Shifting the Paradigm from Deficit Oriented Schools to Asset Based Models; Why Leaders Need to Promote an Asset Orientation in Our Schools By Shannon Renkly and Katherine Bertolini

 The authors Shannon Renkly and Katherine Bertolini argue that it is crucial for schools to use an asset based model as opposed to a deficit oriented one.  This is because it is important to see and acknowledge all of the strengths students already bring to the table and help them to "remove their fear of failure by encouraging them to fail forward, set small and attainable goals, and celebrate successes" rather than "fixing students' weaknesses or risky behaviors."  When schools adopt this asset based model, students, their families, and educators will be better able to collaborate and achieve more. 

Three Talking Points:

Beginning: 

-"Schools often focus solely on risky behaviors exhibited by students, causing the school to act reactively rather than proactively.  Student learning and growth must be the top priority of a school, and this can only be done by deliberately identifying and building up student assets" (page 23).

-"In our world, it is common practice for people to focus their attention on what is broken and how to fix it.  This causes people to work in a system utilizing a deficit model" (page 23).

These quotes made me think of how our brains are hardwired to want to fix things and problem solve.  When we don't first look at the strengths and assets people bring to the table, we are already trying to "fix" or problem solve deficits and that is detrimental. 

Middle:

-"A deficit model is one that focuses on what students cannot do.  If a student is underachieving, those that work from a deficit model believe that failure is because that student is not trying hard enough" (page 24).

-"On the other hand, an asset model, or abundance model, focuses on what a student can do: their strengths, skills, talents, interests, and competencies" (page 24).

-"We can make powerful changes when we break through the pervasive influence of the deficit paradigm and recognize the untapped strengths of students and teachers" (page 24).

These quotes resonated with me and made me think about how powerful it can be to break the habit of deficit paradigm and recognize and honor student and teacher strengths.

End:

-"According to Scales (1999), when schools shed their deficit model, it becomes easier for the community to become involved" (page 25).

-"When the focus shifts to assets, community members can easily work together to build up and nurture positive attributes in youth" (page 25).

-"Having high expectations of your students, convincing them that these expectations are attainable, helping them remove their fear of failure by encouraging them to fail forward, setting small and attainable goals, and celebrating successes when those goals are met before moving forward further" (page 26). 

This last quote really resonated with me because if students know that they can meet high expectations and they know where the bar is set, helping them achieve their goals and celebrating their wins will contribute to positive growth. 

Reflections and Connections:

In reflection after reading Shifting the Paradigm from Deficit Oriented Schools to Asset Based Models; Why Leaders Need to Promote an Asset Orientation in Our Schools by Shannon Renkly and Katherine Bertolini, it made me reflect as an educator on times where we as educators may feel stressed or like we are not doing enough to meet all the diverse needs of our students, the mindset can tend to shift to "what are we doing wrong?, or what are we not getting right?"  Although it is important to reflect on what is going well and what is challenging, our brains can tend to think more about how to "fix" what is not going well or to always want to problem-solve.  If educators start by looking at all the positives and all of the knowledge and background our students bring to class each day, and praise them for achieving attainable goals, then we can only get stronger.  

This reading also made me think of some further research I did around this topic and found this YouTube video that really breaks down how to reframe deficit thinking to asset-based.

Reframing Deficit Thinking: Possibilities for Asset-Based Course Instruction

Khan's "The Broken Model"

Argument Statement: Khan argues that the education system built long ago may have met the needs of students and society long ago, but is outdated and needs to be re-assessed for today's society.  Educators and education reform and policy lawmakers must assess and address the weakness of this model, and adapt to what students need now.

Three Talking Points:

Beginning:

-"It's not just that tradition tends to cramp imagination; it's also that our educational system is intertwined with many other customs and institutions." (Khan, page 62).

-"What's needed... is a perspective that allows us a fresh look at our most basic assumptions about teaching and learning, a perspective that takes nothing for granted and focuses on the simple but crucial questions of what works, what doesn't work, and why." (Khan, page 64).

-"In the standard curriculum, vast and beautiful areas of human thought are artificially chopped into manageable chunks called "subjects".  Concepts that should flow into one another like ocean currents are dammed up into "units".  Students are "tracked" in a manner that... completely ignores the wonderful variety and nuance that distinguish human intelligence, imagination, and talent." (Khan, pages 64-65).

Middle:

-"The idea was not to produce independent thinkers, but to churn out loyal and tractable citizens who would learn value of submitting to the authority of parents, teachers, church, and ultimately king." (Khan, page 76).

End:

-"Today's world needs a workforce of creative, curious, and self-directed lifelong learners who are capable of conceiving and implementing novel ideas." (Khan, page 80).

-"Creativity in general tends to be egregiously underappreciated and often selected against in our schools." (Khan, page 98).

Reflections and Connections:

In reflection after reading The Broken Model, Chapter 2 by Khan, and after viewing A Short History of Public Schooling, a lot of the quotes above resonated with me.  Khan talks about how our education system designed long ago, and "intertwined with many other customs and institutions" (page 62), is not necessarily best practice or best fit for today's society.  Khan addresses the need for a fresh perspective and a fresh look at teaching and learning as well as looking inward and assessing what is working and what is not working in the world of education and the reasons why.  Khan also addresses the standardized curriculum and testing that students and teachers consistently grapple with.  Although I will say it is important to have a form of measurement and analysis of data, there is so much emphasis that is put on standardized testing.  It seems like much of the time we are teaching to the next quiz or test so that students succeed.  I will say that it is crucial to have some form of data tracking and assessment whether it be formative or summative, but whose to say that we can't incorporate more creative ways for students to show what they know?  As I lesson plan and think about upcoming progress monitoring, quizzes, and unit tests, I think to myself, "is there a more creative way that students can show what they have learned?" "Are there other modes that students can present what they know and what they have learned in a more creative way?" 

