Saturday, June 6, 2009

Assets vs. deficits: What do we see?


I talked briefly in class this past week about the difference between an "asset" vs. a "deficit" perspective: seeing what's good in a child, family, or community versus only seeing what they supposedly lack, don't have, or aren't doing.

In what ways do you notice deficit or asset perspectives among the adults at your school? How do teachers and administrators "see" their students, the students' parents, and the school's community -- through a lens of negativity or a more positive one? Does the way we "see" our students matter?

7 comments:

  1. I really found this concept of "asset and deficit perspective" interesting. It is easier to point out the deficiencies in people, instead of the qualities. We are quick to point and judge all the bad qualities in a person, instead of focusing on their contributions. In my school, staff, students, and parents know who the so called "bad" students are. For example, there are a few teachers in my school, that without the "bad" student saying or doing anything, will automatically have a bad attitude or negativity towards that student. I feel that no matter how hard or bad the previous day was, we should start each day with a new and fresh atttitude. I feel that students look up to us for guidance and its our responsibility to provide that for them. We sometimes forget that our students are children. Children with different backgrounds and upbringings. These children are the product of their parents and environment. Even though their upbringing may not be the ideal one for us, it is still our responsibility to focus on what they can contribute and the qualities they bring, instead of the deficits they have.

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  2. My school is totally in tune with our students, community, families, and culture. We see the asset in the student more than blaming it on the deficit. From administration down to aides, takes into consideration, all of these factors, when it come to giving the students all the support and understanding that is needed.

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  3. Wow, Javier can i work at your school? Your school seems to run quite fair! It's unfortunate that at my school, i feel that it doesn't run as well as it should and that is why students are not very cooperative with administration, teachers and sometimes not even their parents. I don't feel that students are really praised for their hard work. Some of the teachers at my school don't enjoy teaching and it's because of this attitude that students fail to do well. There are a lot of special needs students at my school; behavioral disorder, learning disability, cognitively delayed, bipolar disorder and autism. Teachers who have a special needs student in a regular class fail to give them attention because of their deficit/disability. I've noticed that some teachers fail to include them in their teaching because they feel they're not going to understand the material. Teachers need to treat all of the students the same regardless of their disabilities. It is challenging but these students still need to learn. Teachers need to modify the lesson plans to be able to assist all levels of learning. I accompanied three of my autistic students to their regular Spanish class. Not once did the teacher ever introduce herself to them nor did she acknowledge them. She never gave them work. I couldn't believe it. I feel that this teacher perceived these students to be already at the extent of their knowledge. I was their teacher. I knew, that regardless of their disability they would still be able to learn spanish. All three were at different levels but I managed to find ways to help them remember Spanish words. Within a month of working with them, they were able to tell me their colors, numbers and fruits in Spanish. It is very important not to judge a book by its cover. The way we see our students matters. Focus needs to be made on their assets by contributing to their learning evironment.

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  4. Angelica, I agree that teachers need to modify the lesson plans to be able to assist all levels of learning. Where I work, I have seen teachers focus on the deficits of our ESL students. Some of the teachers that have ESL students in the classroom don't always modify or adjust to the levels of the student's. It's sad to see when a student cant participate in an activity because they haven't finished a previous one or haven't finished a homework assignment. What the teachers don't understand is that these students sometimes cant keep up with the rest of the class or sometimes they don't have the capability. One teacher in particular constantly focuses on the deficits of a particular child in her class. Even though the child will exceed in certain areas, the teacher always seems to put the focus back on something negative the child has done. As the end of the year approaches, I hear some teachers expressing their happiness that they won't have to deal with certain students anymore. I think that as teachers we need to focus and appreciate the good that we see in our students and not be negative towards them.

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  5. This was posted by Abbey:

    I work at Algonquin Lakes. I’m an assistant for the English Language Learners. In Algonquin Lakes, the students are the assets, what they, see, matters. They’re positive among the staffs, the parents and the communities.
    Algonquin Lake students are the main reasons for all the strong hold of the hard working staffs. Algonquin lakes also have a very active Parent Teacher Organization ( PTO ). Parents are involved in Literacy Nights, PTO Fun Fair, Daddy-Daughter Dance, Art appreciation and Academic Fair. The School also has an Interventions for Struggling Students Increased time with ELL teacher and assistant, Native Language support, Response to Intervention (RTI), Extended day learning opportunities. Some of the activities are Mad science, Book club, Circle of Friends after school program, Girl scouts, Soccer, Running club and young Rembrandts. To say the least.
    I’ m so blessed to be part of this great school. The students are our assets and Algonquin lakes staff members “ see “ what the students always say matters.

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  6. Asset perspectives are very vivid amongst many of the teachers at my school. There are many staff members who enjoy their job and see it is an opportunity to fulfill many of their dreams in working with the children and their parents.

    A lot of the deficit perspective seems to come from the lack of communication that occurs with administrators and teachers, teachers and parents, administrators and parents. They all have concerns but at times do not feel that they are being heard. These inadequacies lead to the “so what” attitude and lead to a deficit behavior.

    Many of the upper grade/middle school students at my school are at times seen as non-existent or a hassle to deal with. Because of the overcrowding in the area, our middle school students are bused to a “branch”. Resources are not always given to them in a manner that the “main” school students receive. When all that is heard in the “main” are bad reports about the “branch” then the negative lens is draped over the eyes of many. All it takes is some talking to the branch students to realize that they are just as needy, talented, smart, and rebellious as many of the main students. It’s just that they are at a new building away from everyone else that they are now considered as good or even scum.

    Our perspective on people will sooner or later determine our actions towards them. If you being open minded only occurs when it is convenient for you that how open minded are you? If you consider yourself someone who tolerates differences except when it inconveniences you, than how tolerant are you towards differences? Like we mentioned in class; some people should not get married. Others should not have children. If you are asked to teach or work in an area that will not suit your liking, than maybe you should not be working there.

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  7. I agree with Diane that we are too quick to judge and point out to which students have deficiencies. At the school where I work,there are teachers who always see good in all students, and there are teachers who only see good in those who have good grades. I know for fact that those students who even try harder to get better grades, but have a history of misbehaving, end up with bad grades anyway. It almost seem like misbehaving is a factor behind grading. In the lower grades, the teachers are trying to be objective, but at the 7th and 8th grade level, were teachers are working in teams, that is where students are being punished in all subjects for a shortcoming in one subject. It almost seems that during their lunch, which is also their collaboration time, they only talk about how students are bad and they think of ways how they could punish those students. I do like to work at the school where I'm at, because I like to help the children that I work with. In fact, they are the only people(the students)that care how I feel or ask me how was my weekend. For years, I've been greeting with "good morning"a teacher who never answer. I thought that one day she will finally reply with greeting, but that never happened. The same teacher have the guts to say that students are rude and without manners. I know that they are learning by example, so if they are rude, that is because their teacher did not show them yet how to be kind and nice.

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