The purpose of this small-group case study was to determine to what extent an asset-based social justice curriculum could cultivate critical consciousness as evidenced by teachers' written discourse about students of color and students living in poverty. Participants were selected based on enrollment in an online graduate course in diversity in the college of education of a state university in the southern United States. Participants wrote reflective responses and contributed to online discussion forums before, during, and after exposure to curriculum that was explicit in its social justice and asset-based approach. From a critical lens, analysis of discourse was applied to 7 weeks of participants' reflective writing in discussion forums and individual self-reflective assignments. Participants in this study exhibited varying degrees self-reflection and critical consciousness based on analysis of written discourse. Findings indicate participants' ability to engage in critically conscious thought coalesced into three categories of interaction with course content: (1) resistance; (2) critical consciousness interspersed with cognitive dissonance; and (3) adoption. Participants' discourse indicated the continued presence of deficit thinking and reliance on anecdotal evidence to support claims. Participants used a variety of strategies to avoid or minimize cognitive dissonance, including distancing language, reinterpretation, and anecdotal evidence. When participants were resistant or struggled with cognitive dissonance, anecdotal evidence served as a defense mechanism to support their beliefs.