I have particular interest in Dr. Joan Freeman’s research and her proposal of mentors for the gifted. We teachers are so busy trying to rescue those with either learning disabilities or trying to breach the so called “achievement/knowledge gap” (and let us not forget all our daily obligations!), that we are hardly capable of identifying our gifted students’ interests. Most of the times we fail to provide them with a balanced environment that nurtures its creativity and potential beyond their intellectual capability. These children need time to make social relationships and develop interests outside the academic/content areas. Whilst this might seem impossible to achieve, Dr. Freeman argues that mentors can make a substantial difference.
Personally, I have seen it work with the IB students through their CAS (Creativity, Action and Service) project. As defined by one of the IB World Schools: “this requirement (CAS) takes seriously the importance of life outside the world of scholarship. Participation in activities such as theatre, sports and community service encourages young people to share their energies and talents whilst meeting the goal of educating a whole person and fostering a more compassionate citizenry.”
I choose Robert Sternberg as one of the contemporary important contributors to GT education. I liked his definition of GT students:
"For Sternberg, the gifted student is one who can capitalise on strengths and compensate for their weaknesses, adapt to novelty and automatise new skills rapidly. For him, just as there is no single kind of intelligence; there is no single kind of giftedness. It can manifest in different ways in different situations. His view is that what is good for gifted students is good for all students, but that if badly done, gifted education can become an elitist enterprise."
I choose this author because of the reasons he had to enter in this research field; as a child he was labeled as a low achiever, and later he encounter many obstacles in his academic development. Later, he understood that GT students have different learning styles and different intelligences,and he proposed his theory: Sternberg's triarchtic theory: ‘successful intelligence’ – ‘the ability to achieve success in life, given one’s personal standards within one’s personal sociocultural context’. For more information please visit the following link: http://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/robert-sternbergs-educational-theories-1679
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
I don't know what happened to my original post. But I saved it.
Tiffany
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
As a French major and one who is constantly frustrated with the egocentricity of our American culture, I chose to research the work of Professor Francoys Gagne, a French Canadian who currently teaches at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal. Known for his Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent, Dr. Gagne's research has not only included the study of people with multiple talents but the interaction between aptitudes, interests, personality and envionmental factors in the choice of a talent area.
Jerome Brunner is best known for his constructivist theory of learning. He believes that learning is an active process where learners construct new ideas and concepts based upon their current/past knowledge. The impact upon education is huge because it allows the learner to select and transform information, construct hypothesis and make decisions based on the learner's cognitive structure. Bruner's theory also allows for intrinsic motivation that leads to intuitive thinking based on the readiness of the learner. I like using Bruner's research in designing products and problems for students to stretch their creative & problem-solving muscles. Constructivist ideas are a must for GT programs as well as regular ed.
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
A current contributor to GT education is Jim Delisle. I had the opportunity last spring to hear Jim Delisle speak at a GT training. As an author, teacher and counselor, he actively role-models and advises adults and parents on positive ways to encourage children’s talents, yet managing potential stress and pressure faced by gifted kids. As a gifted student and parent of a gifted student he offers approaches that are more sensitive to the emotional needs of gifted children, and clearly child-centric.
I also chose Francoys Gagne! He contributed a Differentiated Model of Development. I chose him because he addresses the issue of the discrepancy between natural ability and what one may or may not do with such abilities. I also liked the addition of chance in his model. A person’s genetic makeup and their birth environment is a clear result of chance. Francoys Gagné differentiates clearly between gifts (natural abilities) and talents (systematically developed from gifts). He believed that all talents are developed from natural abilities through learning influenced by inner and outer catalysts. Gagné lists four domains of natural abilities, which according to him are mostly genetically determined: intellectual, creative, socioaffective, and sensorimotor. Several characteristics of the person influence the learning process positively or negatively. They are: physical characteristics, motivation, self-management, and personality.Gagné names four groups of environmental influences on the development of talents: milieu, persons, provisions, and events. One last factor influencing the catalysts (intrapersonal and environmental) and the natural abilities (gifts) is chance. Most importantly, chance determines through the recombination of paternal genes which types of giftedness a child possesses and to what extent.
I choose Joseph Renzulli’s (born in 1936) he developed the three-ring model of giftedness, which promoted a broadened conception of giftedness. He also developed the "Schoolwide Enrichment Model" for developing children's talents in schools. Renzulli is known for his contributions to understanding giftedness. I found interesting his work on curricular strategies for school improvement. One of his proudest professional accomplishments is the UConn Mentor Connection program for gifted young students and the summer Confratute program at UConn, which began in 1978 and has served thousands of teachers and administrators from around the world.
