To the oppressed, and to those who suffer with them and fight at their side (Paulo Freire, 1970)

Anti-poverty Professional Learning for the Teaching Profession

‘It is not Poverty which is shameful.
It is the existence of Poverty which is shameful’

Joseph Wresinski

Welcome

The teaching profession in Scotland demonstrates its commitment to the pursuit of social justice, daily.

For more than a decade now since the implementation of austerity, schools and teachers have endeavoured to mitigate the impact of rising levels, and deepening intensification of, the poverty experienced by our children and young people, and since child poverty doesn’t exist in a vacuum, the poverty experienced by parents and carers and their wider communities. 

In spite of efforts and initiatives so far, the poverty-related achievement and attainment gap has remained somewhat stubborn. The statistics that point to this conclusion are troubling on two fronts. 

They’re a matter of national concern in terms of what they say about our society and our education system within it. And they’re a significant source of anxiety when we consider what the statistics mean in terms of human experiences of poverty and life on low income- the daily struggles and disappointments that are marring the individual life stories of a significant number of the individual children and young people enrolled in our schools. 

From our Castlemilk Community Partner
With Love and Solidarity