This piece was written by Dyar Hussain, Director of Education and Knowledge Exchange at YouthTheGap CIC. Dyar joined us for our Foundational Learning: four sessions working through deficit ideology, equity theory, and reflective practice, and wrote this reflection for his Substack. Dyar brought the rigour and honesty these sessions need. We’re delighted to share some of the thinking that came out of it:
We’ll often hear about the importance of community and solidarity. People, including myself, will emphasise the need for these values to be at the core of institutions and policy-making to cultivate equitable spaces. I have written about the need to move away from identity and towards solidarity when building equitable frameworks, and, having spent most of my time reading and learning from the comfort of a seminar (or bed-)room, this kind of writing has become a familiar practice. I am not unique. Many of us can provide critique (we point out what’s going wrong); we analyse the world around us and allude to one that’s better. But what comes next? After we’ve examined inequalities and attributed them to particular root causes, what are the actions that ought to follow? How can we be so sure that the changes we make don’t reproduce more of the same, dressing up the same systems in increasingly colourful clothing?
These questions can paralyse an individual (me) into inaction; questioning whether we’re doing the ‘right’ thing, seeking equity the ‘right’ way, is an exhausting layer of doubt to have in your practice. Working with Class 13 paved the way to alleviate this doubt by shifting the focus from critique to praxis (the practical application of a theory). The paralysis that lies at the end of critique is replaced by a framework from which action can be implemented and evaluated.
Deficit Thinking & White Supremacy
Schools are hotbeds for ‘deficit thinking’. This pervasive ideology narrows our focus to what might be ‘missing’ from, for example, a student’s life, whilst drawing attention away from how a school could better support them. Deficit thinking is so deeply ingrained that it comes to us like a reflex, causing us to blame external circumstances rather than assessing the failures of a school system that prevents students from being adequately supported. It causes us to create policies that blame the victim for institutional shortcomings, provide temporary fixes that simply paper over cracks, and even unwittingly reinforce negative stereotypes.
Approaching equity from this perspective, the sessions occupied a place markedly different from EDI work. Seeking to transform schools into liberatory spaces, the sessions drew heavily from attendees’ experiences to uncover institutional (or systematic) failings that are harmful to students’ well-being. By centring real-world experiences, critical thought was tied to the frustrations of educators, and the sessions created a collective understanding that frustrations were rooted in the same structures of domination that had, until now, escaped attention.
Drawing predominantly from the work of Kehinde Andrews, bell hooks, and Paulo Freire, Class 13’s sessions revealed how deficit ideology is a manifestation of a wider structure of white supremacy, and how this system is harmful to both educational staff and students, not just those of colour. As whiteness informs behavioural expectations and management, assessment, and broader school policy, the sessions gave us the tools to spot where these instances arise and how to challenge them. In doing so, educators can look for ways to displace whiteness and centre students’ well-being in their practice.
Confidence in Praxis
Understanding the various, often subtle, manifestations of deficit thinking is essential to ensure that our practice doesn’t miss the mark when trying to address educational inequities (you can find these outlined here). Our hearts may be in the right place, but our practice must be subject to continual evaluation to ensure that we don’t mimic the failings of past redresses. Praxis breeds confidence in our work since it is not a matter of getting things right the first time. Rather, it’s about developing a unique understanding of each policy, each practice and how they may be producing inequitable outcomes by reinforcing white supremacy. And I want to ensure that this knowledge and confidence in praxis is passed on to educators and school leaders.
We want to hold every change, every ‘solution’ to the same rigorous standard. Working with Class 13 gave crucial insight into what this process should look like. In this field, we often have conversations rooted in theory, and it’s all too easy to forget the weight of what we speak about. It’s in this familiarity, sometimes over-simplification, that the terms can become diluted, theory becomes separated from practice, and it’s back to the seminar room. Instead, by working from a framework that centres young people’s well-being through values such as community and democracy, our critical thought becomes meaningfully tied to the real world. Through this praxis, we have a framework to evaluate our actions and policies against, and this is a continual process that is shared with whoever we work with.
For YTG, this praxis goes beyond our work with schools and into everything that we do. From our events to the organisations we partner with, we will continue to ensure that our work is always directed at challenging the root causes of oppression.
Dyar is the Director of Education and Knowledge Exchange at YouthTheGap CIC. He’s leading the development of YouthTheGap’s AltED resource hub and educational platform, which co-creates with grassroots and diverse voices to teach you the very things the UK seeks to shadow.
As a Master of International Human Rights Law, he is deeply committed to advancing anti-imperial education and empowering marginalised communities. Over the years, his work has predominantly focused on engaging with young people of colour, including refugees and asylum seekers, creating spaces where their voices are heard and valued. He aims to challenge systems of oppression through education, advocacy, and access, amplifying a range of intersecting struggles.
