Challenging the Concept of Cultural Deficit, through a Framework of Critical-based Education

Marginalised, disadvantaged students fi nd the habitus of western, higher education institutions most unwelcoming. Central to the diffi culties, which they experience, is the defi cit-based compensatory model of widening participation applied to non-traditional learners. This model is refl ected in the “culture of poverty” hypothesis favoured by neo-liberal institutions as the means of “fi xing” the problems experienced by learners from disadvantaged backgrounds. Culture of poverty suggests people from lower socio-economic backgrounds share a series of universally consistent values and behaviours and places responsibility for the diffi culties, experiences by these individuals, with the individuals themselves and their communities rather than any systemic failings. Dealing with the problems experienced by those on the margins of society requires removing the defi cit paradigm and replacing it with an asset-based structure, grounded in critical learning practices.