Abstract
Given that 9.2 percent or 6.8 million families in the United States live in poverty (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2002a), it is imperative that students of Human Development and Family Studies receive classroom instruction about the causes, realities, and consequences of being poor. One pedagogical strategy for introducing students to diverse people is through the use of nonfiction texts. The purpose of this article is to describe a non-traditional class assignment that utilizes Alex Kotlowitz's There Are No Children Here as a means for reflexive and feminist teaching about child development in the context of poverty. The employment of reflexivity as a tool of feminist pedagogy provides a meaningful method for creating a critical process of self-awareness and empathy for diverse individuals and families. Using Allen and Farnsworth's (1993) feminist and reflexive strategies as a guide for inclusion of this book in the curriculum, this paper describes the components and method for implementation of this group project. Student quotes indicating the transformative power of the assignment are included.