Deficit Beliefs and Cultural Responsiveness in a Bilingual International School

Abstract

International schools exist in almost every country of the world, and international school educators come from a variety of countries, often teaching students from cultural and linguistic backgrounds different from their own. This article reports on a study that examined English-speaking educator beliefs about their Arabic-speaking students in a bilingual, international elementary school in the Middle East Near Africa region. Using mixed methods, the study also explored English language educators’ culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy. Educators expressed high levels of self-efficacy in using culturally responsive teaching practices, but were unsure how to bridge the differences between home and school cultures. Additionally, educators expressed deficit beliefs about their students. These beliefs framed students as victims of their own culture, held back from academic success by home cultural practices, beliefs, and norms. Results suggest educators at the school may not be prepared to facilitate students’ negotiation of identities, bridging home and school languages and cultures, due to deficit beliefs about students’ home culture that lower educator expectations and students’ opportunities to learn. The article concludes with discussion of the effects of these educator beliefs on students and ways in which international school leaders and policy makers may productively address them.