In the early 1920s, as the field of gifted education was establishing itself as a legitimate field of study and practice, Leta Hollingworth sought to understand what best classroom practices would best suit gifted students. Hollingworth built upon the work of Lulu Stedman and other pioneers in the field of gifted education, in combination with her own research, to create a curriculum and qualitatively different schooling experience for gifted students. Her groundbreaking work at P. S. 165 and 500 was chronicled in her numerous published works and provides the initial research base for practices in gifted education.
I did not choose one particular researcher. I choose a team of researchers, from the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT). They are conducting a study entitled, "What Works in Gifted Education: Excellence and Equity in Educating Gifted Students. The focus of this study is to: tailor instruction to student's needs; emphasize conceptual thinking, real-world disciplinary inquiry, and problem solving; assess learning needs of students; and help students acquire increasing levels of expertise. This study seems interesting to me because it seems to be applying more modern day standards to identifying GT students. I like the fact that an identification system will be created to be responsive to students from across all cultural groups and from all socioeconomic backgrounds. It will enhance prior studies by developing a more clear cut identification system. It will use a traditional and expanded criteria to identify GT students.
I chose him beacuse he developed and identify giftedness in young people, but he didn't stop there. He went to the schools to help them understand what giftedness was in the young. He believed that you couldn't just identify the student and stop there. You also had to educate the schools with straggies to use.
I chose Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) because he discussed what he called the zone of proximal development. He described it as the distance between the actual developmental level of the child and the level of potential development under adult guidance. He said that the role of education is to provide children with experiences within this zone of proximal development. I chose him for two reasons: (1) this idea of providing children with experiences within the zone of proximal development has itself developed into present-day scaffolding practices, and (2) the definition of the zone of proximal development reminded me of one of the criteria that used to be used to qualify students for special education. (The gap between what a child is doing and what he is capable of doing after receiving help targeted directly at what he needs.)
I would like to select Dr. Maria Montessori an Italian physician and educator who developed a concept of learning for children over 100 years ago. She developed the concept that will cater to the child needs and allows them differentiated and individualized learning. She also believed that children needed to learn at their own pace and that they can learn from others in the class as well. I feel that GT can be define as a student that has the ability to grow and excell in that which he is able to exceed in with the proper guidance.
I chose a more recent research and theory based; The Parallel Curriculum: A Design to Develop High Potential and Challenge High-Ability Learners by Carol Ann Tomlinson, Sandra N. Kaplan, Joseph S. Renzulli, Jeanne Purcell, Jann Leppien, and Deborah Burns. I was also looking at The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. What I found was that Kaplan's work is involved in an ongoing five year study currently underway. She believes that GT students do not excel best in a regular classroom, but rather in a one where their needs are being met and creativity is being challenged by their peers and extended through proper teaching strategies. She is an advocate for differentiated curriculum planning and believes it's vital to meet GT student's needs. She has come up with sample plans for pacing charts and scope and sequence.
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
Jack A. Naglieri is a professor of psychology and director of the center for Cognitive Development at George Mason University. I chose him because I thought his study of the Nalieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) was interesting. He believed that the tests that schools use to qualify GT students can block minority children especially children with limited English language skills. The NNAT test is a nonverbal test that helps identify gifted minority kids. He discussed the difference between test of achievement (what they have already learned or have been taught) vs Test of ability and intelligence (what they can learn). His study showed that he was able to identify minorities who had similar scores and percentages as those who qualified with the other test.
I chose Howard Gardner. He proposed the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. He said that intelligent behavior does not arise from a single unitary quality of the mind but that different kinds of intelligence are generated from separate metaphorical pools of mental energy. Each of these pools enables the individual "to solve problems, or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings". He defined intelligence into seven categories: 1. linguistic 2. logical-mathematical 3. spatial 4. musical 5. bodily-kinesthetic 6. interpersonal 7. intrapersonal
I like the way he treated each individual as unique and can be GT in one or many ways. One person can have linguistic intelligence which enables him/her to read, write and speak well but might not have a logical-mathematical intelligence which encompasses logical thinking or mathematical and scientific problem solving.
