I did not receive any response from the six emails
that I sent in hopes to contact an early childhood professional in Italy. I then found an archived broadcast from the
NAEYC Radio that is called Five Things
Every Teacher Should Know About Poverty.
I was most curious about what one of the guests, Eric Jensen, who is a
former teacher and has authored over 26 books including Teaching with Poverty
in Mind, had to say. He discusses how teaching
students who are struggling with poverty and survival is a challenge and that most
teachers are simply unprepared to handle it. He states that a recent study has
shown that poverty can result in an IQ up to 13 points lower than their
non-poverty peers, and teachers need to understand and be sensitive to this. He says that teachers can help children in
poverty by allowing them to have a voice within the classroom, allowing them to
make some decisions and speak because they don’t get that often in their life,
they are usually in survival mode.
Another suggestion that he makes is to allow children to have movement
opportunities within the classroom regardless of their age. He says that movement helps promote the
correct biochemistry within the body which helps to promote the well-being of
the student. Both of those suggestions
are very helpful and I also feel that they should be part of every early
childhood classroom, as all children can benefit from them.
I tried to make contact with Eric Jensen but did not
hear back so I decided after reviewing the UNICEF website, I would select Italy
to look at because there is a good chance my husband and I could be moving
there next year.
I was very surprised to read about childhood poverty
in Italy. In my mind, Italy is all about
beauty, art, and culture. Here are the
three facts from the article that stood out to me the most:
-Italy is a country in which nearly 2 million children
are struggling to survive.
-Italy has the highest percentage of children living
below the poverty line of 25 European nations.
-One in two minors in Italy lives in what is
considered “absolute poverty,” a condition under which basic needs are not met.
This mean that families are able to provide only one adequate meal every two
days and little to no medical treatment is provided or they cannot buy simple
over-the-counter medicines like aspirin or even Band-Aids for their children.
BAM Radio Network, found as an archive through the NAEYC Radio
Nadeau, B. (2102, March 4).
Italy Has Europe’s Highest Percentage of Children in Poverty, Says UNICEF.
Retrieved July 18, 2015, from
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/04/italy-has-europe-s-highest-percentage-of-children-in-poverty-says-unicef.html
