Chapter 3: Dismantling Deficit Thinking Through Teacher Education

Teacher preparation programs have struggled on issues of providing equitable educational practices for all learners. Arguably, they seem to lack the wherewithal in instituting reflective learning experiences that could challenge current retrogressive ideas. To a large measure, reflective learning experiences dismantle colonized thinking and help to galvanize communities that (a) value critical consciousness (Obiakor, 2014), (b) acknowledge structural inequality (Obiakor, 2012), (c) dislocate levels of oppression inherent in schooling (Scheurich & Young, 1997; Villenas & Foley, 2011), (d) address intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991; Delgado & Stefancic, 2001; Solórzano & Yosso, 2001), (e) counter deficit thinking (Gorski, 2008; Valencia, 1997, 2010), and (f) discuss how all the aforementioned variables impact teaching, learning, and schooling of all students (Obiakor, 2014). In this chapter, we discredit information that negatively influences how students, especially those who come from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds, are viewed by educators and service providers. Embedded in our discussion are common myths heard in schools and how elements of critical race theory can be utilized to deconstruct them.