Advocacy

In the United States, not all people are treated equally. Unfortunately, there are large
populations of people across the nation who are marginalized and discriminated against, and are
sometimes unable to fight for themselves on a personal or political basis. These populations
require advocacy to ensure their voices are heard and their needs are met. Advocacy is “the
process of supporting a person, group, or cause” (Grant & Ray, 2019, p. 393). Advocacy argues
on behalf of an individual or group to help them reach a specific goal that may vary from group
to group.

● Types of Advocacy
Self advocacy and non-instructed advocacy are the two major types of advocacy. Self
advocacy is “an individual’s ability to effectively communicate his or her own interests, desires,
needs and rights” (Social Care Institute for Excellence, 2015). This type of advocacy can occur
on a day-to-day basis.
Non-instructed advocacy is a form of advocacy on behalf of people who cannot advocate
for themselves for a variety of reasons including; inability, illness, disability, age, or social class.
Advocating for the disenfranchised is the standard, mainstream form of advocacy (Social Care
Institute of Excellence, 2015).
There are four approaches to non-instructed advocacy. Rights-based: the idea that every
living being has fundamental rights. Person centered: developing relationships between
advocates and the people they are advocating for. Watching-brief: finding the best ways to
support the person rather than finding the best people to support. Witness/observer: advocates
must experience or witness first-hand the lives of the people they are supporting. Creating an
advocacy plan must incorporate all four approaches to ensure the advocates not only have the
peoples’ needs in mind, but also know how to best serve them (Social Care Institute of
Excellence, 2015).
When concerning children, there are two types of non-instructed advocacy: case and
class. Case advocacy occurs on an individualized basis whereas class advocacy occurs on a
political or policy basis. Case advocacy can occur in a classroom or community. Hosting food
drives, health fairs, and connecting families with resources are examples of case advocacy (Grant
& Ray, 2019, p. 393-4).
Class advocacy occurs when groups of children and families benefit from policy changes
both community and statewide. Adopting a free transportation system for parent teacher
conferences, responding to calls of action from large organizations such as the NAEYC, and
fighting for state-wide changes in school lunch reimbursements are examples of class advocacy
(Grant & Ray, 2019, p. 393-4).

● What are some of the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners that
require advocacy?
Underserved populations have needs that require advocacy. The underserved
populations include; “African Americans, Mexican Americans, American Indians, Samoan
Americans and/or Eastern Asian immigrants, and Asian Americans” (Goodwin, 2011). These
populations have been oppressed and been denied basic human rights for decades. Though
America has made many great strides toward equality, people of color are still discriminated
against. In 2016, ⅓ of children in poverty were black or hispanic (Wilson et al., 2018).
Poverty is not the only problem the underserved populations of America experience.
Their cultures and languages are viewed as nonstandard, or a deviation from the norm, which
creates a number of sociolinguistic barriers such as an inability to communicate, cultural
behaviors being misconstrued as disrespectful, and unequal access to resources and opportunities
in the education system and in their own communities (Hollie, 2018, p. 47-9). Culturally and
linguistically diverse students require advocacy for equal access to resources, such as food and
nutrition, both in the classroom and outside of it.

● What theories relate to the importance of teacher advocacy?

Abraham Maslow developed the Hierarchy of Needs theory to explain the motivation
behind human behaviors (Mcleod, 2020). With an educational lense, it can be used to understand
the importance of teacher advocacy. Maslow’s theory portrays human motivation as a 5 level
pyramid, divided into three categories: basic needs (food, shelter, sleep, security, and safety),
psychological needs (sense of belonging, love, and self esteem), and self-fulfilment needs
(achieving full potential). The idea is people are unable to progress toward self-fulfilment if their
psychological needs are not met, and people are not able to fulfil their psychological needs
without meeting their basic needs (Mcleod, 2020).
Teachers advocate for students' psychological and self-fulfillment needs on a daily basis
by building a classroom community, celebrating accomplishments, and pushing students toward
their personal best. However, there are millions of students with basic needs unmet, and thus are
unable to reap the benefits of what the classroom provides them. Teacher advocacy is extremely
important in ensuring that students come into the classroom with their minds not only ready, but
able, to focus on learning and growing as individuals. In order to ensure all students have the
opportunity to learn, teachers must do what they can to make sure their basic needs of food,
water, shelter, sleep, security, and safety are met.