I chose James Kulik. He analyzed research on ability grouping done by the University of Michigan (Kulik and Kulik) and John Hopkins University(Slavin). I chose him because I asked the question about ability grouping in our first blog. Their findings were based on five different grouping programs. The Michigan analysts concluded that the strongest benefits from grouping were found in programs in which there was a great deal of adjustment of curriculum for highly talented learners. The John Hopkins analysts did not find any strong positive effects of grouping, but they also did not examine grouping programs designed for highly talented students. Overall, the brightest learners would definately suffer the most if these programs did not exist.
I chose psychologist Dr. James T. Webb because of his focus on the social and emotional needs of gifted children.
Over the years, Dr. Webb observed that many of the gifted students he worked with had emotional problems and poor social interactions. No one had really done much research on this since all the attention went to the academic aspect of the gifted child. He got Wright State University to help him start a program called SENG (Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted). As more research was done through SENG, his observations were confirmed concerning the social and emotional needs of gifted children. He also found out that many gifted kids were being misdiagnosed and given medication!
Dr. Webb's research and work has had a positive impact on the social and emotional needs of gifted students and on education. He speaks at schools, has published several books, videos for parents, therapists and teachers of gifted children.
I also chose Dr. Maria Montessori. I like the idea to let children develop their own abilities at their own pace. I agree with Lucinda M. that “GT can be defined as a student that has the ability to grow and excel in that which he is able to exceed in with the proper guidance”. Dr. Montessori gave the world a scientific method, practical and tested, for bringing forth the very best in children. Having had my granddaughter in a Montessori environment, I have been able to see her creativity and problem solving skills she has acquired at only five years of age. Why can’t we, in public schools give children the time to grow at their own pace? We rushed students through the curriculum and pressure them into “learning” concepts they are not cognitively ready to internalize at that time. We punish them by calling them slow learners and many times give them other labels. We should let students grow at their own pace.
Doing research about the history of gifted education, I came upon many people who have influenced the development of Intelligence theory and giftedness. I was a pleasure to recognize many of the names from our last class, but hard to choose another relevant figure for this discussion. Dr. Robert Sternberg is a contemporary psychologist who developed the Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence, which in essence says that different abilities contribute to intelligent behavior. He has criticized IQ tests as being able to measure only one aspect of intelligence, and even in grade school elaborated his own test to measure intelligence. He states that intelligent behavior arises from a balance between analytical, creative, and practical abilities. This reminds me of the definition of a gifted person, in which extraordinary ability in any of these aspects can be considered a sign of a talent or gift. He created The Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test to measure these other abilities. In fact, he added additional criteria to the admissions process in Tufts University when he was a Dean to test "creativity and other non-academic factors." He has also defined an implicit theory of giftedness that specifies conditions that gifted people have in common: excellence, rarity, productivity, demonstratabiblity, and value. I chose this person because he is working on alternatives to measure the “other” aspects of intelligence that can make a person gifted. Once these people are “measured” and regarded as “intelligent”, they may benefit from more programs to develop their gift. He may one day part of the historic figures studied in GT trainings.
Sandra Kaplan is the researcher that I chose for enhancing the field of gifted and talented education. Kaplan has developed a set of GT behaviors (i.e., asking questions, using many tools and resources) and what teachers and students who exhibit scholarly behaviors look like. I relished in the fact that she referenced the artsy crafty and academically inclined individuals as scholars. This reference works well for both the GT teacher as well as the student. Kaplan emphasized that the scholar will spend time pondering ideas and problems. Also she noted that they will exercise academic humility by realizing that they will always have more to learn. Scholars come on board with a vision rather it is long or short term. Scholars or GT students often exercise their intellect by trying challenging tasks. Finally, she incorporated big ideas, icons, prompts, key questions and Bloom's taxonomy into a functioning model that every teacher use within their different instruction set.
When I was looking for a definition of giftedness, I discovered a website for the National Socity for the Gifted and Talented. It has information about scholarships and online resources.
The definition accepted and employed by this group is that of the US Dept. of Education (1993). The article goes on to say that they use this definition because it "is the broadest and most comprehensive."
Regarding the second part of the homework, I am very interested in gifted kids at risk, gifted kids who do not perfom or acheive as adults, and symptons of anxiety such as drug abuse.
In this regard, I have found the names of two researchers Patricia A. Schuler and M.A. Dirkes.
