Disrupting Deficit Thinking Through Personal Experience

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Diversity and Disruption Toward Equitable and Inclusive Education (Table 28)

Abstract

Teachers’ identities inform their teaching practice and perceptions of students. Pervasive deficit narratives also inform teachers’ perceptions of their students. In this paper, a qualitative case study is presented featuring a bilingual special educator, Monica, who teaches many multilingual learners. Findings indicate how Monica draws upon her own linguistic identity to disrupt deficit narratives and make sense of her students’ learning needs and experiences relating to language and literacy learning and common immigrant experiences. Implications for special education teacher preparation programs and future research are discussed.

Author

• Melissa McGraw, Illinois State University