Defeating Deficit Ideology: Creating Class-Equitable Schools

1. Defeating Deficit Ideology: Creating Class-Equitable Schools by Paul C. Gorski gorski@EdChange.org

2. What We (Think We) Know The Who Said It? Quiz • Humility is key • Cognitive dissonance is inevitable

3. The Quiz 1. In 1978 corporate CEOs in the United States earned, on average, 35 times more than the average worker. Today, they earn __ times more than the average worker. • 35 • 150 • 300

4. The Quiz 1. In 1978 corporate CEOs in the United States earned, on average, 35 times more than the average worker. Today, they earn __ times more than the average worker. • 35 • 150 • 300

5. The Quiz 2. The majority of poor people in the U.S. live in: • urban areas • suburban areas • rural areas

6. The Quiz 2. The majority of poor people in the U.S. live in: • urban areas • suburban areas • rural areas

7. The Quiz 3. Which of the following variables most closely predicts how high someone will score on the SAT test? • race • region of residence • family income

8. The Quiz 3. Which of the following variables most closely predicts how high someone will score on the SAT test? • race • region of residence • family income

9. The Quiz 5. How many children around the world die each day from hunger-related causes? • 1,600 • 16,000 • 160,000

10. The Quiz 5. How many children around the world die each day from hunger-related causes? • 1,600 • 16,000 • 160,000

11. The Quiz 6. How many people in the U.S. live in poverty according to the U.S. Census Bureau? • About 17 million • About 27 million • About 37 million

12. The Quiz 6. How many people in the U.S. live in poverty according to the U.S. Census Bureau? • About 17 million • About 27 million • About 37 million

13. The Quiz 7. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, how much more likely are African American and Latino mortgage applicants to be turned down for a loan, even after controlling for employment, financial, and neighborhood factors? • 15% • 30% • 60%

14. The Quiz 7. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, how much more likely are African American and Latino mortgage applicants to be turned down for a loan, even after controlling for employment, financial, and neighborhood factors? • 15% • 30% • 60% * * *

15. Starting Assumptions • Low-income people bear the brunt of almost every imaginable social ill in the U.S. • All people, regardless of socioeconomic status, deserve access to basic human rights (including the best possible education) • Inequities in the U.S. and our schools mean that all people don’t have this access

16. The Agenda • Stereotypes of Low-Income People • Key Concepts • The Big Picture: Ten Chairs • Shifts of Consciousness • Being an Anti-Poverty Educator

17. Part II: Oppressors Are Us: Stereotypes of Low-Income People

18. Stereotypers Are Us • Pairs: Name all the stereotypes you know about low-income people • And note where they come from

19. Stereotypers Are Us Stereotype: Laziness Ah, but: According to the Economic Policy Institute (2002), poor working adults spend more hours workingper week on average than their wealthier counterparts.

20. Stereotypers Are Us Stereotype: Don’t Value Education Ah, but: Low-income parents hold the exact same attitudes about education as wealthy parents (Compton-Lilly, 2003; Lareau & Horvat, 1999; Leichter, 1978; Varenne & McDermott, 1986).

21. Stereotypers Are Us Stereotype: Substance Abuse Ah, but: Alcohol abuse is far more prevalent among wealthy people than poor people (Galea, Ahern, Tracy, & Vlahov, 2007). And drug use equally distributed across poor, middle class, and wealthy communities (Saxe, Kadushin, Tighe, Rindskopf, & Beveridge, 2001).

22. Stereotypers Are Us Stereotype: Crime and Violence Ah, but: Poor people do not commit more crime than wealthy people—they only commit more visible crime. Furthermore, white collar crime results in much greater economic (and life) losses than so-called “violent” crime.

23. Stereotypers Are Us Stereotype: Language-Deficient Ah, but: Linguists have known for decades that all varieties of English (such as “Black English vernacular” or Appalachian varieties) are equally complex in structure and grammar (Gee, 2004; Hess, 1974; Miller, Cho, & Bracey, 2005).

24. Stereotypers Are Us Where, then, do these stereotypes come from, and whose purposes do they serve? …more on this later…

25. Mis-perceivers Are Us Point of Reflection: What would you describe as your socioeconomic status?

26. Mis-perceivers Are Us Point of Reflection: Where does the notion of meritocracy come from, and has it ever been true?

27. Mis-perceivers Are Us Point of Reflection: Is poverty an individual experience or a systemic condition?

28. Part III Cool Key Concepts

29. Key Concepts • The ‘Culture of Poverty’ • Deficit Ideology • The “Undeserving” Poor

30. Key Concept:The ‘Culture of Poverty’ What is it? (See hidden rules quizzes.) • Who made it up? • What the research says • Why it’s dangerous • Where you’ve seen it in

31. Key Concept:The ‘Deficit Ideology’ Two Components • Example: Payne’s reflections on Katrina (see handout) • Why it’s dangerous • Where you’ve seen it in

32. Key Concept:The ‘Undeserving Poor’ • Herbert Gans, The War Against the Poor • Deterioration of support for policy • “Welfare Reform”

33. Part IV The Big Picture: Ten Chairs and a Pyramid

34. Part VI Shifts of Consciousness

35. Shift of Consciousness #1 • Must be willing to think critically about those things about which I’ve been taught not to think critically • Corporate capitalism • Two-party political system • Consumer culture • And the relationship between these things and racism • Myth of meritocracy

36. Shift of Consciousness #2 • Must understand the intersectionality of class with race, gender, disability, and other factors. • We cannot fully understand poverty without understanding how it relates to these issues. • Racism as economic exploitation

37. Shift of Consciousness #3 • Must expose and reject deficit ideology and the “culture of poverty” myth • Blame people in oppressed groups for their oppression

38. Shift of Consciousness #4 • Must See Our Socialization • How are we socialized to perpetuate the myths? • How do we perpetuate myths and oppression even through well- intended work?

39. Shift of Consciousness #5 • Must refuse to mistake socioeconomic class with “culture” • Poverty is sociopolitical in nature—it’s done to people

40. Shift of Consciousness #6 • Must be careful to avoid “saviour syndrome” or “messiah mentality” or “missionary mindset” • This is an expression of supremacy and privilege • Who, exactly, is being “saved” in anti-poverty work?

41. Shift of Consciousness #10 • Focus on understanding the cultures and forces of power and privilege, not only on the experiences and cultures of the dispossessed “other” • We cannot understand class and poverty without understanding the influence of the wealthy elite * * *

42. Classroom Principles

43. Classroom Principles • There is no set of curricular or pedagogical strategies that work with all or even most low-income kids • The range of ways in which low-income students learn is exactly the same as the range of ways in which wealthier students learn

44. Classroom Principles • Low-income students do not have access to the same material resources that their wealthier peers take for granted • What does this mean about how we assign homework or projects?

45. Classroom Principles • Low-income families do not share the same level of access to school participation as their wealthier counterparts • This doesn’t mean they don’t value education!

46. Classroom Principles • Low-income students, like all students, need to see themselves reflected in the curriculum • Are examples and illustrations inclusive of their experiences?

47. Classroom Principles • Low-income students do not need us to feel sorry for them and, as a result, lower our expectations of their intelligence • Being low-income is not a learning disability—it’s not an indicator of intelligence but an indicator of opportunity

48. Classroom Principles • We should teach about class and poverty issues • Dissolution of labor unions • Lack of living wage jobs • Educational inequities

49. Classroom Principles • We should keep extra supplies around, but distribute them quietly: • Coats • School supplies • Snacks

50. Classroom Principles • We should never assume that all students—or families—have convenient access to computers and the Internet