this article is to analyze how family literacy practitioners utilize individual and/or structural factors in explaining the determinants of adult persistence in family literacy programs and the causes of poverty for adult learners and other community residents. Research Design: This article is based on a qualitative study of persistence in family literacy programs across urban and rural contexts. The data are drawn from interviews with 30 family literacy professionals at 20 program sites across Pennsylvania, supplemented by interviews with 17 learners in three programs. Conclusions/Recommendations: The family literacy practitioners in this study tended to attribute learner persistence mainly to individual qualities such as motivation, and often described adult learners in terms consistent with the culture of poverty thesis, specifically, the failure to value education, lack of motivation, and the view that poverty is an intergenerational cycle perpetuated by the habits and traits of the poor. Contrary to culture of poverty stereotypes, family literacy participants characterized themselves as determined individuals who value education and want to make something of themselves. Individual-level explanations characterize the dominant understandings poverty and educational persistence in the U.S., and thus shape practitioner thinking about adult learners' economic circumstances and the reasons they stay in or drop out of adult education. The pervasiveness of the culture of poverty thesis in professional environments and discourses helps explain why dedicated, compassionate practitioners frame persistence and poverty individualistically. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the interrelationship between individual and structural dimensions of persistence, suggesting how a constellation of poverty-related factors disrupts program participation. We argue that motivation and other personal attributes are socially constructed, geographically distributed, and inextricably linked to structural factors such as the economic exclusion of the poor. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Teachers College, Columbia University. P.O. Box 103, 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027. Tel: 212-678-3774; Fax: 212-678-6619; e-mail: tcr@tc.edu; Web site: http://www.tcrecord.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10