Summary Of Ruby Payne's Framework

One main pattern throughout Ruby Payne’s framework is her use and ability to create broad and incorrect systems. These systems include Payne’s concepts of class, race, and the culture of poverty. Payne constructed her framework to be easily understood, so she decided to discuss only three socioeconomic classes (p. 3). These three classes are poverty, middle class, and wealthy (Payne, p. 42-43). When teaching children about social classes we usually tell them these three classes, and this is because it is simple to understand. The issue is that adults are being taught Payne’s framework, not children. There are more than three social classes, and adults should realize this when learning about the different forms of poverty. For example, Dennis Gilbert discussed all of these different types of classes that Payne does not discuss the working poor, working class, and upper middle class (Miseducating p. 2503).The lack of discussion into how the classes interact does

2503). Another broad and incorrect definition and explanation is the implication of Race in Payne’s framework. Now Payne does not explicitly mention any connections to poverty and certain Races, but her use of scenarios and examples lead the readers to assume a connection between Race and poverty. Out of nine examples and case studies, only three discuss a child that is caucasian, and Payne does not make bold statements throughout the chapters about certain Races and poverty (Miseducating p. 2506). This combination tends to leave the impression that people of color are the majority of poor people in the US even though that title belongs to the caucasians (Miseducating p. 2506). Once again, Payne’s lack of discussion lowers her framework’s credibility. The last example that will be discussed is Payne’s culture of