本文是教育专业的Essay范例，题目是“The Consequences of Child Poverty on the Educational Development of Canadian Children（儿童贫困对加拿大儿童教育发展的影响）”，在当代加拿大社会，儿童贫困是一个日益严重的社会问题，影响着120万(17%)18岁以下的加拿大儿童(加拿大统计局，2016年)。联合国儿童基金会(2012)儿童贫困定义为儿童,“谁缺乏下列两个或两个以上的14个项目,因为他们住的家庭无法提供他们”(见附录A的联合国儿童基金会的14项),而加拿大儿童贫困定义为儿童生活在一个家庭收入中位数的一半(加拿大统计局,2016）. 1991年，加拿大正式承认儿童贫困，批准了《联合国儿童权利公约》，并通过政策和程序实施了消除儿童贫困的措施，以期在2000年之前消除儿童贫困(Howe & Cowell, 2003)。尽管实施了这些措施，但儿童贫困仍然是加拿大的一个社会问题。
In contemporary Canadian society child poverty is a rising social problem that affects 1.2 million (17%) Canadian children under the age of 18 (Statistics Canada, 2016). UNICEF (2012) defines child poverty as children, “who lack two or more of the following 14 items because the households in which they live cannot afford to provide them“ (see Appendix A for a list of UNICEF’S 14 items), while Canada defines child poverty as children living in a household with an income less than half the median (Statistics Canada, 2016). In 1991, Canada formally recognized child poverty by ratifying the “United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child”, and implemented measures to combat child poverty through policies and procedures, with intent to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000 (Howe & Cowell, 2003). Despite the measures implemented, child poverty remains a social problem for Canada.
The effects of child poverty in Canada are observable in a child’s educational development. Specifically, Ben Levin and Jane Gaskell (2012) state that, “Socio-economic status continues to be the most important single determinant of educational and social outcomes”. In all resources reviewed for this paper there is a positive correlation between child poverty and inferior educational development. This paper will explore the correlation between how child poverty affects educational development due to a low accessibility rate of services (extra-educational, extra-curricular, technology, etc.), a lack of essential resources provided by caregivers, and creates a home and community environment not suitable for proper educational development.
加拿大儿童贫困的影响体现在孩子的教育发展上。具体来说，Ben Levin和Jane Gaskell(2012)指出，“社会经济地位仍然是教育和社会成果的最重要的单一决定因素”。在本文回顾的所有资源中，儿童贫困与教育发展不良之间存在正相关关系。本文将探讨儿童贫困在服务(课外、课外、技术等)可及性低、照护者提供的基本资源匮乏、家庭和社区环境不适合适当教育发展等方面对教育发展的影响。
Literature Review文献综述
Childhood Poverty, a Lack of Services vs. Educational Development
Beginning at a young age, the lack of services available to Canada’s impoverished youth are detrimental to their educational development. According to an article written by Bryce, Blanco Inglesias, Pullman, & Rogova (2016) early child care plays an important role in a youth’s educational development with direct impacts on later income, health, and life-expectancy. The article goes on to state that child care costs are nearly $50,000 CDN, from the parental leave to the start of kindergarten. In turn, Canada’s top earning families can afford “licensed child-care facilities where children are taken care of by professionals with degrees in education, who not only provide a safe and comfortable environment but also teach pre-literacy and numeracy skills” (Bryce et al., 2016). In 2016, the Canadian Paediatric Society (2016) found that there were 5 million children ages 0-12 in need of child care services, but Canada only had 990,000 regulated child care spaces. A lack of regulated child-care spaces increases the premium on regulated child-care, thus raising the prices (Canadian Paediatric Society [CPS], 2016). Families unable to afford full-time licensed daycare look for cheaper options, which often include less regulated environments, that may present health and safety risks, and lack of physical and intellectual development. By sourcing affordable options, parents must choose between their child’s likely academic segregation or maintaining household essentials (Bryce et al., 2016).
