Cultivating asset-based perspectives: a qualitative study of a cross-institutional teacher education retreat

Today’s educators must be prepared to recognize and leverage the varied backgrounds, experiences, and strengths students bring to the classroom. An essential component of teacher preparation is helping preservice teachers reexamine their perceptions of difference and value multiple perspectives. Three approaches support this development: learning about others, society, and self. Community-based immersion experiences are effective in addressing these domains and shifting deficit-based views to asset-based perspectives. However, preservice educators often approach such experiences with apprehension, which can limit full participation. This study explores preservice teachers’ reflections following participation in a multicultural retreat between a predominantly White institution and a historically Black college/university. Findings indicate participants experienced a shift in asset-based thinking through a deeper understanding of self, others, and society, leading to a transformation from feelings of apprehension and fear to those of growth and community. The article concludes with implications for practice and recommendations for future research.