![]() ![]() ![]() The social work profession has the responsibility of combating these attitudes and preparing social work students with “poverty awareness” (Davis & Wainwright, 2005, p. In the United States, a long-standing history of negative poverty narratives has influenced both culture and relief efforts (Trattner, 1999). Pejorative attitudes about the poor are not new. Our students are susceptible to these same influences. If such attitudes are left unchecked, individuals risk the cooptation of their own agency to the stereotypes most readily accessible within mass culture. For example, cultural stereotypes about the poor as lazy, criminal, and uneducated are embedded in popular movies and contending narratives. Modern technologies, coupled with social media, provide an infrastructure for the dissemination of mass culture. Keywords: Poverty, pedagogy, journaling, critical consciousness, experiential learningĬritical theorists suggest that the perpetuation of cultural values and ideas socializes individuals in how to think about issues or problems (Ritzer, 2009). In this paper, the authors discuss the use of student journaling immediately following experiential learning activities as a useful process for developing empathetic understanding of issues of poverty. Recognizing the meaning that students give to their prior attitudes, course experiences, and personal reflections can help social work educators better understand how shifts in poverty attitudes may occur. Teaching students about poverty requires that they evaluate their preexisting attitudes to assess compatibility with professional social work ethics and values. The development of a critical consciousness around issues of poverty is an essential goal of social work educators. ![]()
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