Problem

Many students face the reality that there is a lack of food and nutrition at home. This can be
due to a low socioeconomic situation. The severity of this problem differs for each person/family
because it could be a short or long period of time that they are facing this challenge.
● Those affected
Students that come from a low socioeconomic status and their families can’t afford a
sustainable amount of quality food. Those affected include families below the poverty line along
with middle class families that have tight budgets, living paycheck to paycheck. If an unexpected
expense occurs like an appliance needing to be replaced, the food budget for the next week or
month could be significantly impacted. Also, students that have a parent that just lost their job or
are in between jobs are greatly affected. There can potentially be more behavioral issues and a
lack of concentration in the classroom due to this issue.
 ● Why is there a problem?
There is a problem due to the lack of budget finances. Choosing healthy foods can get
expensive, and some families don’t have the money to spend on the groceries. Another reason is
the lack of nutritional awareness. When you aren't paying attention to the types of foods you are
consuming, it can result in health issues in the future.

● Main causes of this problem

The main causes of this problem includes when families have a lack of budget finances
and lack of nutritional awareness. This causes families to not be able to afford that much food
and end up buying unhealthy items because they either don’t know the nutritional value or
cannot afford healthier options.

● The impact of the problem and future consequences

Lack of proper nutrition can cause behavioral issues and a lack of concentration. This can
be seen as the student not wanting to participate and seem not interested in learning. This can
also complicate the classroom climate because they can distract the other students in the class
due to behavioral issues. Families are also buying cheaper foods which in most cases are not that
nutritious which can cause health problems down the line. When families have a small limited
budget for food, they are often having to buy cheaper food that does not have any nutritional
value to it, such as ramen and boxed macaroni and cheese. This creates an unhealthy nutritional
habit that is difficult to get out of due to lack of funds. (Physicians Committee for Responsible
Medicine, 2020)

● Ways the problem can be solved

This problem can be solved through supplying students with meals for over the weekend
while they are not at school through the Backpack Program (Action for Healthy Kids, 2019).
Providing local community resources for free or low cost food at places such as the community
garden pantry and Vines food corp share (VINES, 2020). Also providing education about
nutrition to educate students and their families about what healthy snacks and meals they can
make at home through in school programs such as a “Make, Bake, Take” family meals and
information sent home about healthy snack recipes.

● Evidence to support the solution

So often teachers are reporting that their students are coming to school hungry. Reports
indicate that 59% of children who live within a low-income family are speaking up that they are
hungry when they come to school. Overall 3 out of 4 educators are reporting that they are seeing
children come to school everyday hungry (No Kid Hungry, 2019). Even when families do have
enough food within the home, it is not high quality food. Physicians Committee for Responsible
Medicine reported that families on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ie SNAP use
only 23.9% of their benefits of healthy choices like “fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, beans, seeds,
and spices” (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 2020, para. 2). The committee
found that over half of the benefits went to “meats, sweetened beverages, prepared foods and
desserts, cheese, salty snacks, candy, and sugar” (Physicians Committee for Responsible
Medicine, 2020, para. 2). When a child is not getting enough food, this hunger can cause stress
for them. If hunger is a daily source of stress on the child, the consistent stress can become toxic.
Consent exposure to toxic stress can “... negatively affect brain development, learning,
information processing, and academic achievement in children.” (American Psychological
Association, 2017, p. 1)
A study conducted in 2013 found that the price of choosing healthier foods increases the
cost of food by an extra $1.50 per person per day, leading to spending an additional $550 dollars
a year on food (Rao et al., 2013) . While these numbers may not seem too stark in contrast to the
health detriments from eating poorly, this number considers only a single person. For a family of
four it is an extra $6.00 per person per day for a whopping extra $2,200 dollars a year. For a low
income family or even larger families, spending that additional money on healthy food options
may be impossible.
Goals
Our goal is to educate young students and their families about healthy food nutrition and food
resources within our community. We would also like to bring this goal to the board of education
of school districts so that they are more aware of the issue at hand. The hope of this is that more
changes can be made within the districts and funding for solutions can be implemented.