儿童贫困，缺乏服务vs.教育发展
加拿大贫困青年从很小的时候就开始得不到服务，这不利于他们的教育发展。根据Bryce, Blanco Inglesias, Pullman， & Rogova(2016)所写的一篇文章，早期儿童护理在青少年的教育发展中发挥着重要作用，直接影响日后的收入、健康和预期寿命。文章接着指出，从育儿假到幼儿园开始，儿童保育费用将近5万加元。反过来，加拿大收入最高的家庭可以负担得起“有执照的托儿设施，在那里，孩子由拥有教育学位的专业人士照顾，他们不仅提供安全舒适的环境，而且还教授识字和计算前技能”(Bryce等人，2016年)。2016年，加拿大儿科协会(2016)发现，有500万0-12岁儿童需要儿童护理服务，但加拿大只有99万个托管空间。缺乏监管的儿童保育空间增加了监管儿童保育的保费，从而提高了价格(加拿大儿科协会[CPS]， 2016)。负担不起全日制有执照的日托的家庭寻求更便宜的选择，这些选择往往包括监管较少的环境，可能会带来健康和安全风险，以及缺乏身体和智力发展。通过寻找负担得起的选择，父母必须在孩子可能的学业隔离或维持家庭必需品之间做出选择(Bryce等人，2016年)。
Lack of quality daycare is considered a social toxin which “threatens the child’s health development” (Covell, K., Howe, B., & Blokhuis, J.C., 2018). Social toxins was a term coined by psychologist James Garbarino to describe conditions such as poverty and violence. Social toxins are any social environment conditions that threaten healthy development. Psychologists have noted particular importance of the first three years in determining later educational outcomes for a child. In order to maximize cognitive function, an infant must be stimulated through nurturing behaviours such as cuddling, talking, and smiling. In addition, to develop self-worth infants must learn to control their environment, be encouraged to explore and learn, and understand social functions appropriate for independence away from home (Covell et al., 2018). In unregulated daycare systems, there is overcrowding, and a lack of opportunity to develop motor, social, language and cognitive skills through play and in-centre resources (Bryce et al., 2016).
缺乏高质量的日托被认为是一种“威胁儿童健康发展”的社会毒素(Covell, K.， Howe, B.， & Blokhuis, j.c.， 2018)。社会毒素是心理学家James Garbarino创造的一个术语，用来描述贫困和暴力等状况。社会毒素是任何威胁健康发展的社会环境条件。心理学家指出，头三年在决定一个孩子以后的教育成果方面特别重要。为了使认知功能最大化，必须通过拥抱、交谈和微笑等养育行为来刺激婴儿。此外，要培养自我价值，婴儿必须学会控制环境，被鼓励探索和学习，并理解适合离家独立的社会功能(Covell等人，2018)。在不受监管的日托系统中，人满为患，缺乏通过玩耍和中心资源发展运动、社交、语言和认知技能的机会(Bryce等人，2016年)。
Though Canada ranks among the highest achieving and equitable education systems, there is a divide in educational development caused by inability to provide extra-curriculars services for school-aged children. The Canadian Teachers Federation emphasizes the importance of daily reading, and participation in sports and physical activity. Parents with students in low-income situations must choose between academic and extracurricular support, and basic necessities such as warm clothes, shelter, and sufficient food. Students in low-income environments also have low choice in school options, and may not have access to privatized schools that offer specialized services for special needs or support for behavioural problems (Bryce et al., 2016). Childhood poverty increases young children’s behavioural disorders such as aggression at school, lower academic performance and achievement, poor peer relations, and adolescent antisocial behaviour (Covell et al., 2018). The result of physical, social, and school environments that lack opportunities to fix these behaviours often result in lower educational performance. Low-income students are two times as likely to take applied courses through-out their secondary education, then their wealthy counterparts. This leaves low-income students ineligible for most post-secondary education opportunities (Covell et al., 2018).
Childhood Poverty, a Lack of Resources vs. Educational Development儿童贫困，缺乏资源vs.教育发展
Low-income parents face challenges to meet basic financial needs, and are often cash constrained due to a lack of savings and ineligible for sources of credit. Parents in low-income situations often must cut back on goods such as food when met with financial constraint (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019). Childhood poverty poses a risk to food security causing decreased educational development. Since 2012, 12% of families in Canada suffer with food insecurity. Faught, Williams, Willows, Asbridge, & Veugelers (2017) studied food insecurity with regards to student success on standardized testing. The study followed grade five students over the course of a year in Nova Scotia where a Canadian high of 15.2% of children are food scarce, and determined that academic achievement correlated with food security. Students who reported low food security had a 0:65 odds of meeting reading expectations, and a 0:62 odds of meeting mathematic standards. The study concluded that children who experience household food insecurity are at risk of inferior educational development due to behavioural and emotional issues that affect their ability to be engaged at school, get along with peers, and increase the rate of absenteeism (Faught et al., 2017).