I chose Kazimierz Dąbrowski to do research on. He suggests that gifted children have greater psychomotor, sensual, imaginative, intellectual, and emotional "overexcitabilities. Unlike mainstream psychology, Dąbrowski's theoretical framework views psychological tension and anxiety as necessary for growth. These "disintegrative" processes are therefore seen as "positive," whereas people who fail to go through positive disintegration may remain for their entire lives in a state of "primary integration." Advancing into disintegration and into the higher levels of development is predicated on having developmental potential, including overexcitabilities, above-average reactions to stimuli.
Like L. Matthew, I chose Maria Montessori, not because she directly had a hand in gifted and talented educucation, but because of her initial philosophy of differentiation and learner directed instruction. This method instruction has proven that meeting children where they are and pulling them up from there helps to develop stronger and more independent thinkers. Although the line of high achievers and gifted students is fine, Maria Montessori's methodology in education provides students with a foundation to become straddlers of that line because their instruction doesn't directly come their teacher...it's their own.
I chose to read about Nicholas Colangelo, one of the co-authors of the 2004 report, A Nation Deceived, which advocates the acceleration of instruction for gifted students. The report was critical of American schools for holding back gifted students by keeping them with peers of their age rather than academic ability. The report advocates early entry into kindergarten, skipping grades for those who are ready, above-level testing and use of measurements such as The Iowa Acceleration Scale in deciding how far to accelerate instruction, placing gifted students with older students to prevent boredom and other affective problems. Early entrance into college programs was also strongly advocated for gifted students. The report was critical of schools that offered the same instruction for all students, including the gifted. It also claimed that acceleration, in its various forms, is only ever detrimental to the gifted when it is poorly planned. Colangelo directs the Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration which holds an annual symposium on the acceleration of instruction for gifted students.
I choose to read about Colangelo because of his role in producing A Nation Deceived which was mentioned prominently in another timeline similar the one we completed in class last week. I agree that acceleration should be offered to those students who are academically gifted as long as social and emotional support is provided to these students. They may be ready academically for the workload and challenge, but they may not be as prepared emotionally or socially.
While researching, I came across Julian Stanley who has made many attempts at advancing gifted education. I liked the fact that they refer to him as an advocate for gifted children. He started researching GT education when he was teaching and came across a math student outperforming his peers. He started the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth which is still going on today at Vanderbilt and is intended to be a fifty year long study. Not only did he move to start this study to find out more about gifted children, but once he identified them, he offered ways to help them reach their potential!
Robert Sternberg categorizes intelligence into three parts (triarchic theory). He has had a profound effect on the study of gifted students. He was one of many authors that was a trailblazer for multiple intelligence. I believe that gifted learners are individuals that display high achievement capabilities in academic fields. They may display creativity or have leadership capacity. Like Sternberg, I believe that giftedness can manifest itself in different ways and in different situations. There are a number of thinking styles. Everyone has a mix of such styles, but will vary in the strength of their preferences. This is why it is essential that we vary our instructional strategies. Sternberg’s view is that what is good for gifted students is good for all students, but that if inappropriately done, gifted education can become an exclusive program.
I found an article written by Ernesto M. Bernal, vice president of the San Antonio Gifted Education Foundation. He talks about the research and books published by Yolanda Benito Mate, a clinical psychologist from Spain. She has published three different volumes about the subject .I would like to find those publications, but still, based on what read on the article, I chose Bernal’s article on Mate’s work because it analyzes the GT students of Hispanic origin/Hispanic countries. I found interesting how they mention the challenges faced by GT students in a world where, despite their “being different”, they still have to face all of the developmental tasks that every children have to master and sometimes their intellectual maturity does not match their physical development. There is also a concern to help GT students avoid some “bad habits” or psychological traps, and the need to prevent academic frustration and failure, by teaching/developing psychomotor skills, study skills, social/interpersonal skills and provide opportunities to develop creativity. Like I mentioned in my definition of GT, I agree that GT students need attention far beyond the academic achievement in the traditional school setting.
Bruce Torff that worked with Robert Sternberg demonstrated that having analytical, creative, and practical components (Sternberg's triarchic) enhanced learning. It seems like it's nothing new because Bloom talked about higher level thinking. But his research puts it in components of strategies and not just components of objectives.
