What is Deficit Thinking, and What Effect Does It Have on Mexican American Students?

Blog Series: Deficit Thinking in Education.

How educators think about their students matters. It guides the expectations that they set for them. Are their students capable of learning the content? How educators answer this question matters. How they answer this guides what they will do next. They might adjust the complexity of a question to make it easier for the students to answer. For example, instead of asking “why” a book character reacted the way they did, they might remain in the “what” type of questions and not allow the students to think through the situation more deeply. This means they answered no to the original question: Are their students capable of learning the content?

This is problematic because it does not allow students to think more critically throughout their learning. Some educators might change their instructional strategy to demonstrate the learning material differently. They ask their “why” question and then model how to find textual evidence. This means they answered yes to the question and believed their students could learn the content.

A person’s mindset affects how they act. People that go into education go into it with varying mindsets. These mindsets were shaped in their childhood by those around them. They already have their mindsets by the time they enter the education field. It is hard to change their perspective as adults without a willingness to do so.

Some people in and out of education have a deficit mindset toward Mexican American students. Whether they are aware or not is a different question. When deficit thinking, people see those different from the “norm” through a negative lens. Minority students, such as Mexican Americans, are sometimes seen through this negative lens. When Mexican American students struggle academically or behaviorally in schools, those with deficit thinking might blame the student or their families. Those with deficit thinking might assume parents do not care about their child’s education. Perhaps, they do not see the student as capable of learning. These types of thoughts interfere with them finding the root cause of the problem of why the student might be struggling academically or behaviorally.

There are many possible root causes. A student may be disruptive because the lesson does not stimulate them. The educator might assume it is because the student is not ready for the learning. Instead of making lesson adjustments, they implemented interventions for the student. Meanwhile, the interventions were unnecessary and a waste of instructional time because the student already mastered the content.

There are negative consequences for having a deficit mindset toward Mexican American students because this mindset guides how educators interact with the students and what expectations they have for them. It might lead them to lower their expectations. This can lead to Mexican American students having lower test scores. It can also lead to them being punished more severely and at a higher rate than White students.

Lowered expectations make it acceptable that Mexican American students have low test scores. They make it acceptable that Mexican American students receive harsher consequences. The key is to make it not acceptable. Making it unacceptable will change people’s expectations of Mexican American students and guide their actions more productively.

The education every student receives guides the opportunities they will have in the future. It is essential to reflect on why Mexican American students score lower academically than their White peers. Mexican Americans are a growing population in the United States. Educating them with the same high standards as their White peers is essential for their future.

How adults think about the children around them matters. They will support the children in varying ways if they expect them to accomplish certain things. If they do not expect the children to accomplish certain things, the adults will move them on to the next thing- an easier thing. This is a prime example of an inequitable education.

It is time to do better.

Part 2 of 7 of this blog series coming next week: Do You Have a Deficit Mindset Towards Mexican American Students?