低收入家庭的父母面临着满足基本财务需求的挑战，而且由于缺乏储蓄和没有资格获得信贷，他们的资金经常受到限制。低收入家庭的父母遇到财政困难时，往往必须削减食品等商品的开支(国家科学院、工程和医学院，2019年)。儿童贫困对粮食安全构成威胁，导致教育发展下降。自2012年以来，加拿大12%的家庭遭受粮食不安全。Faught, Williams, Willows, Asbridge， & Veugelers(2017)研究了食品不安全与学生在标准化测试中的成功之间的关系。该研究对新斯科舍省五年级的学生进行了为期一年的跟踪调查，该地区15.2%的孩子食物匮乏，研究结果表明学业成绩与食品安全有关。报告食品安全水平较低的学生达到阅读预期的几率是0:65，达到数学标准的几率是0:62。该研究得出的结论是，家庭粮食不安全的儿童由于行为和情绪问题而面临教育发展低下的风险，这些问题会影响他们在学校的参与能力、与同龄人相处的能力，并增加缺勤率(Faught等人，2017年)。
Childhood Poverty, Environment vs. Educational Development儿童贫困、环境与教育发展
“A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty” determined two pathways for a child’s educational outcomes from child poverty. The first pathway, “the investment pathway”, emphasizes what money can buy, and how poverty undermines a parent’s ability to provide goods and services for their children, to create an environment suitable for educational development. Without the ability to purchase books, computers, extra-academic help, a child will suffer academically. The second pathway, “the stress pathway”, refers to the conflict created in a household environment due to poverty. The book indicates that there is an increase in psychological distress for parents during economic hardship. This spills into parenting and interactions may become more hostile. Parental hardship is linked with harsh, inconsistent, and detached parenting methods. The book concludes that the environment created by socio-economic hardships within the stress pathway result in harm to a child’s cognitive and socio-emotional development resulting in decreased educational development (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019).
“减少儿童贫困路线图”确定了儿童贫困教育成果的两条途径。第一个途径，“投资途径”，强调金钱可以买到什么，以及贫困如何削弱父母为子女提供商品和服务的能力，以创造一个适合教育发展的环境。没有能力购买书籍，电脑，额外的学术帮助，一个孩子将在学业上遭受痛苦。第二种路径，“压力路径”，指的是家庭环境中由于贫困而产生的冲突。这本书指出，在经济困难时期，父母的心理压力会增加。这会影响到孩子的教育和互动，可能会变得更具敌意。父母的困难与严厉、不一致和分离的养育方法有关。这本书的结论是，压力路径中的社会经济困难所创造的环境会损害儿童的认知和社会情感发展，导致教育发展下降(国家科学、工程和医学科学院，2019年)。
James Garbarino considers parental stress to be a social toxin that threatens healthy child development. A child’s basic developmental need is to be raised in conditions that allow them to grow dysfunction free (Covell et al., 2018). This is maintained in the “United Nations Rights of a Child” (Howe & Cowell, 2003). Currently, Canada maintains a fundamental belief that parents are responsible for their children, meaning authorities are reluctant to intervene unless toxicity levels are chronic and high. Laws and public policies leave parents underemployed or unemployed with inadequate parental leave and resources to create safe home environments (Covell et al., 2018).
James Garbarino认为父母的压力是一种威胁儿童健康发展的社会毒素。儿童的基本发展需求是在允许他们自由发育障碍的条件下成长(Covell等人，2018年)。这在《联合国儿童权利》(Howe & Cowell, 2003)中得到了维护。目前，加拿大的基本信念是父母要对孩子负责，这意味着当局不愿意干预，除非毒性水平是长期的和高的。法律和公共政策使父母处于未充分就业或失业状态，没有足够的育儿假和资源来创造安全的家庭环境(Covell等人，2018年)。
Children are born into a family, which is embedded in a community. Social toxin environments within the community are unsafe play areas, inadequate housing, a lack of early childhood care, and overcrowding in schools. All four of these community environments are products of laws and public policies that create cyclical poverty amongst low-income children (Covell et al., 2018).
孩子们出生在一个家庭里，而这个家庭又嵌在一个社区里。社区内的社会毒素环境是不安全的游戏区、住房不足、缺乏幼儿保育和学校过度拥挤。所有这四个社区环境都是造成低收入儿童周期性贫困的法律和公共政策的产物(Covell等人，2018年)。