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Deficit theorising blames others and results in low expectations of Students, creates selffulfilling prophecies of failure, & leaves teachers further bewildered as to how to make a
difference for students (Bishop, 2005, p.83). For the purpose of this essay I will evaluate
three key areas. I will discuss what is meant by the word deficit thinking, illustrate how
assumptions of children with disabilities affect decisions about their education and
evaluate some education initiatives that can address inequalities to deficit thinking.

Contemporary deficit thinking falls into three distinct categories: neohereditarianism, the
culture of poverty paradigm and the theses of cultural and environmental deficits. Each
category represents a modern form of thought that has roots as far back as the 17th
century. (LEARN NC, n.d. para 2). Deficit thinking has been linked back to the 17th century
having heavy effects on the culture and poverty of families and the culture and
environment one lives in. However for the first section of this essay I will discuss the
impacts deficit thinking has had on our education system. Deficit thinking exists when
educators hold negative, stereotypic, and counterproductive views about certain students
or groups of students and lower their expectations of these students accordingly (Ford &
Grantham, 2003, p. 217).This quotation exploits the negative and dangerous impacts of
deficit thinking, stating the extent of the power educators hold. Deficit thinking in particular
is proven to be problematic in education as labels are formed if children are seen not to
meet the normal criteria. Educators tend to have a predetermined opinion of what
separates a good student from a bad student. These bad students are labelled by
educators as problematic. This is very stereotypical as every children is different from one
another and instead of educators jumping on the bandwagon to label these students as
bad they should be working closely with these children to exploit their strengths promoting
and focusing on these traits. Each and every child has their own qualities and should not

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be diminished through the view of deficit thinking, being categorised and excluded from
the classroom.

Predetermined assumptions about who people are and what they are capable of decides
their education for them, affecting the family as a whole, determining whos in and whos
out, included and excluded. The first assumption about children in education is that all
are competence learners holding the same adequate level of ability, with specific range of
skill and knowledge. These assumptions from educators affect in particular children with
special needs. This section will focus on the experiences of disabled students, whose
education is sometimes marked by injustice in terms of inequitable access to participation
in New Zealand state schools (IHC, 2008). Children with learning disabilities or special
needs are being removed from mainstream schools to more institutional schools with
teachers stating that it is simply not their problem! There are some clear examples of
children being excluded by teachers as it is simply too much for them to handle and is not
in their job requirements passing the children onto teacher aids. When working with
teachers who did not, for whatever reason, assume responsibility for teaching all students,
some aides had to adapt on the run (Rutherford, G. (2009). This gives us the impression
that special needs children have been chucked onto teacher aids without any warning
having to adapt on the run. In my own opinion I do understand that it would be difficult for
a teacher to teach a child with a disability therefore in my view there should be programs
put in place where teachers are educated about disabilities so they are clear on what they
are dealing with, as having a disability shouldn't mean you are categorized, and then
regulated and controlled (Barnes et al., 1999; Oliver, 1990; Russell, 1998). Because
children with disabilities are being categorised and given a label they are being identified
as too problematic for main stream schools, being regulated into special schools for
children with special needs. Up until 1975 before entering the education systems children

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were required to sit an IQ test to see how smart the children were. These results were split
into 10 intelligence classification areas: Very superior, superior, bright normal, normal, dull
normal, borderline, mild mental retardation (MR), moderate MR, severe MR, and profound
MR (Wikipedia, 2013. para 1). If a child got a low IQ they were deemed as special need
and given a label (Valle & Connor, 2011) Although being at a special school allows them
the extra help they need in education, it hinders their ability to socialise with others
creating an exclusion from their peers which will later affect them in society. I believe
society should embrace each and every human being accepting one anothers differences
because not one of them asked to be born different and excluded.

Another assumption that has heavy effects on children and their families is culture. This
effects inclusion and exclusion of children in the classroom. Cultural capital, comprising
the norms, values and practices of a society, is like economic capital, a resource that can
be used (Zepke & Leach, 2007, p. 657). This quotation states that this image of normal
race is included in education where as races that are seen as different or not as common
are excluded. I personally believe this is going against New Zealands Treaty of Waitangi
which was signed to bring peace of cultures together. Our vision is for young people. who
will work to create an Aotearoa New Zealand in which Maori and Pakeha recognise each
other as full Treaty partners, and in which all cultures are valued for the contributions they
bring(Ministry of Education, 2007, p.8)

An education initiative that I believe has been designed to address these inequalities of
children with special needs and culture is mainstream schools. Mainstream Schools have
been perceived as a regular school environment, where a student with special needs is
able to be taught within a general classroom with normal children and educated with
peers of the same ages. Mainstreaming is all about belonging, being valued, inclusion,

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human rights, acceptance, communication, personal growth, self-confidence, collaboration

and appropriate educational support. (Sharp, N.D. para 3). I strongly believe that it is
everybodys right to be included in education, with all cultures, families, and people with
any type of disabilities and impairments accepted. I believe mainstream schools
incorporate all my beliefs. The term inclusion involves educating all children in regular
classrooms all of the time, regardless of the degree or severity of a disability. It is about a
childs right (irrespective of their ethnicity, culture, gender or disability) to belong to their
local mainstream school, to be valued for who they are. (Sharp, N.D. para 3) It is also
shown that with mainstream classes there are both social and academic gains, in contrast
to similar children who are in special schools with specially trained teachers. (Sharp, N.D
para 2). However to enable this to work our education systems need to step up and
provide each school with extra fundings for essential facilities such as: ramps,
modifications to regular program this can include adaptions to the curriculum and
adaptable materials.

In conclusion, deficit thinking in education excludes children with disabilities and comprises
normal children excluding the values of a full inclusive education. This also adds extra
stress to families as most special schools do not provide full funding for the families
adding unnecessary stress. As a Nation we must address these inequalities, working
together to provide an inclusive education by adapting and vanishing the perception of
normal

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References
- Barnes, C., Mercer, G. and Shakespeare, T. 1999. Exploring disability: A sociological introduction,
Cambridge: Policy Press.
- IHC. (2008). IHC education complaint to Human Rights Commission. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
From http://www.ihc.org.nz/Default.aspx?tabid=1621
-LEARN NZ, (n.d) k-12 TEACHING AND LEARNING - FROM THE UNC SCHOOL OF
EDUCATION. Retrieved from www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/990

Sharp, G. (N.D). Mainstream and Inclusive Educa2on A Bicultural Perspec2ve. Retrieved from:
h8p://spectrumimages.co.nz/InclusiveducaBon.htm
-Shields, C. M., Bishop, R., & Mazawi, A. (2005). Pathologizing practices: The impact of deficit
thinking on education. New York: Peter Lang.

- Wikipedia, (2013) Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

IQ_reference_chart
- Zepke, N., & Leach, L. (2007). Improving student outcomes in higher education: New Zealand
teachers views on teaching students from diverse backgrounds. Teaching in Higher Education,
12(5-6), 655-668.