Unpacking Ruby Payne’s Framework for Understanding Poverty

Bomer, Dworin, May, & Semingson argue that when one analyzes the content of Ruby Payne’s work, it is easy to see that the work was conducted using a deficit perspective. Specifically, these authors assert, “when we first became acquainted with Payne’s work, it seemed to us that her ‘framework’ included negative stereotypes that drew from a longstanding US tradition of viewing the poor from a deficit perspective.” The use of a deficit perspective when informing educators how one should work with a group of students can lead to a cycle in which students are viewed as stereotypes rather than individuals; and in which the teacher perpetuates the stereotype.

In order to provide a balanced perspective, please review Ruby Payne’s “Understanding and Working with Adults in Poverty.” It will provide an overview of Ruby Payne’s “Framework for Understanding Poverty” so that you will gain some background knowledge on the framework that is being critiqued.

Considering this argument, please discuss the following:

• What is a deficit perspective and why do they believe Ruby Payne’s work is written from that perspective?
• What is the concept of funds of knowledge and his is such a concept useful for teachers?
• Identify 2 positive and potentially useful aspects from Ruby Payne’s framework.
• A sample response is provided below.
  

  Reading/Author	The Author(s) Said…	I Say…
  1.) Thompson, A.(pp. 12-13)	Thompson states that “the experience of disability is more complex and dynamic than the representations of disability. In fact, she suggests that individuals with disabilities negotiate a number of things in the social encounter that people without disabilities never consider.”	I agree with this statement of the experience of disability. I personally believe that the representations of disability presented by various media outlets fail to adequately depict the robust nature the experiences of a person with a disability. These images contribute significantly to the pervasive deficit perspective that is often applied to such individuals. That said, a person with a disability must always be conscious of their exceptionality and how it impacts/informs their interactions with others.