● Long-Term Goals
Food: In the beginning of the school year, build a school garden that can provide education for
classes for the spring, advocacy for the students, and help to offset the cost of food for the
backpack program. This could also create a community connection with a local garden club or
local grow op farm.
Nutrition: Have a monthly free family engagement night where families come to the school
for a “Make, Bake, Take” from September to June. Families will sign up before the event takes
place so that there is enough supplies for everyone. Families will follow along with a healthy
meal recipe as a group. They will do the prepping of the food and the cooking of the food. After
which they will then get to enjoy the meal together as a family. Before leaving, they will receive
a clean recipe card so they can make it again at home.
● Short-Term Goals
Food: Bring the Backpack meals program to the school. This is when students get to take
home nutritious food for the weekend and holidays to ensure that they are eating while they are
off from school. The food is all easy to prepare and non perishable. This allows for students to
come back to school the next week feeling healthy and ready to learn (Action for Healthy Kids,
2019). The goal is to be able to get the program running in the school by October.
Nutrition: Sending home easy healthy snacks and meal recipes on Fridays for families to try.
Students can then keep the recipe cards so they can have easy access to step by step healthy
meals. All of the recipes will include ingredients that are not expensive and they have the whole
weekend to try it out. The goal is to be able to start sending recipes home by the end of
September.
Stakeholders
● Most likely to benefit from the proposed change
 Students will be the main group benefitting from the provided food. Not only will the
students be benefitting, they may be helping their families as well. Often unthought about but,
teachers would also significantly benefit. Teachers would benefit because their students are more
likely to be able to focus and participate in class activities. Students' moods would hopefully be
impacted for the better, as well because attention should increase due to a full stomach. The
community benefits as a whole as well.

● Who has the power and resources to make changes happen?

The power to make a change like this may start from a student themselves. A student may
be an advocate because they are lacking food and nutrition. Students would need to bring this
problem to higher authority to help get it recognized. Teachers may be advocates if they see their
students lacking food and recognize the benefits they could provide by stepping in. Often
teachers would feel obligated to help their students by advocating for them. The board of
education has the power and resources to make changes happen.Whomever has the access to
funds would most likely be able to have the power to acknowledge the needed funds.
Communities may be stakeholders as well if they are able to provide the funds through
donations, without having to pull funds from the school.

● How necessary is it to engage the stakeholder in order to address the underlying

causes of the problem?
We think communities that have people willing to donate would not need to rely on the
stakeholders. Communities who need funds from the school would need to rely on the
stakeholders because they would be the ones providing them with the funds.

● Is there anyone who may be adversely affected or complain about the project?
We do not think many would complain about this project. The only type of person we
could see complaining about this project is if they believe the funds being used for this issue
should be used elsewhere. I think most people would acknowledge how important food and
nutrition is; therefore, many would defend this project.

Messages-
● Primary Message
The primary message that we are conveying is that at home too many of America’s
children are going without the proper food and nutrition they need. We want to achieve the
ability for students to be able to have access to nutrition filled foods at home, whether or not
their families can afford them because without proper food and nutrition children’s overall
health, development and academics can be affected. We plan to achieve this goal by supplying
food to children and their families. As well as giving food resources to them and educating them
on healthy nutrition.

● Our statement
 Hundreds of thousands of students everyday are not getting adequate food and nutrition at
home, which results in problems in health along with their. Access to healthy nutritious foods is
essential for the students health and academic success.

● The most relevant example that supports our message

More than 11 million children currently live in households where they are not receiving
adequate food and nutrition. When children go without foods that supply proper nutrition and are
left hungry it becomes difficult for them to focus in the classroom which lowers their academic
performance. Children who are undernourished are twice as likely to repeat a grade than children
who are not (No Kid Hungry, 2020).

● Goal
Our goal is to advocate for students and their families for home nutrition. We want to
provide ways to increase the quantity and quality in food within the home of children. We hope
to establish a community garden to offset the cost of the Bring the Backpack meal program to
ensure children have access to nutritious food on a regular basis.

● A solution
Our solution is to ensure that the backpack program will be implemented in our schools
and once it is implemented we will highly publicize the program so that at least 80% of families
that qualify for this program are enrolled. We hope to achieve this by accumulating possible
profits from the community garden, donations from communities, and rallying community
support for our cause.

Resources and Assets

To reach our goals we need approval from the board of education to add funding specific
to our cause in the school budget. We also need connections to the community garden, and
willingness from teachers to send home recipe cards and to participate in family engagement
nights. As well as having PTA partnership for our family engagement nights. We also need the
assistance of the school district’s office to locate grants that will reduce the cost to the school.

Strategy
Step one: Research the options of enriching quality and quantity of food within the home. Look
up the statistics of community poverty level, percentage of families in poverty.