Armstrong and Wildman's "Colorblindness is the New Racism" and Hobson's "Color Blind or Color Brave?"

 

Armstrong and Wildman’s “Colorblindness is the New Racism” and Hobson’s “Color Blind or Color Brave?”

 

The authors argue that colorblindness being the belief and lack of awareness around racial inequality can be interjected by color insight which is the recognition of racial inequality.

 

Three Talking Points:

Beginning: “Examining privilege must become a part of discrimination discourse which rarely recognizes that race discrimination involves exclusion from privileges that are accorded to White people or others who might be above the power line” (Armstrong and Wildman, page 64).  This quote resonates because we must reflect on our own unconscious biases and recognize and name the biases we have.  

“Public education in the United States provides one example of this process of attempts to attack privilege that serve to reinscribe it.  The law prohibits segregation in public schools yet inequality in opportunity and caliber of education remains rampant” (Ogletree, 2004) Page 64.  I thought this quote to be very interesting as it relates to the discussion we had last week in class about the fact being that schools today are still very segregated and quality of education from one school to another can differ greatly. 

Middle: “Color insight requires recognition of the myth of perspectivelessness and unmasking white normativeness” (Armstrong and Wildman, page 72).  We must, in a sense, unmask ourselves and dig deep and look within at our own “perspectivelessness” and “normativeness” and combat these with color insight. 

End: “Color insight does not provide a magic wand that dispenses with racism, but it does offer a vocabulary and some significant points of entry for deeper conversations” (Armstrong and Wildman, page 76).   

 

Reflection and Connection:

“It’s time for us to be comfortable with the uncomfortable conversation about race… If we truly believe in equal rights and equal opportunity in America, we need to have real conversations about this issue.  We cannot afford to be colorblind, we have to be color brave… We have to be willing as teachers and parents and entrepreneurs and scientists, we have to be willing to have proactive conversations about race” (Hobson).  While reflecting on both the text and the Ted Talk, I was thinking about how I have heard people at work and in life say that they “don’t see color”,  and that they “treat everyone fairly”.  To not acknowledge race and privilege is essentially “whitewashing”.  Saying that you don’t see color, is like saying you don’t see part of someone’s identity and history.  In reflection, I have had to think about my own privilege when thinking about S.C.H.W.A.A.P as well. 

While watching the Ted Talk by Hobson, it made me think back to a previous Ted Talk I have watched by Verna Myers, titled, How to Overcome our Biases, Walk Boldly Toward Them.  These two Ted Talks connect well to one another because in Hobson's talk, she discusses the importance of being "comfortable with the uncomfortable", and Myers discusses in her talk, that it is important to walk boldly toward what you are uncomfortable with.  I will link Myers' Ted Talk here.  https://www.ted.com/talks/verna_myers_how_to_overcome_our_biases_walk_boldly_toward_them 

 

Privilege, Power, and Difference Reflection

Privilege, Power, and Difference Reflection

Argument Statement: Alan Johnson argues that the way in which our society has been built over time and throughout history has been created to benefit certain groups and harm others.

Talking Points:

- "We all like to feel that way: accepted, valued, supported, appreciated, respected, belonging.  So you'd think we'd go after it... Apparently, something powerful does keep us from it, to judge from all the trouble there is around issues of difference -- especially in relation to race, gender, sexual orientation, and class.  Something powerful keeps us far from anything like a world where people feel comfortable showing up and feel good about themselves and one another.  The truth of this powerful force is everywhere, but we don't know how to talk about it, and so we act as though it's always somewhere other than here and now in the room with us." (Johnson, page 7). 

-"As Peggy McIntosh describes it, privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than because of anything they've done or failed to do."  (Johnson, page 23). 

-"Privilege grants the cultural authority to make judgements about others and to have those judgements stick.  It allows people to define reality and to have prevailing definitions of reality fit their experience.  Privilege means being able to decide who gets taken seriously, who receives attention, who is accountable to whom and for what." (Johnson, page 33). 

Connections:

I found this article that relates to white privilege and I found it connects well to this week's reading.

Click here to read more: https://www.nationalseedproject.org/key-seed-texts/white-privilege-unpacking-the-invisible-knapsack 

  

Personal Reflections:

While reading this article, it made me think of the biases and judgements that people have based on differences among groups.  In different instances throughout my working experience, I have noticed that when people of color have a great contribution that they made, that it does not always get celebrated and praised as they should.  This reading also made me think of a professional development I went to that taught about our unconscious biases that we have.  We may not even know we have these unconscious biases without unpacking them and really digging deep, and grappling with different scenarios.  During this pd we had to grapple with different scenarios and perspectives to determine the different opinions we may have about certain groups. 

A Little About Me

    Hi everyone!

        I'm Madison and I am currently in my eighth year teaching at a public charter school in RI.  I graduated from Roger Williams University in 2018 and majored in elementary education and minored in Spanish.  Over the past eight years, I have taught 4 years of 1st grade, 2 years of 2nd grade, 1 year of 3rd grade, and this year I teach Kindergarten.  I have been enjoying teaching Kindergarten, it has been great to see the joy and excitement for learning!  I have a great co-teacher who has taught Kindergarten for eight years!

    In my free time, when not teaching, I am working hard in my grad classes!  This is my second semester of grad school and I am working towards my masters in reading/reading specialist certification.  When not studying, you can find me cooking or baking and trying new recipes, hanging out with my husband, Ethan and our cats and enjoying a good show or book!  I also enjoy skiing (I learned to ski only a few years ago), I enjoy going to the gym and exercising and I enjoy spending time with friends and family!