Reflection on Action Research Strategies for Implementation
This study critically analyzes the existing condition with regard to the influence of poverty on the cognitive development rate of young children. As noted by most researchers, poverty has a positive correlation with delayed cognitive development among young children especially in their pre-school life. This prompted me to propose various strategies to help mitigate the impact of poverty on the cognitive development of young children. The proposals of the remedy strategies are very encouraging and sharing with others on how best to join hands in reduce the influence of poverty on the cognitive development of young children can be an amazing experience. Making my classmates and other relevant personnel understand the need to provide enabling policies to help reduce poverty in the long-term through reducing the achievement gap will be a great feeling. I can feel very settled and satisfied if my colleagues, friends and other stakeholders understood the need to for a collective effort to help alleviate the cognitive condition of young children living in poverty.
This study is comprehensively outsourced and is anchored on valid findings from other earlier scholars, making it highly reliable. The study will help enhance my teaching skills in inclusive classrooms, as it will help me understand the plight of children with learning disabilities in addition to helping me select the best teaching methods to boost the comprehension levels of all students. I will use the information in this study to help advice the school administrators on how best we can address the academic needs of the students from low-income backgrounds to help boost their confidence and comprehension levels in addition to helping reduce the achievement gap. This study when shared with other education stakeholders will guide the development of enabling policies to help enhance the welfare of children from poor backgrounds in addition to reducing the achievement gap.
This research proposal has opened a lot of insight in me with regard to the massive impact of poverty on the cognitive development of young children. The study has greatly changed my teaching style and as a result, motivated me to research further on the best teaching methods to adopt to enhance the comprehension levels of the young students unfortunately caught up with learning disabilities due to poverty.
A colleague of mine questioned the proposition to have children with learning disabilities in the same classroom with average and high achieving students. However, as noted by Duncan and Brooks-Gunn (2000) I wish to reiterate that cognitive learning disabilities once noted early in life can be rectified and students suffering from such conditions can efficiently improve their academic performance. Inclusive classrooms have been found to enhance peer learning and as a result, the students with cognitive disabilities can gradually cope up with the learning pace of their colleagues through classroom interactions and sharing (Anderson, et al., 2003). Thus, inclusive classrooms are the some of the best means of enhancing the academic performance level of students with learning disabilities though teachers need to employ other effective measures such as lesson repetitions with special teachers.
Another colleague commented that he does not think their actually exists a direct link between poverty and cognitive disabilities. However, from research, it is evident that poverty is directly related to the level of student performance and the achievement gap is skewed with respect to the income levels of the backgrounds the students originate from. The main impact of poverty is manifested in the pre-school life of the young children as through poverty, students’ lack an enabling social environment making them miss important language learning skills (Lee & Burkham, 2002). Lack of advanced education is considered the cause of poverty in most neighborhoods due to the inability of adults to secure meaningful jobs, hence leaving them with the option of working in farms and factories as casual laborers. The parents lack the necessary education to read loud books to their children and equally lack the funds to purchase reading, writing and pictorial books for their children. Such conditions in addition to the occasional miss of food due to the lack of sufficient disposable income can easily influence the performance of children in school.
References
Anderson, L.M., Shinn, C., Fullilove, M.T., Scrimshaw, S.C., Fielding, J.E., Normand, J., &
Carande-Kulis, V.G. (2003). The effectiveness of early childhood development programs: A systematic review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 24(3), 32-46.
Duncan, G. J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). Family poverty, welfare reform, and child
development. Child Development, 71 (1), 188-196.
Lee, V. E., & Burkham, D. T. (2002). Inequality at the starting gate: Social background
differences in achievement as children begin school. Washington, DC: Economic Policy
Institute.