Step two: Send out surveys that ask about families interest in participating in the backpack
program.
Step three: We would bring the issue at hand to the board of education of our school districts,
explain the problem and explain what solutions we are proposing. We will explain the benefits
that the backpack program would bring. These benefits would include: proper nourishment for
participating children and increased attention within the classroom because they are not
distracted by hunger.
Step four: If there is push back from the school board, we will talk about the opportunities we
have already sought out to make a community connection with the local community garden. This
connection will lower the overall cost of the program. We can host fundraisers to establish the
program while finding outside community partners such as grocery stores, food banks,
restaurants, and other community resources who may want to work with us. (Action for Healthy
Kids, 2019)
Step five: Once the program is implemented we will continue to evaluate the progress of the
program and dietary needs of our children to make any improvements when possible.
Depending on funding, we may have to roll out the program on a small scale basis for
low income families who are at risk for malnutrition, and as the program becomes more
established and we garner more funding and support we would service more families
with higher incomes.

Step six: Through our connection with the community garden for the backpack program,
we will also use this resource to create and build a school garden on the school property. This
will allow for data to be collected for the space, material, and manpower needed to build and
maintain the garden throughout the year. The community garden would serve as both a source of
food and a possible source of program funding income depending on community participation.

Step seven: We will bring this idea to the principal with a list of benefits for having a
school garden. Some of these benefits include: implementing science lessons and
lowering the costs of food.

Step eight: Once approved garden beds will be built in the fall so that planting can start
in the spring. Through the fall and over the winter, each teacher will create a lesson/s for their
designated area within the garden. Such as kindergarten growing marigolds for mother's day and
fourth graders learning about the different parts of a flower. If we have an increased amount of
funding we can add a greenhouse to allow gardening year-round.

Step nine: Communicate with the different grade level teams about sending home a recipe card
every friday along with the weekly newsletter. The recipe given out will change week to week.
In addition to this, each grade level will offer a different recipe. This will ensure that the skill
required for the recipe meets the ability of the age group. Also this way, families with multiple
children in the school will not have multiples of the same recipes.

Step ten: Locate healthy snack recipe cards that can be easily printed within the school printing
center and distributed to each classroom.
Step eleven: Locate and find a grant for nutrition education that will cover the cost of food and
supplies for our “Make, Bake, Take” family engagement nights that will teach healthy recipes
and build a sense of community.
Step twelve: Partner with the PTA to delegate the different roles to make this less overwhelming
for the volunteers. Such as ordering and buying supplies of food and designing the monthly
flyers for the family engagement nights.
● Necessary resources to take this plan of action
The backpack program is a well established program that already exists. Due to this, they
have a clearly defined website that allows for anyone to get this program implemented within a
school district through their clear steps of action. The plan is to have the backpack program up
and running by October. The community gardens also exist and contain plenty of the volunteers
and resources that we would use such as watering schedules and soil composition. The garden
will be built in the beginning of the school year with planting alongside class curriculum in the
spring. The “Make, Bake, Take” family engagement night is going to require grant funding for
food and cooking equipment. It is also going to need the strong partnership of the school staff
and the PTA volunteers to function seamlessly. The plan is to have everything together so that
this engagement can start in September and run until June. The weekly healthy snack recipe
cards will be up and running in September with printed copies and cutting being completed in
house at the copy center.

● Supporters and opponents of the plan

Supporters of this plan of action would include the majority of teachers and families as well
as the community volunteers from the start of the school year. Community outreach programs
may also be in support of our cause. Opponents would include people in the board meeting who
believe the money should be used elsewhere as well as some teachers and families who believe
that the money should be used elsewhere or that the programs are unnecessary. This would also
include tax payers who may have to vote on this issue as an amendment at the next school budget
vote.

Evaluation
● Viable action plan
Yes, we believe that our plan is very realistic. We believe that for the project to be successful,
the more teachers that advocate for it, the more successful it would be. We think there is a strong
force when there are a lot of advocates for one issue. The more advocates for this issue will help
bring attention to others in the community. If people realize that more than one person is
advocating for it, then they may take the issue more seriously. The more teachers that advocate
for it, would help open administrators’ eyes. Administrators are less likely to ignore the issue if
they realize how many people are bringing the issue to them.

