Challenging Deficit Thinking in Our Schools

Deficit thinking by educators is a barrier to student success. To effectively meet the needs of all students, future teachers need to be able to identify and challenge deficit thinking when they encounter it. Educator preparation programs are well positioned to assist with the rejection of deficit thinking in favor of strengths-based approaches in the classroom through intentionally designed courses and required field experiences. This chapter explores deficit thinking in special education, highlights components of teacher training that have been demonstrated to address issues of equity and combat deficit thinking, and shares one education department's efforts to ensure deficit thinking is adequately addressed in their coursework and fieldwork. Other educator preparation programs may benefit from the exploration of inclusive and equity-focused program components, as well as the auditing process conducted by this education department.

Deficit Thinking and Additional Language Learners in Exceptional Education

In the 2018–19 school year, additional language learners (ALL) represented 10% of total student enrollment K–12 schools with over 5 million ALL learners enrolled in U.S. schools. Additional language learners are the fastest growing population in education in America. There is a disproportionality in the number of ALL learners referred to exceptional education programing in the U.S. instead of being taught in culturally responsive ways specifically to develop language skills in additional languages. Teachers often refer for Exceptional Education assessments ALL learners who are not progressing as fast as students with English as their home language for a learning disability. This chapter aims to identify the acculturation process and best practices for teaching English as an Additional Language specifically in the acculturation period for learners. This chapter will give an overview of ALL learners, culture, acculturation, and differentiation in instruction and assessment for ALL learners in working towards more appropriate and effective programming for ALL learners in American schools.

Defying Deficit Thinking

Bolstered by the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), inclusion became part of the education vernacular. This chapter provides a review of key highlights in the history of inclusive education. The impact of deficit thinking and role of social justice are emphasized as undercurrents driving legislative changes. The authors propose systems thinking as a method to identify actionable items for advancing inclusive education. An overview of promising inclusive frameworks, specifically Universal Design for Learning and social-emotional learning, are described and recommended for embedding inclusive practices into daily practice within the education system.

Disability Life Writing

This dual autothnographic research study examined the knowledge and experience gained by two women through the course of narrative exchange. Using the theoretical lens of Disability Studies and Critical Race Theory, DisCrit, and the methodology of disability life writing, the authors explored themes of deficit thinking, cultural essentialism, intersectionality, ability profiling, and liberation. The authors made recommendations for educating preservice teachers using disability life writing and personal reflection. Other implications for teacher preparation coursework included teaching disability as a cultural model, exploring counter narratives for social change, and unpacking deficit mindset. Finally, the authors suggest further research for finding best practices for instruction and implementation of recommended practices.

#DeleteDeficitThinking

In this chapter, the authors propose that Universal Design for Learning can be a way to resist and reframe pervasive deficit thinking in exceptional education. While UDL is based on a radical framework, it has been taken up in practice in a diluted way, de-emphasizing the radical conception of learners at its core. In this chapter, the researchers argue that in order to eliminate deficit thinking in UDL, users and scholars alike will need to 1) interrogate gaps and erasures in UDL professional development that affect its anti-racist and anti-ablest potential and 2) provide professional development that can challenge deficit thinking. This chapter describes findings in two studies working towards these goals. The first preliminary study investigates gaps in the conceptualization of the “user” of UDL in professional texts on UDL. The second study reports on how a professional development course on UDL actively disrupted deficit thinking about disability.

Adopting the Power of Strengths Based Approaches

People with psychiatric and mental health conditions along with other disabilities have endured a long trajectory of inequalities and missed opportunities that have resulted in less than ideal conditions. This longstanding viewpoint has translated into and affected operations and treatment of students in the special education sector. A central factor that is significantly involved in this pervasive and prevalent issue is the mindset of deficit thinking which states that there is something inherently wrong with students who have exceptionalities. Such mindset leads to misaligned treatment and instruction and exacerbates developmental concerns. Key contributors in deficit thinking in the exceptional education arena involve a variety of methodologies that would benefit from changes in humanistic approaches. This chapter discusses key issues that comprise deficit thinking, principles and values that enhance the experience toward success in exceptional education. Discussion of potential solutions are also explored.

What's Training Got to Do With It?

With the current, pervasive mindset in schools of deficit thinking, which affects students of all ages and abilities, educator preparation programs have an opportunity to make a change. This chapter will explore educator preparation programs and what is being taught in introductory courses on special education, as well as mindset leading to deficit thinking. An exploratory survey of university instructors was conducted to discover what could lead to deficit thinking in preschool to Grade 12 (P-12) schools. Findings show that instructors are using supplemental materials to cover models of disability, and further study of how instructor mindset influences course content is warranted. Discussion will include adding growth mindset, self-efficacy strategies, and unconscious bias training in educator preparation programs to further challenge deficit thinking. Additional areas for future research will also be discussed.

Radical re-imagination: centering a BIPOC library workforce in an asset-based autoethnography

PurposeAcademic BIPOC librarians oftentime struggle to envision themselves and navigate in White-dominant spaces due to deficit thinking. To better understand how DEIA efforts can bolster structural change in academic libraries, the two BIPOC authors opted to lean on an asset-based exercise–imagining a positive work environment made possible through a library staffed entirely by BIPOC individuals.Design/methodology/approachThrough collaborative autoethnography, the two authors interviewed one another and centered their unstructured conversations around one question: “What does an academic library composed entirely of a BIPOC workforce look like?” Three emergent themes were agreed upon and finalized by the two authors.FindingsThe authors' imagined library is able to foster a supportive community and also function efficiently thanks to its shared purpose grounded in DEIA. Despite relying on an asset-based framework, the authors found themselves having to reckon with trials and tribulations currently faced by BIPOC librarians. Effectively envisioning the “ideal” library environment is not possible without also engaging with librarianship's legacy of racial injustices.Originality/valueRecognizing that confronting systems of oppression naturally invokes trauma, this paper encourages librarians to challenge deficit thinking and instead rely on asset-based models to candidly imagine an anti-racist academic library. The authors acknowledge that BIPOC voices and experiences add tremendous value to the library workplace. At the heart of this paper is the belief that reparations for past racial injustices should not only fix past wrongdoings, but also contribute to positive workplace cultures.

Diversity, Growth, and Understanding: School Responses to Immigration in Rural New Brunswick

The province of New Brunswick is growing its population through immigration and retention strategies of newcomers to grow and stabilize its economy. Many communities, traditionally unaccustomed to such growth, are now experiencing a rapid shift in their ethnocultural populations. This report is based on a case study research conducted in three rural New Brunswick schools in three closely connected communities. Each school is confronting their own issues with the shift in their student demographics, but all share common strengths and challenges. The researchers identified four main intersecting themes, each connected to a sub-theme. They found that: 1). Newcomer students are striving hard to learn and live in an English culture; 2). Newcomer students are working to belong in their school through finding Canadian-born friends and allies; 3). Educators and newcomer students are mindful that deficit thinking hinders language and verbal communication; and 4). Stereotypical perceptions about new immigrants taking jobs away from New Brunswickers are pervasive and consistent in the schools and communities that were studied. As more newcomers arrive in the province, the researchers advocate that educators and school leaders need more knowledge and support for working with newcomer students and families. Further, deeper conversations about stereotyping and racism will need to occur to effectively eradicate the negative perceptions about immigrants and immigration in the province.