Sabrina Chang
Being a bilingual or even multilingual person has become a norm in Taiwan lately. Parents are eager to have their children learn English as early as they can. One of the students I tutor is only 2 years old, cannot deliver Chinese sentences properly but knows what the “Statue of Liberty” is. Her mom is very anxious about her child getting behind other children of the same age so she asked me to teach her daughter English as much as I can. On the other hand, my sixth-grade student in a local school does not even know what an “airplane” is. They only learn English for two hours per week and have little contact with this language. Their parents are not able to provide a good language learning environment for them. What led to this phenomenon?
From my point of view, it is directly related to class and poverty. Parents who are more economically available want to immerse their children in a bilingual environment. Whether it is to hire a tutor for them or send them to cram schools, parents use whatever means they can to help their children get ahead of others. On the other hand, people who are in a lower class do not have as much choice. They work from 9 to 5 every day and have no extra money for their children to go to cram schools. It is not to say that children from lower classes have lower achievements than those from higher classes, however, they must be work twice as hard to reach the same height as them.
According to my students who are studying in international schools, most of them have one-on-one tutors who guide their homework at least once a week. Parents are willing to pay high salaries to teachers who are able to help their children improve. I have also asked my students in local schools whether they have tutors. The answer is, most of them do not. If you ask me whether these two groups of students have differences in terms of academic performance, I will have to say, absolutely. However, they do not have much choice, do they? Children living in poverty may have to make money as soon as they are old enough. While other children are doing their schoolwork and holding spring fairs, those children, especially girls, must stop going to school and make money so they have food to eat.
People always say, education ends poverty. But how is education going to be fair when children start at an unfair place from the moment they are born? How can teachers help students have an appropriate language learning environment when they have difficulties maintaining their basic needs?
References:
HOW DOES EDUCATION AFFECT POVERTY? IT CAN HELP END IT.
https://www.concernusa.org/story/how-education-affects-poverty/
Understanding the Connection Between Education and Poverty
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/poverty-education-satistics-facts/
China safeguards interests of children in poverty
https://archive.shine.cn/nation/China-safeguards-interests-of-children-in-poverty/shdaily.shtml
The impact of poverty on educational outcomes for children
http://ubitaiwan.org/zh/2018/07/16/the-impact-of-poverty-on-educational-outcomes-for-children/
Hi Sabrina,
Great post! I agree, students in poverty are placed at an unfair advantage as they do not receive equal opportunities to succeed. Parent ideologies, financial wealth, accessibility to external resources all play significant roles in the students’ academic success. Your post is very insightful and puts things into perspective: To what extent do schools, private and public, provide equal opportunities to students? Privilege and other external factors significantly influence the learning process of students. Leveling the playing field is easier said than done, and in a way, is idealistic as each student’s upbringing is different. The inequity and imbalance you have presented makes me think of the public and private school sectors and the concept of “cream-skimming”, where schools select the “best” students. Education should be a place for all students, a place where each student is presented with equal opportunities to succeed, regardless of socio-economic status and/or current academic grades. Thank you for this great blog post!
Elizabeth M.
Hi Sabrina, thank you for your thought-provoking blog. I find it a vicious circle and lower income really prevents poor students from schooling. I am wondering what do you think on compulsory education? Is it a way to solve this problem to some extent? I’d like to share my experience. I used to work in Tibet, which is often described as an economically underdeveloped area. Students and families benefit from the compulsory education policy, as they only have to pay a low amount of fee to afford the expense to finish their primary and secondary education. Also, the central government spend a lot subsidies on them not only in education but also their employment (self-employment included, like small scale planting and animal husbandry) in the future. What do you expect for the government’s role in such a social issue? (This also a question for me to ponder.)
