FORUM Being, becoming and belonging: Some thoughts on academic disciplinary effects Jill Slay Received: 2 August 2011 / Accepted: 2 August 2011 / Published online: 23 August 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 Abstract In this paper I reflect on perspectives presented by John Settlage as he examines the truth of the proposition that ‘many teacher educators harbour deficit per- spectives about their pre-service teachers, presuming that their lack of exposure to eco- nomically, ethnically and linguistically diverse settings renders them deficient as future educators.’ In the study presented in his paper, he ‘uncovered shifting identities that indicate that mainstream future teachers do not fit the ‘‘damaged goods’’ label that ardent multiculturalists might be tempted to impose.’ One of his conclusions was that ‘the practices of essentializing education majors because of their perceived deficiencies born of privilege are inaccurate and unproductive.’ My reflections focus on tertiary teacher- researchers in mathematics, information technology, environmental sciences and engi- neering, their students and racism, and broaden Settlage’s context to teaching and research relationships in this setting. Keywords Culturally responsive teaching Á Racism Á Academic discipline I read John Settlage’s paper at the same time as the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Navi Pillay, paid a visit to Australia to examine our tough refugee policies and the treatment of outback Aborigines. Her two statements, perfectly articulated with a beautiful British accent which obscured her own roots, were interesting. Reuters (2011) reported that she had claimed there was a strong undercurrent of racism in the country. There is a racial discriminatory element here which I see as rather inhumane treat- ment of people, judged by their differences, racial, colour or religions … I come This review essay addresses issues raised in John Settlage’s Counterstories from White mainstream preservice teachers: resisting the master narrative of deficit by default Cultural Studies of Science Education, doi:10.1007/s11422-011-9324-8. J. Slay (&) Forensic Computing, Dean of Research, Division of IT, Engineering and the Environment, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia e-mail: Jill.Slay@unisa.edu.au 123 Cult Stud of Sci Educ (2011) 6:841–843 DOI 10.1007/s11422-011-9357-z