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"Burden of Poverty Lacking money or time can lead one to make poorer decisions, possibly because poverty imposes a cognitive load that saps attention and reduces effort. Mani et al. (p. 976; see the Perspective by Vohs) gathered evidence from shoppers in a New Jersey mall and from farmers in Tamil Nadu, India. They found that considering a projected financial decision, such as how to pay for a car repair, affects people's performance on unrelated spatial and reasoning tasks. Lower-income individuals performed poorly if the repairs were expensive but did fine if the cost was low, whereas higher-income individuals performed well in both conditions, as if the projected financial burden imposed no cognitive pressure. Similarly, the sugarcane farmers from Tamil Nadu performed these tasks better after harvest than before. Abstract The poor often behave in less capable ways, which can further perpetuate poverty. We hypothesize that poverty directly impedes cognitive function and present two studies that test this hypothesis. First, we experimentally induced thoughts about finances and found that this reduces cognitive performance among poor but not in well-off participants. Second, we examined the cognitive function of farmers over the planting cycle. We found that the same farmer shows diminished cognitive performance before harvest, when poor, as compared with after harvest, when rich. This cannot be explained by differences in time available, nutrition, or work effort. Nor can it be explained with stress: Although farmers do show more stress before harvest, that does not account for diminished cognitive performance. Instead, it appears that poverty itself reduces cognitive capacity. We suggest that this is because poverty-related concerns consume mental resources, leaving less for other tasks. These data provide a previously unexamined Perspective and help explain a spectrum of behaviors among the poor. We discuss some implications for poverty policy."

"It seems only fitting to explore the role of questions in education by asking questions about the process of doing so. I propose that we start with the customary way of framing this topic and then proceed to questions that are deeper and potentially more subversive of traditional schooling. 1. WHICH QUESTIONS? To begin, let's consider what we might ask our students. The least interesting questions are those with straightforward factual answers. That's why a number of writers have encouraged the use of questions described variously as "true" (Wolf, 1987), "essential" (Simon, 2002), "generative" (Perkins, 1992; Perrone, 1998), "guiding" (Traver, 1998), or "fertile" (Harpaz & Lefstein, 2000). What the best of these share is that they're open-ended. Sometimes, in fact, no definitive right answer can be found at all. And even when there is one - or at least when there is reason to prefer some responses to others - the answer isn't obvious and can't be summarized in a sentence. Why is it so hard to find a cure for cancer? Do numbers ever end? Why do people lie? Why did we invade Vietnam? Grappling with meaty questions like these (which were among those generated by a class in Plainview, NY) is a real project . . . literally. A question-based approach to teaching tends to shade into learning that is problem- (Delisle, 1997) and project-based (Kilpatrick, 1918; Blumenfeld et al., 1991; Wolk, 1998). Intellectual proficiency is strengthened as students figure out how to do justice to a rich question. As they investigate and come to understand important ideas more fully, new questions arise along with better ways of asking them, and the learning spirals upwards. Guiding students through this process is not a technique that can be stapled onto our existing pedagogy, nor is it something that teachers can be trained to master during an in-service day. What's required is a continual focus on creating a classroom that is about thinking rather

"Este curso como otros años quería hacer algún trabajo artístico para reclamar la atención del alumnado ante el problema de la violencia machista. Estaba cansada de hacer instalaciones centradas en lo luctuoso del día. Lo triste, lo que nos pone los pelos de punta. Quería añadir una nueva palabra a mi serie: CAIDAS, PERFILES, y OFRENDA . Pero deseaba encontrar alguna idea positiva, alejarme de la muerte y reflexionar sobre la esperanza, la salida al problema. Y no se como, se me ocurrió: GRITOS ¿Qué le gritarías a esas mujeres que sufren?. ¿Qué mensajes de apoyo les dirías?.¿Cómo animarlas de alguna manera a salir de esa espiral?. Y así llevé a propuesta a clase. Empecé proponiendo yo algunos de los gritos que se me ocurrían y pedí nuevos a mis alumnos en cada clase. La lista se hacía grande, grande, se repetían las frases, pero fue muy emocionante ver manos levantadas para proponer nuevos gritos y lo claro que mis alumnos lo tenían: ¡PUEDES CON TODO!, ¡NO ESTÁS SOLA!, ¡TU LO VALES!, ¡JUST DO IT!, ¡FEMELE POWER!, ¡QUIÉRETE!, ¡QUE NADA TE PARE!, ¡CREE EN TI!, ¡LUCHA POR LO QUE QUIERES!, ¡FUERA MIEDOS!,¡ ERES ÚNICA!, ¡CUÍDATE, ¡TE LO MERECES!, ¡ERES FUERTE!, ¡PUEDES SALIR!, ¡NO TE RINDAS!, ¡ERES INIGUALABLE!, ¡PAUSE THE GAME AND RESET! ¿Y la técnica?. ¿Como mezclar las imágenes del alumnado con su menajes? Mediante un Agamograph se me ocurrió mezclar retratos de cada uno de ellos con el grito que entre todos queríamos lanzar a esas mujeres que sufren, gritos de apoyo para mujeres con la autoestima por los suelos, faltas de valor por años de violencia y de impotencia."