Insufficient Funds: NYC Teaching Fellows' Deficit Perspectives on Parents, Families, and Cultures

• In Event: The Influence of Administration, Teachers, Technology, and Deficit Thinking on Students and Classroom Management

Abstract

This qualitative study examines the perspectives of 375 New York City Secondary Mathematics Teaching Fellows. Responses to an open-ended survey question were explored for evidence of deficit perspectives as they pertain to parents, families, and cultures. Results indicate that, contrary to program goals and assumptions, many teaching fellows openly espoused deficit perspectives of parents, families, and cultures. Thematic analysis was then performed on responses to generate more interpretive findings. Four cognitive models that emerge from the data are discussed.

Author

• James Groff