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 Tammy H. Pawloski prepares teachers to deal with poverty
By Shelia Watson, Contributing Writer
Tammy H. Pawloski is a teacher at heart, and she has a heart for teaching disadvantaged youths.
With a doctorate in early childhood education, she taught for nearly three decades at all levels of early childhood and primary school.
Now on faculty at Francis Marion University in Florence as a professor of early childhood education, she also is director of the university’s Center of Excellence to Prepare Teachers of Children of Poverty.
“The center came about following the Abbeville vs. South Carolina court case, where several school districts sued the state, charging that the state didn’t provide adequate funding for the districts with low-income families,” she said. “Dr. Lauren Anderson was one of the key witnesses for plaintiff, and he made the remark that we can talk a lot about poor children and what they don’t have, but the important thing is to do something about it.”
Pawloski said Anderson came to Francis Marion University and wrote the grant, which included research on the special needs of children of poverty, especially how they differ from the needs of other children.
The center is now in the fourth year of the five-year grant, and when the seed money from the grant ends, Pawloski and others working with the center plan to seek additional funding.
“We’ve received recurring funding from the state to maintain the center, so we’re now a line item in the budget,” she said. “We’re happy that the project has been sustained for the foreseeable future.”
The center is important to Pawloski on a personal level as well.
“I’ve taught a lot of poor children who live in severely impoverished areas,” she said. “I also grew up in a high-poverty district, and I think that prepared me to research what we need to do.”
Prior to her appointment at Francis Marion, she spent 10 years in California, where she had the opportunity to witness a different type of poverty.
“I knew rural South Carolina poverty, but my time in California provided a chance to see a more urban poverty, especially the kind we see with immigrants. That’s another issue we’ll deal with more as South Carolina continues to be home to more immigrants and non-English speaking people.”
Pawloski said working with the center has been rewarding and she knows it is making a difference, albeit with baby steps.
“We’re beginning to hear teachers who are appreciative of what we’re doing, putting into practice what we’ve done in our research,” she said. “But it’s true what they say: It’s hard to be a prophet in your own home. We’re receiving more attention nationally than locally.”
She said the biggest challenge is getting the word out.
“It should be a simple thing to send out an e-mail and know that every teacher in the state has the information,” she said. “There’s a lot happening by word of mouth, but it’s a challenge to make sure all the teachers are informed about what’s available to them.”
The grass-roots effort is starting to pay off. The center had its first conference on a Saturday in September. Although few were expected, more than 300 showed up. Another conference is scheduled for February and a two-day conference is slated for the summer.
“Our numbers are increasing, so we know we’re making progress,” Pawloski said. “That keeps you hanging on.”
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