Randy Bomer
Randy Bomer, former NCTE President, holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and is currently a language and literacy specialist at the University of Texas and director of the Heart of Texas Writing Project. For two decades Bomer has worked as a literacy consultant with K-12 teachers and administrators in districts around the country. He assists teachers of all levels launch writing and reading workshops in their classrooms and teach effectively within those environments. Bomer has conducted research on professional development as well as on teaching and learning interactions in classrooms. He is the author of Time for Meaning (1995) and For a Better World (2001), as well as recent journal articles analyzing the implications of the deficit perspective in discussions of educating children of poverty. |
Follow Randy on Twitter @rbomer
Visit Randy’s page on the NCTE Ning
Check out the abstracts for Randy’s articles about the deficit perspective and teaching children of poverty from Teachers College Record and English Education
Furman University, January 27, 2011 (Thursday)
Sponsored by Issues in American Education (Education Department)
Moving Beyond Deficit Views of Poverty and Learning
7-8:30 pm/ McEachern (Furman Hall 214)
Dr. Randy Bomer will lecture on what the "deficit perspective" is in regards to teaching and learning and how this perspective relates to poverty. He will draw from recent events in politics and education to speak to what the discourse surrounding poverty and education should be, as opposed to what it currently is. Following his lecture, there will be a substantial amount of time allocated to questions, as the previous "poverty and education" CLPs have seen a great interest in asking questions of the speaker and have been a great asset to the event.
South Carolina Council of Teachers of English (SCCTE), January 28, 2011 (Friday)
General Session (GS.2) Governor’s Hall C/D/E 2:00-2:50 p.m. |
Appreciative Teaching vs. Deficit Thinking: Supporting All Students in Claiming Their Literate Lives Randy Bomer, University of Texas This address will help teachers think about what their students bring with them to school, the knowledge, competence, experience, and language upon which we can build more academic kinds of learning. It will also explore the ways deficit thinking—the belief that there is something fundamentally wrong with students’ minds, families, or communities–can actually get in the way of effective teaching. Randy will describe very practical, research-based ways of building on students’ strengths and passions as a foundation for a school year in reading and writing. Randy Bomer, former NCTE President, is currently a language and literacy specialist at the University of Texas and director of the Heart of Texas Writing Project. For two decades Bomer has worked as a literacy consultant with K-12 teachers and administrators in districts around the country. He is the author of Time for Meaning (1995) and For a Better World (2001), as well as recent articles analyzing the implications of the deficit perspective in discussions of educating children of poverty. |
Friday Workshops 4:00-5:30 p.m. | |
Session FW.1 Vanderhorst 1/2/3 Topic: EL, CC, M Audience: G | Literacy, Schooling, and Children from Economically Disadvantaged Communities: Countering the Effects of Deficit Thinkers Like Ruby Payne Randy Bomer, University of Texas In this workshop, participants will compare perspectives on students from communities that experience financial poverty. Randy will lead participants in comparing a deficit perspective, especially that of Ruby K. Payne, with an asset-based perspective. He will also discuss the differences these perspectives make for teachers in leading students to higher levels of academic achievement. Teachers will learn to detect deficit language and to reframe such thinking toward a more democratic valuing of the capacities diverse students bring to school. |
Suggested Reading
Bomer, R., Dworin, J. E., May, L., & Semingson, P. (2008). Miseducating teachers about the poor: A critical analysis of Ruby Payne's claims about poverty. Teachers College Record, 110(11).
Bomer, R., Dworin, J. E., May, L., & Semingson, P. (2009, June 3). What’s wrong with a deficit perspective? Teachers College Record. Retrieved 12 June 2009 from http://www.tcrecord.org
Dworin, J. E., & Bomer, R. (2008). What we all (supposedly) know about the poor: A critical discourse analysis of Ruby Payne's "framework." English Education, 40(2), 101-121.
