Educating Students Experiencing Homelessness, Instability, and Disengagement: The Impact of the Autonomic Nervous System

by Ruby K. Payne

The book examines a social cognitive framework that includes the importance of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). It also discusses the positive influence of safety and belonging on the prefrontal cortex. Educating Students provides tools for negotiating the abstract realities of school and raising achievement, it reveals strategies for calming students, and it explores how to build a wider community of support. Payne also tells how the instability of resources, time demands, and the demands of the environment negatively impact the ANS and how to address this problem.

Genres: Education

120 pages, Kindle Edition

About the author

Ruby K. Payne is an American educator and author best known for her book A Framework for Understanding Poverty and her work on the culture of poverty and its relation to education. Payne received an undergraduate degree from Goshen College in 1972. She holds a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies from Loyola University in Illinois, and is the founder of aha! Process, Inc., a company that informs schools, companies and other organizations about poverty.

Reviews

[Susan A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book of course had some great insights as it is Dr. Payne, the structure of the book left some things to be desired. In its attempt to be a quick read, depth of knowledge and explanation were sacrificed.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is confusing, not well cited which leads me to believe a lot of the ideas are based on feelings and experiences of Ruby and not actual science, and its simplification of our class system leaves a lot to be desired. I will admit there were some helpful takeaways, but overall I found her ideas overly reductive and based on stereotypes.

[Amy Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give it 6 or 7 stars, I would. Chapters 6 and 7 should be game changers for anyone in education or work with children. If you cannot see how some of the children in front of you are not the same as the children who were lucky enough to be raised in your 2 income, church going, and have lived in the same house you brought your children home from the hospital to...you should mabye think about why you are in education.

[McKalyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for a book study at work, and honestly had a hard time getting through it without rolling my eyes. Payne does toss out a few quick, practical tips for educators who are just starting to think about how safety and belonging affect the brain, but the praise stops there. The book leans heavily on a deficit-based view, referencing “research” without ever citing any, and trades any real understanding of poverty for easy generalizations and stereotypes.

[Sara Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve taught students since COVID, who ISN’T experiencing disengagement? This was the same neuroscience in many other books, but with practical applications for classrooms.

[Gjerdegirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had research on the nervous system and how it develops in trauma situations but I would’ve loved to have more ideas on how to help kids in a classroom deal with this.

[Christopher Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s like a ten page paper with a million charts and the writing is weird. A few great insights couched among a little bit of pseudoscience.