See Poverty . . . Be the Difference!

by Donna M. Beegle

From the back Provides an opportunity for gaining a foundation, rooted in lived experience and research, for understanding poverty and addressing its impacts. Chapter A Foundation for Understanding Poverty; Serving People from Poverty; Laying the Foundations for Institutional and Systemic Change.

Genres: Education, Poverty, Teaching, Social Issues, Nonfiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book and I highly suggest it for educators and anyone in the helping profession. I met Donna Beegle and a conference and she signed my copy signed (eeee!) and she is fantastic! So down to earth and tells it like it is. Her knowledge and background are incredibly empowering!
This book and just who she is as a person really shifted my perspective of people living in poverty situations. It definitely changes your mindset about how you work with this kind of population of adults and children.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

See Poverty Be the Difference is a classic social justice / equity text for a reason. Beegle lived in poverty and managed to break away from it, family in tow, through education. Her book speaks hard truths, and reminds us just how difficult life be, but more importantly it tells us exactly what we, as educators and supporters of impoverished students, can do to support students.

[Lindsay Bowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource for those in the educational system serving students of poverty.

A little unorganized structure...

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely practical, research-based perspectives on poverty geared toward helping professionals. Having worked I social work and education contexts, the resources in this book would have been extremely helpful for training, evaluating our organization, and making plans for improving how we support folks living in poverty. Given my own background being raised in a low-socioeconomic context, this book gave language to my experience, helping me to understand my struggles and strengths in ways I didn't know I needed. I would highly recommend this book to anyone in a public service, social work, or education context.

[MagicKitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a university social work class this semester. I never really thought hard about how bad poverty is, as I've never seen it from a first-hand perspective. This book does just that. Donna M. Beegle was born into poverty and it was all she expected to know.

This book gave me that perspective I was lacking. She went through her struggles, the struggles of those in poverty everywhere, defines things and points out where the inequalities are, and then at the end she points out some things our society/ our "system" can do to help.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author is the real deal. She was born into generational poverty in America and speaks truth of the hoops and song-and-dance numbers demanded of people who are determined to persist in pursuing all that is assumed students have in order to be successful academically. This is a must read for anyone who makes any sort of claim regarding fellow Americans who happen to live in poverty.

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

NW author! My childhood consisted of some of the things she writes about. Having worked and lived on minimum wage work for 10+ years through high school and college and survived easily enough, I've been against the argument for a great hike in minimum wage. However, Beegle made some points that may make me change my mind to some extent.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

from the library

first basic premise is that being born into poverty is like being born into another country, one which is invisible to the middle class.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information. Many new thoughts on the culture of poverty.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw her speak and she's a wonderful speaker!