Poverty Effects on Early Childhood Education

This article discusses the effects of poverty on early childhood education in Australia and the initiatives taken to address the issue. It includes a literature review and research on the topic.

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Poverty Effects on Early Childhood Education
Literature review
Even though Australia is one of the prosperous nations in terms of wealth and also
as a developed republic, numerous aspects regarding the health and welfare of children have
been deteriorating. Australia established the ARACY (Australian Research Alliance for Children
and Youth) to try and reverse the inclinations by thwarting and addressing some of the main
glitches affecting the children (Brooks-Gunn, and Duncan, 59).
ARACY confronts these difficult matters through structuring partnerships with
researchers, strategists and general practitioners from a wide variety of disciplines. They share
information and foster proof centered solutions. Through their staged collective procedure,
ARACY’s project purposes to identify the intervention points where greatest advantage will be
attained in plummeting the effect of deficiency on the children’s capability of learning
(Petterson, & Albers, 2001). ARACY collaborates with scientists, specialists and professionals in
a wide variety of arenas connected to poverty, social annexation, early childhood growth and
learning and also interacts with social industrialists, business society and other like-minded
people who can assist in driving their ideas into achievable accomplishment.
It develops action tactics for twofold-important-communal projects that focuses on
the opinions of intervention and also on a business occasion to protect the resources essential
towards the establishment of sustainable partnerships to implement those plans.

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It is worth to note that at least one in seven Australian children, as well as half of
entire homegrown children in Australia is raised up in a poor family (Evans, & Kim, 2013).
Childhood education as a process starts after birth and is developed along countless experiences
that are diverse through which learning children get empowered to learn linguistic, social skills,
bodily and emotional development (Brooks-Gunn, & Duncan, 59). Modern discoveries in
neuroscience established that children’s contacts with persons and material substances found
around their societal atmosphere influences development of their brains, therefore modeling their
capability of learning even before they start to attend to schools. Growth in a poverty stricken
family can compromise the children’s willingness to study.
Variances amongst children in poverty stricken families and others begin to appear
in their linguistic and behavioral developments at the age of two years (Ferguson, Bovaird, &
Mueller, 2007). It does not simply imply the outcome of small revenue; this is because relatives
frequently rotate in and out of scarcity of incomes over time. Some of the trails through which
children’s education is disadvantaged include; the excellence of their interaction with their
parents, the superiority of their home atmosphere, the excellence of their initial education and
their outdoor care and also the bodily and cerebral fitness of their parents (Brooks-Gunn, &
Duncan, 59). However, the supreme inspiration on a is how the parents relate to their children
and a warm kind childrearing can safeguard the children against their view on the undesirable
impacts of poverty.
Precautionary plans that are inaugurated before the start of problems are strong
evidences that can bring real change if the plans are of great worth, rigorous and are accessible,
and bring services simultaneously to both the kids and the parents while at the household and at
the day-care or in the institutions of learning (Lacour, & Tissington, 2011). Combined courses

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that can support a community setting, like a school or playgroup center, including the household
makes prompt intervention a bit more effective.
The investigation has underlined that children born in poor families and small
income earning families mostly don’t achieve the compassionate circumstances that nurture their
willingness towards education (Brooks‐Gunn, 2003). They are extremely exposed to unforgiving
bodily and social atmospheres that influence negative attitudes towards their ability and crave
regarding education.
These children suffer from domestic disorders, violence towards them and even
parting with their parents. Their parents become nonresponsive and to some extent extremely
punitive, forcing them to live in extra messy homes, that have less routines, structure and
superior instability (Connell, 2014). They suffer from less cognitive augmentation opportunities
emanating from both their household and also within their localities. This leads them to read for
fewer periods and also have less text books to revise at home compared to children born in well
up families. These children are exposed to polluted environments due the fact that they live in
more populated areas and are more expected to join schools and other learning institutions that
have inadequate facilities.
This research has established that children from poor households have the tiniest
sociable characters; least competence marks and also as knowing fewer words to explain on
themselves when they are equated to children that come from rich families (Alderman, 2011).
Children aged between four and five that come from poverty stricken families experience lower
school enthusiasm in the various fields such as linguistic growth, proficiency problems and
reading aptitude than the ones from the middle class families.

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Tutors stated that most of the children that come from poor families demonstrate
low commitment in school-based scholarship and frequently show behavioral complications
while in class. Rich linguistic familiarities at home encourage intellectual preparedness for
children and children from families that have low income earnings are least expected to
experience that rich linguistic input (Campbell, Ramey, Pungello, Sparling, & Miller-Johnson,
(2002). The quality of language is intensely associated with the children’s academic success in
their early years of attending school. Mental readiness requires to progress in comparably with
societal competency and this means parents are required to ordain a suitable childrearing style.
The ability of a child to grow independently in modifying individual conduct is further possible
when the parent offers strong prospects and uniformity.
Three programs aimed at addressing disparities in the children’s eagerness towards
study are primary intervention plans, school-based courses and lastly integrated programs.
Government administrations, tutors and others players all over Australia endeavor to make
improvement on the scholarship results of learners in poor families by implementing two kinds
of school based programs (Connell, 2014). They include equity, teaching, equality and the
programs related to the curriculum. Equitable programs are well known as ‘compensating’
systems and include a variety of additional education and financial supplies for underprivileged
learners and learning institutions (Duncan, Ziol‐Guest, & Kalil, 2010). The financial subsidy is
offered in a different way within every state and zone. In an example relating to the distribution
of the funds, NSW offers funding straight to institutions situated within underprivileged societies
while SA offers discounts and price cuts to low revenue earning stakeholders on essential
education acquisitions like the uniforms. Presently in Australian schools, they emphasize on
‘broadband’ equity plans in government and territory scholarship structures emphasize on

