Responding to Poverty

Personal Profile

Poverty shapes how children experience education every day.
While teachers play an important role, schools as systems have the greatest power to reduce or reinforce disadvantage.

Schools influence how poverty affects learning through policies, leadership decisions, and everyday systems. When these systems are not designed with equity in mind, disadvantage is often unintentionally reinforced.

What Schools can do

Build an equity-focused school culture

Schools can reduce the impact of poverty by

Recognising that students start from different circumstances, not equal ones
Understanding that achievement data reflects access and opportunity, not fixed ability
Embedding trauma-informed principles across the entire school

An equity-focused culture shifts thinking from:

“Why isn’t this student succeeding?”
to
“What barriers might be limiting this student’s access to learning?”

Strong leadership is essential. Without it, responsibility for addressing disadvantage is often left to individual teachers, which is unsustainable and unfair.

Use achievement data more carefully

Common practice

Early test results are used to group students
Groups become fixed
Curriculum access narrows over time

Students experiencing poverty often score lower due to fewer learning opportunities, interrupted schooling, or instability — not lack of ability. When early results are treated as indicators of potential, students can become locked into limited pathways.

Better practice
Schools can:

Treat data as a starting point, not a judgement
Ask contextual questions before grouping students
Review grouping and streaming regularly
Ensure all students access rich curriculum, with appropriate support

Reduce suspension and exclusion

Research shows suspension and exclusion:

Disproportionately affect students living in poverty
Disproportionately affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
Increase disengagement and early school leaving

What schools can do

Limit suspension for non-violent behaviour
Require evidence that support strategies were tried before removal
Monitor discipline data for disproportionality
Keep students connected to learning wherever possible

Removing students from school rarely addresses the underlying causes of behaviour and often deepens disengagement.

Strengthen partnerships with families and communities

Families experiencing poverty may:

Value education deeply
Have had negative experiences with schools
Face barriers such as inflexible work, transport issues, or housing stress

When schools interpret limited visibility as disengagement, trust breaks down.

Effective school partnerships involve:

Respectful, two-way communication
Listening before acting
Collaboration with community organisations and support services
Viewing families as partners, not problems

Practices to Avoid

There are several approaches that can unintentionally increase stress and defensiveness among families, particularly those who have had negative or exclusionary experiences with schools.

These include:

Contacting families only when problems occur
Using language that feels blaming or judgemental
Assuming low engagement reflects lack of care
Communicating exclusively about behaviour, attendance, or low academic results

Such practices risk reinforcing mistrust, increasing anxiety, and weakening school–family relationships, particularly in contexts of poverty.

What to do instead

✅ Recognise that families may care deeply but face barriers

✅ Publicly identifying students needing supportOffer help discreetly and respectfully

✅ Punishing behaviour linked to stress or trauma

✅ Respond with understanding and support

✅ Adjust expectations and provide alternatives

Using deficit language about familiesUse strengths-based, respectful language

Teachers shape how students experience school every day. While teachers cannot remove poverty, they can reduce its impact by creating classrooms that are safe, predictable, and inclusive.

What Teachers can do

Create trauma-informed classrooms

Trauma-informed classrooms prioritise:

Emotional and physical safety
Predictable routines and clear expectations
Calm, consistent adult responses
Strong, trusting relationships
For students living in poverty, stability and connection are often the foundation for learning.

Maintain high expectations with the right support

Supporting students living in poverty does not mean lowering expectations.

Teachers can:

Break learning down without watering it down
Scaffold tasks so all students can access rich learning
Offer multiple ways for students to demonstrate understanding
Use assessment to guide growth, not label ability

High expectations paired with support communicate belief in students’ potential.

Use flexible, individualised supports

There is no one-size-fits-all approach.

Teachers may use:

Flexible timetables
Safe spaces in the classroom
Shortened or modified tasks
Break passes when students feel overwhelmed
Cultural activities connected to students’ identities and communities

Effective support requires ongoing adjustment based on each student’s needs

Respond to behaviour with care and curiosity

Behaviours such as disengagement, withdrawal, or disruption are often responses to stress rather than intentional misconduct.

Supportive responses include:

Asking what behaviour may be communicating
Maintaining connection during moments of challenge
Avoiding removal from learning wherever possible
Working with families and support staff to understand underlying needs

Key message

Poverty is not a lack of care, effort, or ability.

When schools take responsibility for systems and teachers are supported to respond with care, education can become a powerful protective force rather than another barrier.

PovertyandLearning