I also looked at Rensulli as did Cris.The Neag Center for gifted and talent Development at the University of Conn began a research team that includes Dr. Joseph S. Renzulli, Dr. Sally M. Reis, Dr. Del Siegle, Dr. E. Jean Gubbins, Dr. M. Katherine Gavin, Dr. Catherine Little, Dr. D. Betsy McCoach, and Dr. Tutita Casa. They have began several aclaimed federally funde progams which are for reading (Schoolwide Enrichment Model-Reading) and mathematics (Project M3: Mentoring Mathematical Minds). The Enrichment Triad Model, have led to the development of an exciting new technology-based learning system which you can tutorial on-line. Confratute (conference & institute)caught my interest for a proffessional development twist of a name. The on-line is fascinating because it evaluates the students creative niche to specialize their program and activities through technology.
Dr. Carol Tomlinson She systemized differentiated instruction. Her theory is based on a few principals: 1. Teacher-student connection 2. Sense of community in the classroom (assigning specific roles for each community member as they work together) 3. Quality curriculum. In general, she places a practical spin on a theory that has been around for years.
I chose Lulu Stedman to post about since I did not see her mentioned in other posts and because she was one of the US pioneers in Gifted Education. Lulu Stedman established one of the first classes for gifted students during the time of the progressive movement in education and psychology. She called her class the "opportunity class". She was driven to find an alternative class for the students who needed more opportunity to develop learning. She saw the special education opportunitites afforded the subnormal students and felt that the students above normal needed their needs met as well. Her opportunity class included mixed age children in grades 3-6 and provided significant enrichment opportunities. Stedman felt that keeping the advanced students within general confines of ages was important as she recognized that not all development was accelerated in these students. She also implemented ways to allow students to learn independently so as not to curtail their learning progress while waiting for others to catch up. She noted that most of these students preferred the abstract and were not especially interested in concrete projects. A most interesting pioneer.....
I chose Howard Gardner as someone very important to gifted education. Howard Gardner came up with the idea of Multiple Intelligences. This theory states that there are many different ways a child can learn and process new things. A gifted child will learn different from everyone else, even some other gifted children. Because Gardner came up with this theory, many other educators and researchers have contributed to this idea. There are many models out there now that help teachers understand how to differentiate the lessons in order for all students to succeed.
I chose Lewis Terman to investigate and found some of his research/contributions to GT theory very informative and revolutionary for the time. He was a cognitive psychologist who developed various tests to measure and demonstrate higher levels of cognitive complexity and functioning. In the early 1900s, children that were "genius" or "gifted" were considered weak, dull, and even sickly; his longitudinal cognitive and physical testing of these children proved that this was opposite. He wanted to find whether or not gifted children would achieve and find success as adults or if the genius faded. The children in his study proved to be socially normal, physically taller and healthier, better leaders, and cognitively more advanced than the rest of the population as adults. His findings helped to revolutionize the way of thinking about gifted children (and adults) and how they were treated. Terman is also known for taking the popular Binet-Simon IQ test and revising/updating it to where it became so much more accurate and best-available that the name was changed to the Stanford-Binet scale test (his research was done at Stanford University). Although I feel that his research on minorities was naive and even ignorant (I'm not going to touch on that in this review), his contributions proven through a lifetime of research on giftedness and intelligence is amazing and insightful. Sara Veigel
In completing this assignment, I wanted to chose someone who has not already been mentioned, so most of the people that I researched are contemporary researchers and authors in the field of gifted education. I researched areas that are of interest ot me and came up with 2 perople worth noting:
Dr. Donna Ford (no relation!) is a professor of Education at Vanderbilt University. Her research has focused on the underrepresentation of minority students in gifted education. She conducts research in gifted, multicultural, and urban education. Her work focuses on recruiting and retaining culturally diverse students in gifted education programs.
Dr. Thomas Greenspon is a psychologist and author whose research and writings focus primarilary on the problem of perfectionism in gifted students. His writing focuses on helping children and their families adjust to being gifted and overcoming perfectionism.
I chose Ben Bloom (Blooms Taxonomy)because he was interested and devoted in understanding the ways in which cognition functions and most important, how high-level forms of thinking can be promoted in our classrooms.
I chose William Torry Harris. Harris was a U.S Commissioner of Education (1889-1906). I found that he had a profound impact on establishing and strengthing the educational system in the United States. He instituted libraries into the public school infrastructure. He also was an advocate for free common public schools. In his service as a superintendent of public schools, William began the earliest systematic efforts in public schools to educate gifted students. I feel that this is important to gifted education because in 1880's William realized that some students learned differently. He saw the need to establish a curriculum to meet the needs of gifted students. I believe if William were not a pioneer of gifted education in public school other studies may have taken a different approach to educating gifted students.
