Teaching for Student Equity
Teaching for student equity: Deepening our asset-based practice in the classroom
With the current state of education in the U.S., a renewed focus on historical and existing educational inequities based on race, class and gender are more important than ever. It is encouraging that there appears to be interest in moving away from deficit understandings of such inequities, toward more asset based frameworks. How can we effectively include asset-based approaches in the college classroom that can help us to move toward more equitable student outcomes? How can we avoid inadvertently perpetuating dominant, deficit perspectives in the name of equality for all? Is it possible to work from emphasizing student “strengths”, while using a problem-focused pedagogy? This presentation/discussion examines the integration of “hope” (Duncan-Andrade, 2009); critical pedagogy (Freire, 1968); and Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005) to more deeply understand asset v. deficit-based approaches to teaching and learning.