● Possible barriers of the plan

As ideal as it would be to have no barriers, most advocators run into challenges. One major
barrier needed to overcome to start the projects would be finding the financial needs and funds.
We plan to overcome these issues by continuing to advocate the importance and need for funds
for the food. We plan to overcome this barrier by convincing stakeholders and donors how
important our project is and the beneficial outcomes. We need people to realize the benefits that
would come along with the project to convince people that it is a priority.
We also foresee the barrier of not having enough volunteers for the community garden
partnership and the family engagement nights. We can make this less of a barrier by creating
dates and time slots for signup through a digital online signup sheet so that it’s less of a hassle to
signup and more people are likely to sign up. This also allows volunteers to sign up through this
app when they are available at home with their personal calendar handy.
Another possible barrier would be the unpredictability of the garden, as gardening can be trial
and error. We have to be patient waiting for the garden to become fully functional for
community use. This barrier can also serve as educational opportunities so it is not a complete
loss.

Reflection
This portion is to be completed by each individual in your advocacy group.

● How do you personally plan on becoming a teacher advocate?

I would like to advocate on both a class and case basis, though case would be the easiest and most daily
form of advocacy. I think attending conferences like the NAEYC and professional development activities
and seminars to find new and better methods for teaching is a form of advocacy we didn’t talk about
much that is really important. I would have to start with more research, joining and participating in
teacher union meetings, and learning how to look at the bigger picture of what education is and what
influences policies.

● What has influenced you in your role as a future advocate for children and families?

I recently was part of a webinar about redesigning schools after coronavirus and it made me realize how
important class advocacy is, and how much I would like to do it. My own upbringing is also a huge
influence for me. My experiences in school and the experiences of my classmates were very different and
knowing that children experience so much, I think it goes without saying that teachers should advocate
for them. There is a teacher at my old high school, Joyce Suslovic, who makes raps to connect to the
students and has been running herself ragged due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She’s been making home
visits to drop off materials and helping her low income, primarily refugees with language barriers,
students secure technology and safe places to learn. She exemplifies what a teacher is and has taken on
that role of advocate in a way I have not seen before. She inspires me everyday.

● How will you advocate?

I want to be like Joyce Suslovic. She advocates heavily both on a class and case basis and she really
makes a difference for her students. Just by making the content as universally accessible, being a person
the student can come to with a problem and either solving it or getting them in contact with someone who
can. I am fully aware that my own money will be spent making my classroom a place with resources but
that is one way I would like to advocate. Attending conferences and professional development to ensure
that my teaching methods are informed by the most recent research is also something that is very
important to me. As the years go on, we are becoming more and more advanced with our knowledge of
the human brain and the situations in which it thrives. Lastly, by creating a classroom that is inclusive and
built upon respect and building rapport between students that is mutually respectful to teach that all
people deserve respect. Enabling students to have voices is one of the simplest but most important ways
to advocate for them.

References:

Action for Healthy Kids. (2019). Backpack Programs

https://www.actionforhealthykids.org/activity/backpack-programs/
American Psychological Association. (2017). What are the Psychological Effects of Hunger on
Children? [PDF file] https://www.apa.org/advocacy/socioeconomic-status/hunger.pdf

Goodwin, B. (2011). Simply Better: Doing What Matters Most to Change the Odds for Student

Success. ASCD.

Grant, K. B., & Ray, J. (2019). Home, school, and community collaboration: culturally

responsive family engagement. SAGE.

Mcleod, S. (2020, March 20). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Simply Psychology.

https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html.

Rao, M., Afshin, A., Singh, G., & Mozaffarian, D. (2013). Do healthier foods and diet patterns

cost more than less healthy options? A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ open,

3(12), e004277. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2013-004277

No Kid Hungry. (2019). Hunger in Our Schools, How kids in America are going hungry and

what we can do [PDF file]. https://www.nokidhungry.org/sites/default/files/HIOS.pdf

No Kid Hungry. (2020, April 8). Facts about childhood hunger in America.

https://www.nokidhungry.org/who-we-are/hunger-facts

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. (2020). Make Food Stamps Healthy
 https://www.pcrm.org/good-nutrition/nutrition-programs-policies/make-food-stamps-
healthy

Social Care Institute of Excellence. (2015, March). Types of advocacy.

https://www.scie.org.uk/care-act-2014/advocacy-services/commissioning-independent-
advocacy/inclusion-empowerment-human-rights/types.asp

VINES. (2020). VINES Farm Share. https://vinesgardens.org/programs/farmshare/

Wilson, V., & Schieder, J. (2018). The rise in child poverty reveals racial inequality, more than
a

failed War on Poverty. Economic Policy Institute.

https://www.epi.org/publication/the-rise-in-child-poverty-reveals-racial-inequality-more-
than-a-failed-war-on-poverty/.