Li Peng
Sabrina this is a good conversation that unfortunately tends to land of deaf ears. There has always been a large gap between have and have not in education. With the increase in globalization, language are seen as being capital that can help propel someone into a better job, better living conditions, and better life. Sadly, with the rise in digital education (tools and teaching) and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, this gap is become so wide it seems nearly impossible to tackle. I agree that it isn’t until governments turn their attention to delivering accessible and inclusive education to ALL students regardless of socioeconomic status (SES) that education does have the power to change lives. South Africa’s school system is crumbling, like your experience, there is very little to no opportunity for children living in poverty to attend a school that will launch their future past their current SES. Below is a link to a recent article in a well known newspaper about the education reality.
https://mg.co.za/education/2020-02-07-the-grim-reality-of-education-the-poor-get-poorer-schooling/
Hannah S.
Hi Sabrina:
Educational justice is a key issue that people are concerned about. All sectors of society, national policies, and many other subjects should adopt corresponding strategies to deepen education reform, realize educational equity, and further promote social fairness. Considering the current situation that technology has developed rapidly and online education has played a vital and irreplaceable role in teaching. Nowadays, many teachers use the Internet to teach students on the We-media platform and charge lower tuition fees than face-to-face lectures. Therefore, I think online education is one of the good ways to promote the rational distribution of educational resources and promote educational justice, as it has the characteristics of wide coverage, efficient knowledge transfer, breaking time and space barriers, and integrating teacher resources.
-Wenwen
This is the revised version of my previous comment, please ignore the previous one 🙂
Hi Sabrina:
Educational justice is a key issue that people are concerned about. All sectors of society, national policies, and many other subjects should adopt corresponding strategies to deepen education reform, realize educational equity, and further promote social fairness. Nowadays, many teachers use the Internet to teach students on the We-media platform and charge lower tuition fees than face-to-face lectures. Considering the current situation that technology has developed rapidly and online education has played a vital and irreplaceable role in teaching, I think online education is one of the good ways to promote the rational distribution of educational resources and promote educational justice, as it has the characteristics of wide coverage, efficient knowledge transfer, breaking time and space barriers, and integrating teacher resources.
-Wenwen
Hi Sabrina! You’ve brought up an important issue that I think is relevant in so many contexts all around the world. It’s interesting to learn about it in the context of China and it’s very real implications in English language learning. Especially as the economic and political power of English grows, this gap in quality English teaching/learning access will affect the economic stability of generations to come. This is also a huge issue in the US, where I’m from, more so in terms of poverty and education than English language teaching specifically. An entrepreneur/politician I follow closely, Andrew Yang, spoke on this issue. He’s a proponent of Universal Basic Income and says that where the US really needs to invest to improve educational opportunities for lower income kids is in the home, not the schools. An extra $1000 a month (on top of any other income) for lower income families could mean that a child does get the tutoring they need or eats better/more and that way can focus better in school. It’s of course a very complex issue, but at least he speaks to the huge issue of poverty that you’ve brought up here. I would think in China too, or no matter the context, helping families be more stable and independent helps students. On a side note, voting US Americans from all parties, please seriously consider looking up Yang! Or anyone really, he just has interesting, fresh ideas. Thanks for sharing your experience and insight!
Eva
Hi Sabrina,
Thank you for your insightful post! I couldn’t agree with you that class and poverty can lead to educational inequities. It is a common phenomenon almost all over the world. Absolutely, education is not fair to children who are born and live in poverty. Under this circumstance, they stand on a different starting line and have different access to educational resources. Families living in poverty often have to choose between sending their children to school or providing other basic needs. Even if families do not have to pay tuition fees, the added costs including uniforms, books, and supplies may increase their family burden. To some extent, I think technology should be considered as a good way to narrow the gap. However, as a matter of fact, it indeed widens the gap because students living in poverty have little access to it. Government policies should be considered and taken to diminish the gap, like the 9-year compulsory education in China. It provides an equal opportunity for students to go to school. However, it is still difficult to address the inequality problem fundamentally.
Bingtong