The Complexity of Poverty: A Missing Component of Educational Leadership Programs

Abstract

National survey results indicate that understanding the complexity of poverty and its effects is not a major social justice component of educational leadership programs. Authors present and discuss survey respondents’ perceptions of: importance of understanding poverty, evidence of program emphasis, areas of program emphasis, attitudes toward causes of poverty, and program themes. Embedded in the discussion is a description of a learning activity that has enhanced students’ understanding of the complexity of poverty. The widely recognized learning and achievement gap for poor and minority students creates a need and an opportunity for increased attention to poverty and other social justice issues in educational leadership programs.