ICCTEICCTEResponding to God’s Call to Serve:Responding to God’s Call to Serve:
Achieving the Educational Challenges of this DecadeAchieving the Educational Challenges of this Decade
May 23-36, 2012May 23-36, 2012
Strengths-based Education: Strengths-based Education: The Impact on Marginalized The Impact on Marginalized Students with DisabilitiesStudents with Disabilities
Greg RichardsonGreg Richardson
Azusa Pacific UniversityAzusa Pacific University
The ProblemThe Problem
• Low academic achievement
• Overrepresentation of marginalized groups
• Accountability: Placing the blame
Low Academic AchievementLow Academic Achievement
• Traditional K-12 school systems– High Stakes Testing– Performance levels of Students
• Drop rates– Secondary Institutions– Postsecondary Institutions
Overrepresentation in Special EducationOverrepresentation in Special Education
• Marginalized Students
• The Deficit Model
• Behavior
Academic AccountabilityAcademic Accountability
• Parents and students
• Teachers and administrators
Proposed ResolutionProposed Resolution
• Strengths-based education
Strengths-based EducationStrengths-based Education
• Using students’ Strengths to enhance their academic development
Strengths-based EducationStrengths-based Education
Definitions:Definitions:• SStrengthstrengths – – ““consistently providing near perfect consistently providing near perfect
performance in a specific task.performance in a specific task.””
• TalentsTalents – – ““naturally recurring patterns of naturally recurring patterns of
thought, feeling or behavior: thought, feeling or behavior: productivity. productivity.””
• SkillsSkills – – ““basic ability to perform steps of specific basic ability to perform steps of specific
tasks.tasks.””(Gallup Organization)(Gallup Organization)
The ProcessThe Process
• Faculty Strength Identification
• Teachers and Teacher-candidates
• K-12 SPED student strength identification
Faculty Strength Identification
Knowing Skills, Talents, and Strengths
• The ability to identify and affirm students’ Strengths is to know one’s own strength.
• Special education teachers are taught to identify students’ strengths from a strengths-based educational perspective.
(Contrucci and Richardson, 2009)
Teachers & Teacher-candidates
Clifton StrengthsFinder, StrengthsQuest (2007)• Faculty members’ top 5 Strengths were
identified by this assessment tool.
• Faculty members' own Strengths are accepted, affirmed and developed.
• Faculty members use Strengths language, vocabulary, and regularly discuss the broader concept of Strengths Theory.
(Contrucci and Richardson, 2009)
K-12 SPED Students with Disabilities
• When using a Strengths-based Education perspective:– the more they teach, the more they learn,– the more they learn, the better they teach.
• When self-generation exists teacher candidates pick up the momentum:– learning to affirm one another,– learning to affirm their students.
(Contrucci and Richardson, 2009)
Questions & Discussion TimeQuestions & Discussion Time