Jerome Brunner theory of Constructivism was influenced by the research of Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget. Brunner feels that learners construct new ideas or concepts based on existing knowledge. His three stage development plan (enactive, iconic, and symbolic) is very important for the motivation of letting learners transform and make decisions based on the readiness of the learner. The enactive stage is motor response (physical task), Iconic stage is visual images (visualizing thoughts), and symbolic stage is arbitrary words (symbol system). Brunner knows that learners go through various stages of development but he does not say at what age this happens. His constructivism can be applied across many different subject areas. He understands what it take when working with different learners and is looking for the day when things shift toward a Constructivist framework.
I have particular interest in Dr. Joan Freeman’s research and her proposal of mentors for the gifted. We teachers are so busy trying to rescue those with either learning disabilities or trying to breach the so called “achievement/knowledge gap” (and let us not forget all our daily obligations!), that we are hardly capable of identifying our gifted students’ interests. Most of the times we fail to provide them with a balanced environment that nurtures its creativity and potential beyond their intellectual capability. These children need time to make social relationships and develop interests outside the academic/content areas. Whilst this might seem impossible to achieve, Dr. Freeman argues that mentors can make a substantial difference.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I have seen it work with the IB students through their CAS (Creativity, Action and Service) project. As defined by one of the IB World Schools: “this requirement (CAS) takes seriously the importance of life outside the world of scholarship. Participation in activities such as theatre, sports and community service encourages young people to share their energies and talents whilst meeting the goal of educating a whole person and fostering a more compassionate citizenry.”
I choose Robert Sternberg as one of the contemporary important contributors to GT education.
ReplyDeleteI liked his definition of GT students:
"For Sternberg, the gifted student is one who can capitalise on strengths and compensate for their weaknesses, adapt to novelty and automatise new skills rapidly. For him, just as there is no single kind of intelligence; there is no single kind of giftedness. It can manifest in different ways in different situations. His view is that what is good for gifted students is good for all students, but that if badly done, gifted education can become an elitist enterprise."
I choose this author because of the reasons he had to enter in this research field; as a child he was labeled as a low achiever, and later he encounter many obstacles in his academic development. Later, he understood that GT students have different learning styles and different intelligences,and he proposed his theory: Sternberg's triarchtic theory: ‘successful intelligence’ – ‘the ability to achieve success in life, given one’s personal standards within one’s personal sociocultural context’.
For more information please visit the following link:
http://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/robert-sternbergs-educational-theories-1679
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what happened to my original post. But I saved it.
ReplyDeleteTiffany
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
ReplyDeleteAs a French major and one who is constantly frustrated with the egocentricity of our American culture, I chose to research the work of Professor Francoys Gagne, a French Canadian who currently teaches at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal.
ReplyDeleteKnown for his Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent, Dr. Gagne's research has not only included the study of people with multiple talents but the interaction between aptitudes, interests, personality and envionmental factors in the choice of a talent area.
Jerome Brunner is best known for his constructivist theory of learning. He believes that learning is an active process where learners construct new ideas and concepts based upon their current/past knowledge. The impact upon education is huge because it allows the learner to select and transform information, construct hypothesis and make decisions based on the learner's cognitive structure. Bruner's theory also allows for intrinsic motivation that leads to intuitive thinking based on the readiness of the learner.
ReplyDeleteI like using Bruner's research in designing products and problems for students to stretch their creative & problem-solving muscles. Constructivist ideas are a must for GT programs as well as regular ed.
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
ReplyDeleteI chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
ReplyDeleteI chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'
ReplyDeleteI chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
ReplyDeleteI chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
ReplyDeleteA current contributor to GT education is Jim Delisle. I had the opportunity last spring to hear Jim Delisle speak at a GT training. As an author, teacher and counselor, he actively role-models and advises adults and parents on positive ways to encourage children’s talents, yet managing potential stress and pressure faced by gifted kids. As a gifted student and parent of a gifted student he offers approaches that are more sensitive to the emotional needs of gifted children, and clearly child-centric.
ReplyDeleteI also chose Francoys Gagne! He contributed a Differentiated Model of Development.
ReplyDeleteI chose him because he addresses the issue of the discrepancy between natural ability and what one may or may not do with such abilities. I also liked the addition of chance in his model. A person’s genetic makeup and their birth environment is a clear result of chance.
