Jesse Santana October 28, 2012 PPS 6032 Reflection Paper 1: Hidden Rules Hidden rules among classes are the unspoken cues and habits of a group. Within the poor, middle, and wealthy classes there are distinct cueing systems that exist among groups and economic classes. These hidden rules in each class vary a great deal from one class to the next. Payne (2005) breaks down the classes as that of poverty, the middle class, and the wealthy with each having varied hidden rules. Payne (2005) included a quiz in her writing to determine if the reader would be able to survive in one or more of the classes. The quiz is to measure the readers knowledge of the hidden rules in each class. After taking the quiz I categorized myself as in the middle class because I was able to mark a “yes” for almost every question that was asked. For the poverty section I was only able to mark a “yes” for a couple of the questions they asked and found most of the questions being asked bizarre and no relevance to my life. Then when reading the wealthy section I did not mark a single “yes” and realized that most of those questions did not have any relevance to my life just as much as the poverty section did. I believe that after taking the quiz I would not be able to survive in neither the poverty class nor the wealthy class. I do imagine living in the wealthy class would be easier because of financial resources, but the hidden rules among the class would be too much for me to handle. As for living in poverty, I would not survive in this class either because I do not know how to fight to defend myself or get my hands on a gun illegally if needed. Payne (2005) displayed the hidden rules among classes in a table which I found pretty accurate. The hidden rules that were outlined for the middle class I felt were pretty accurate in regards to me. After looking at the chart that was outlined by Payne (2005) I reflected on how I was raised and found it very interesting because I felt that the chart described me in a way. And when looking at the charts hidden rules for poverty and wealthy I felt that living in those classes would be a total culture shock and I would not fit in any way within those classes. As a school psychologist to be aware of these hidden rules among classes is important because if I am not aware of the rules I could end up pushing students and parents away rather than helping them. Being aware of the classes will help me as a school psychologist be able to better communicate and relate to others from a different class. Working in the school system we are eventually going to come across that kid who is from an unfamiliar class than our own and it is important that we know how to interact and understand them so that we work together rather than against each other. Jesse Santana PPS 6032 November 12, 2012 Reflection Paper 2 While reading “The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children”, Delpit’s perspective on the “culture of power” I found to be similar to Ruby Payne’s work in regards to “hidden rules.” Delpits’ “culture of power” focuses on the codes or rules that dictate how one talks, writes, dresses, and interacts with others. Delpit argument is that of how educators are supposed to teach black and Native American students when the educators come in with their own biases about the students. A great issue that Delpit talks about is that teachers have power over the students, publishers of textbooks, the developers of the curriculum to determine the view of the world presented, and government determining “normalcy.” Because the white race is seen to be in power they dictate what is taught and how it is taught not taking into account other races that come from a different culture. Delpit and Payne differ in their opinion in that Delpit focuses more on culture and Payne more so on socioeconomic status. Working in people’s homes and in a school environment I am constantly around children and parents. I have found myself to be bias at times towards other families. Not so much in my actions towards the families but more so thoughts that I had according to social stigmas. I try not to let bias towards others affect my work because I am still there to provide a service no matter my bias. One bias that I have had when working in a low socioeconomic area was that all people that live there would be “ghetto,” but in reality that was not the case and most people were really nice towards me and were grateful for the services we were providing their children. Jesse Santana PPS 6032 November 18, 2012 Reflection Paper 3: In chapter 4, Payne discusses the idea of generational poverty. Generational poverty is differs from poverty in that it is defined as having 2 or more generations living in poverty. Payne gives a case study in chapter 4, Walter, which is used to give examples of some of the characteristics that are associated with generational poverty. Some examples that Payne gives of characteristics of generational poverty are that of family being matriarchal, believing that society owes one a living, the use of casual register, and finding value in entertainment and relationships. What was interesting to observe in chapter 4 was that of family lineage and how it differs from middle class to individuals living in poverty. A family lineage from a family living in the middle class tend to be simple, but a family living in poverty is more difficult to understand because there seem to be many individuals attached to the lineage with the mother being the center of it all. As a school psychologist it is important to understand what generational poverty is and the affects it has on families because working with in a school environment we will come across families that come from generational poverty. In chapter 6, Payne discusses support systems that are made available to families who need assistance. Payne writes that support systems fall into seven general categories. The first is that of coping strategies which are the ways in which one copes with daily living. The second is options during problem-solving which are all the ways to solve a problem. The 3d coping strategy Payne discusses about is information and know-how which is who in the support system knows enough to help. The 4th is temporary relief from emotional, mental, financial, and/or time constraints. The 5th is having connections to other people and resources, the 6th is positive selftalk, and the last is procedural self-talk. As a school psychologist it is important to know and understand the support systems because students may be having difficulty in school due to the absence of one or more of the support systems. Payne discusses the most effective ways of discipline in chapter 7. Payne states that for individuals who live in poverty, discipline is about penance and forgiveness, not necessarily change. Payne discusses that it is important to teach students separate set of behavior because a lot of the time students who come from poverty bring behaviors into the school that are meant for them to survive outside of school. Payne suggests that in school settings there should be both structure and choice for children that come from poverty. This method allows students to identify that each choice they make comes with a consequence. Another interesting aspect of discipline that Payne discussed was that of using adult voices rather than a parent voice. Most children who come from poverty tend to have the parent role at home so when another person disciplines them with a parent voice instead of an adult voice they tend to react in anger. As a school psychologist this is important to know because when working with students that come from poverty it is best to use discipline techniques that work rather than escalate the situation. Something as simple as the way one talks to the student can have a huge impact on the outcome of the discipline.