Camden’s Blog

The first I heard of Ruby Payne was here in Georgia, I guess about 5 years ago and it was along the same vein of reverence, she was a guru when it came to understanding children who lived in poverty.  I never read her book, I didn’t need her help to understand poverty and my students who lived in it.  What I appreciated her for at the time, was that she opened a door for discussion and that people who were definitely on the wrong track might at least get off the train before it wrecked.  But now I am not so sure.  I thank Gorski for exposing the fraudulent nature of her research and her greedy exploitation of people who are already living in object oppression. To continue the analogy of the train, it appears that Ruby Payne may just be the conductor on that train to nowhere.  Also, Gorski is correct in that she preaches a downright dangerous message.  As I teach in a title one school that flip flops each year on making AYP and not, I hear teachers continually blame our students and their families for low scores and underachievement.  They assign characteristics to culture with absolutely no validity whatsoever.  The “good intended” see themselves as saviors to the few that are achieving despite our low expectations.  And finally the real tragedy to the administration and the teachers are that it prevents real social change from occurring.  Frankly, all I had to hear about Ruby Payne to really understand her motives and validate her “findings” as appropriate was that she is connected to and remains supportive of NCLB. 

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