Artefact 1.

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Excerpt from EDFD218 Assignment
Implications for teaching students from a Low Socio-Economic Status
Socio economic status plays a large role in the way that students come to school ready to
learn. Socio economic status is generally based around how much money a family has. There
are numerous factors that integrate into making up a family’s socioeconomic status, which
includes income, education and mental stability (Hauser, 1994). Typically, a family in low
socioeconomic area is struggling to make ends meet. They are likely to have income based
off Centrelink payments or only a single parent income. Often, a family could also be made
up of a single parent home, or be a family who has gone through hardships and lost their
money. On the opposite end of the scale are families who have large amounts of income
and live quite comfortably. Every student will have their own background and story, while it
is important not to stereotype children, it is essential to have an understanding of their
background so as the teacher the best support can be provided. It is obvious that coming
from these varying environments will have impacts on a student education.

It is clear that from the beginning of life being in a low socio economic household can affect
the rate at which you develop (Ronfani et al., 2015). This means that from the beginning of
their lives students are at a disadvantage which can make them struggle to apply
themselves and gain academic results (Bradley and Corwan, 2002). A child at the age of 18
months old, main influencing factor is the home environment (Ronfani et al., 2015).
Therefore, if this environment is made up of parents who are removed from their child for
whatever reason, the child is behind in development before they have even started school
(Bradley and Corwan, 2002). Furthermore, students from this background will often have a
priority of other activities to do, including looking after siblings, preparing dinner and doing
other household chores - more so then another child at their age. If this is the expectation
placed on a child at home, it makes sense that a child may come to school distracted,
unenthused or exhausted. If this is what the child is exposed to then they are more likely to
struggle with mental health issues particularly anxiety or depression (Lester, 2013; Sweeting
& Hunt, 2014). All of these factors will impact a child's performance in the classroom.