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literateness, numeracy and also the exceptional scholarship requirements of underprivileged
learners (Ryan, Fauth, & Brooks-Gunn, 2006).
There is a general view that children who are brought up and still affected by
poverty for a long timelines do undergo partial education prospects that affects their capacity
towards education, and also result into substantial developmental interruptions (Engle, & Black,
2008). A study designates that timely intervention solution, comprising which prolong in
elementary schools and other plans which envisions across education centers by way of a
communities aimed at providing a widespread variety of influential services on several settings
such as households, school and the public can help readdress children’s progressive conduits
towards enhanced scholarship outcomes.
The triumph of these plans rests in their capability to spread to various targets such
as the children, pupils, parents and the family within numerous frameworks and strengthen the
scholarships taking place inside each (Blair, Granger, Willoughby, Mills‐Koonce, Cox,
Greenberg, & FLP Investigators, 2011). Such model brings with it a transactional notion of
education that recognizes the numerous inspirations on a child’s preparedness towards study, in
addition to the prevalent impact related to the family context.
Personal reflection
During the assignment, there were a lot to learn despite the various challenges
experienced. For instance I was able to learn that children in Australia that are raised in poor
families have had immense challenges regarding their access to education particularly in
accessing crucial purchases to learning materials. This problem leads to societal challenges in
integration with the other children born to better high income earning families and their
coexistence with their teachers and also co-curricular participation (Blakemore, 2008). It’s worth

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notable that while children coming from rich families enjoy massive support from their parents,
children from poverty stricken families face the challenges of child neglect, abuse and
intimidation from their own parents and as such result to behavioral changes that result into low
performance in their start up towards education. I have learnt that the social status of a people
determine how children will learn. In this case, my wish is that my children would be able to go
through the challenges and get adequate learning.
The research entails various ups and downs that determined how the content was arrived
at. I found it challenging in how to search on the different websites. I knew little about search
optimization engines that enable one to get content from the online sources. However after much
practice and consultation, I was able to learn much about how the access content online in a
much easier way. I learnt that the process involves using key words to obtain the right content. I
also came to realize that various sources have different content about the same issue. For
instance, different sources differ about some facts such as statistical data depending on the
authors. This means that there are legit sources and others which are not based on true content. In
this case it was not easy to analyze the data. However, after learning how to differentiate
between the facts and false content I was able to access, the right content in the form of literature
review.
The other challenge involves how to record and plan the content in the paper. I realized
that literature content involves research done by different people on a given issue in the past. I
learnt that writing literature review entails coming up with views and contributions of different
authors and comparing what they say about a given issue or topic. This helps bring out the final
conclusion about the issue. It is also worth noting that barriers towards this research range from
the outsourcing of the information and the fact that different policies have been employed to

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mitigate the problem of the children born in poor families’ inability to access quality education.
Most of the sources give different explanations regarding the problem and others give
contrasting ideas on how Australia has ventured into solving the crisis through different models
established across the nation and mostly in local areas inhabited by the poor society. However, at
the end of the day I was able to compare and contrast the various sources and come up with the
facts.

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References
Alderman, H. (Ed.). (2011). No small matter: The impact of poverty, shocks, and human capital
investments in early childhood development. The World Bank.
Blair, C., Granger, D. A., Willoughby, M., Mills‐Koonce, R., Cox, M., Greenberg, M. T., ... &
FLP Investigators. (2011). Salivary cortisol mediates effects of poverty and parenting on
executive functions in early childhood. Child development, 82(6), 1970-1984.
Blakemore, T. (2008). Capital in Context: Profiling the Developmental Contexts of Children
Across a Socio-Economic Gradient. Presentation at the Australian Institute of Family
Studies Conference, Melbourne, July 2008.
Brooks-Gunn, J. & Duncan, G.J. The effects of poverty on children: Children and Poverty, 7, 2,
55-71 1997 Print
Brooks‐Gunn, J. (2003). Do you believe in magic?: What we can expect from early childhood
intervention programs. Social policy report, 17(1), 1-16.
Campbell, F. A., Ramey, C. T., Pungello, E., Sparling, J., & Miller-Johnson, S. (2002). Early
childhood education: Young adult outcomes from the Abecedarian Project. Applied
developmental science, 6(1), 42-57.
Connell, R.W. (2014). Poverty and education. Harvard Educational Review, 64, 2, 125-149.
1994 Print
Duncan, G. J., Ziol‐Guest, K. M., & Kalil, A. (2010). Early‐childhood poverty and adult
attainment, behavior, and health. Child development, 81(1), 306-325.
Engle, P. L., & Black, M. M. (2008). The effect of poverty on child development and educational
outcomes. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1136(1), 243-256.

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Evans, G. W., & Kim, P. (2013). Childhood poverty, chronic stress, self‐regulation, and
coping. Child development perspectives, 7(1), 43-48.
Ferguson, H. B., Bovaird, S., & Mueller, M. P. (2007). The impact of poverty on educational
outcomes for children. Paediatrics & child health, 12(8), 701-706.
Lacour, M., & Tissington, L. D. (2011). The effects of poverty on academic
achievement. Educational Research and Reviews, 6(7), 522-527.
Petterson, S. M., & Albers, A. B. (2001). Effects of poverty and maternal depression on early
child development. Child development, 72(6), 1794-1813.
Ryan, R. M., Fauth, R. C., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2006). Childhood Poverty: Implications for
School Readiness and Early Childhood Education.