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