Objective: Discover how our attitudes toward the poor influence our approach to fighting poverty.
Time: Approximately 45 minutes
Materials: Flip chart, blackboard, or blank overhead slide; 2 different coloured markers or chalk
Group Size:  4 to 35 participants

Instructions

1. Explain that the objective of the exercise is to show the connection between our attitudes toward poor people and our approaches to solving poverty.
2. Ask participants to brainstorm words and phrases commonly used to describe poor people.  Record (or have a volunteer record) the responses on the blackboard, a flip chart, or an overhead slide.
3. Ask:  "What do you notice about the words and phrases on the list?"
4. Comment on whether the words are positive or negative descriptions.  Mark positive descriptors with a positive symbol ("+"), and the negative ones with a negative symbol ("-").
5. Then ask participants to offer positive ideas and words about poor people.  Using a different coloured marker, record these positive descriptors.
6. Discuss:

• What do you notice about most of our initial responses? (usually mostly negative)
• Why are they mostly negative?
• Why do we have to be prompted in order to think of the positive qualities of poor people?
• When we view poor people in a negative way, what kind of solutions to poverty do we tend to support?
• Conversely, how might a positive view of the poor change our response to solving poverty?
• What kinds of poverty exist? Economic poverty is usually the most obvious. However social, cultural, spiritual, and political poverty also exist.
  • Examine what it might be like to be poor in each of the above areas.
  • In what ways might North Americans be considered poor?

     7.   Invite any further comments or questions for discussion.

Related Resources
A new 3-minute video entitled Beat Poverty: We've Got What It Takes! is now available for download in the Teacher Resources section, click here .