Francoys Gagné differentiates clearly between gifts (natural abilities) and talents (systematically developed from gifts). He believed that all talents are developed from natural abilities through learning influenced by inner and outer catalysts. Gagné lists four domains of natural abilities, which according to him are mostly genetically determined: intellectual, creative, socioaffective, and sensorimotor. Several characteristics of the person influence the learning process positively or negatively. They are: physical characteristics, motivation, self-management, and personality.Gagné names four groups of environmental influences on the development of talents: milieu, persons, provisions, and events. One last factor influencing the catalysts (intrapersonal and environmental) and the natural abilities (gifts) is chance. Most importantly, chance determines through the recombination of paternal genes which types of giftedness a child possesses and to what extent.
I choose Joseph Renzulli’s (born in 1936) he developed the three-ring model of giftedness, which promoted a broadened conception of giftedness. He also developed the "Schoolwide Enrichment Model" for developing children's talents in schools. Renzulli is known for his contributions to understanding giftedness. I found interesting his work on curricular strategies for school improvement. One of his proudest professional accomplishments is the UConn Mentor Connection program for gifted young students and the summer Confratute program at UConn, which began in 1978 and has served thousands of teachers and administrators from around the world.
ReplyDeleteI chose Leta Hollingworth,
ReplyDeleteIn the early 1920s, as the field of gifted education was establishing itself as a legitimate field of study and practice, Leta Hollingworth sought to understand what best classroom practices would best suit gifted students. Hollingworth built upon the work of Lulu Stedman and other pioneers in the field of gifted education, in combination with her own research, to create a curriculum and qualitatively different schooling experience for gifted students. Her groundbreaking work at P. S. 165 and 500 was chronicled in her numerous published works and provides the initial research base for practices in gifted education.
I did not choose one particular researcher. I choose a team of researchers, from the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT). They are conducting a study entitled, "What Works in Gifted Education: Excellence and Equity in Educating Gifted Students. The focus of this study is to: tailor instruction to student's needs; emphasize conceptual thinking, real-world disciplinary inquiry, and problem solving; assess learning needs of students; and help students acquire increasing levels of expertise. This study seems interesting to me because it seems to be applying more modern day standards to identifying GT students. I like the fact that an identification system will be created to be responsive to students from across all cultural groups and from all socioeconomic backgrounds. It will enhance prior studies by developing a more clear cut identification system. It will use a traditional and expanded criteria to identify GT students.
ReplyDeleteI choose Joseph Renzulli's,
ReplyDeleteI chose him beacuse he developed and identify giftedness in young people, but he didn't stop there. He went to the schools to help them understand what giftedness was in the young. He believed that you couldn't just identify the student and stop there. You also had to educate the schools with straggies to use.
I chose Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) because he discussed what he called the zone of proximal development. He described it as the distance between the actual developmental level of the child and the level of potential development under adult guidance. He said that the role of education is to provide children with experiences within this zone of proximal development. I chose him for two reasons: (1) this idea of providing children with experiences within the zone of proximal development has itself developed into present-day scaffolding practices, and (2) the definition of the zone of proximal development reminded me of one of the criteria that used to be used to qualify students for special education. (The gap between what a child is doing and what he is capable of doing after receiving help targeted directly at what he needs.)
ReplyDeleteI would like to select Dr. Maria Montessori an Italian physician and educator who developed a concept of learning for children over 100 years ago. She developed the concept that will cater to the child needs and allows them differentiated and individualized learning. She also believed that children needed to learn at their own pace and that they can learn from others in the class as well. I feel that GT can be define as a student that has the ability to grow and excell in that which he is able to exceed in with the proper guidance.
ReplyDeleteI chose a more recent research and theory based; The Parallel Curriculum: A Design to Develop High Potential and Challenge High-Ability Learners
ReplyDeleteby Carol Ann Tomlinson, Sandra N. Kaplan, Joseph S. Renzulli, Jeanne Purcell, Jann Leppien, and Deborah Burns. I was also looking at The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. What I found was that Kaplan's work is involved in an ongoing five year study currently underway. She believes that GT students do not excel best in a regular classroom, but rather in a one where their needs are being met and creativity is being challenged by their peers and extended through proper teaching strategies. She is an advocate for differentiated curriculum planning and believes it's vital to meet GT student's needs. She has come up with sample plans for pacing charts and scope and sequence.
I chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
ReplyDeleteI chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits is known for being a liberal Republican who often argued that "a healthy political party should tolerate diverse opinions among its members."(Wikipedia 2010). Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Instead of funding district-level gifted education programs, the Javits Act instead has three primary components: the research of effective methods of testing, identification, and programming, which is performed at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented; the awarding of grants to colleges, states, and districts that focus on underrepresented populations of gifted students; and grants awarded to state and districts for program implementation. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He recognized and understood the importance of it. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. Also, without his work in other areas, such as civil rights and women's issues, few would have understood his desire to promote in other areas. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
ReplyDeleteI chose Jacob K. Javits. Javits was a member of US House of Representatives 1947–1954; New York Attorney-General 1954, and US Senator 1957–1980. Javits was one of the first and important Statesmen to helping establish important legislation for gifted and talented students. Today, that legacy lives on in the form of the The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. It was passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. I picked Javits because of his determination to get his own education. He took his own initiative and went to night school to fund college. I think it would take a gifted person to realize the importance and the impact he would later have in life. I find this refreshing due to the fact most politicians now are trying to find ways to "skimp" on the money that is provided for higher learning but yet insist that each child is 'accounted for' and 'not left behind'.
ReplyDeleteJack A. Naglieri is a professor of psychology and director of the center for Cognitive Development at George Mason University. I chose him because I thought his study of the Nalieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) was interesting. He believed that the tests that schools use to qualify GT students can block minority children especially children with limited English language skills. The NNAT test is a nonverbal test that helps identify gifted minority kids. He discussed the difference between test of achievement (what they have already learned or have been taught) vs Test of ability and intelligence (what they can learn). His study showed that he was able to identify minorities who had similar scores and percentages as those who qualified with the other test.
ReplyDeleteI chose Howard Gardner. He proposed the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. He said that intelligent behavior does not arise from a single unitary quality of the mind but that different kinds of intelligence are generated from separate metaphorical pools of mental energy. Each of these pools enables the individual "to solve problems, or to create products that are valued within one or more cultural settings". He defined intelligence into seven categories:
ReplyDelete1. linguistic
2. logical-mathematical
3. spatial
4. musical
5. bodily-kinesthetic
6. interpersonal
7. intrapersonal
I like the way he treated each individual as unique and can be GT in one or many ways. One person can have linguistic intelligence which enables him/her to read, write and speak well but might not have a logical-mathematical intelligence which encompasses logical thinking or mathematical and scientific problem solving.
I chose James Kulik. He analyzed research on ability grouping done by the University of Michigan (Kulik and Kulik) and John Hopkins University(Slavin). I chose him because I asked the question about ability grouping in our first blog. Their findings were based on five different grouping programs. The Michigan analysts concluded that the strongest benefits from grouping were found in programs in which there was a great deal of
ReplyDeleteadjustment of curriculum for highly talented learners. The John Hopkins analysts did
not find any strong positive effects of grouping, but they also did not examine grouping
programs designed for highly talented students. Overall, the brightest learners would definately suffer the most if these programs did not exist.
I chose psychologist Dr. James T. Webb because of his focus on the social and emotional needs of gifted children.
ReplyDeleteOver the years, Dr. Webb observed that many of the gifted students he worked with had emotional problems and poor social interactions. No one had really done much research on this since all the attention went to the academic aspect of the gifted child. He got Wright State University to help him start a program called SENG (Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted). As more research was done through SENG, his observations were confirmed concerning the social and emotional needs of gifted children. He also found out that many gifted kids were being misdiagnosed and given medication!
Dr. Webb's research and work has had a positive impact on the social and emotional needs of gifted students and on education. He speaks at schools, has published several books, videos for parents, therapists and teachers of gifted children.
I also chose Dr. Maria Montessori. I like the idea to let children develop their own abilities at their own pace. I agree with Lucinda M. that “GT can be defined as a student that has the ability to grow and excel in that which he is able to exceed in with the proper guidance”. Dr. Montessori gave the world a scientific method, practical and tested, for bringing forth the very best in children. Having had my granddaughter in a Montessori environment, I have been able to see her creativity and problem solving skills she has acquired at only five years of age. Why can’t we, in public schools give children the time to grow at their own pace? We rushed students through the curriculum and pressure them into “learning” concepts they are not cognitively ready to internalize at that time. We punish them by calling them slow learners and many times give them other labels. We should let students grow at their own pace.
ReplyDeleteDoing research about the history of gifted education, I came upon many people who have influenced the development of Intelligence theory and giftedness. I was a pleasure to recognize many of the names from our last class, but hard to choose another relevant figure for this discussion.
ReplyDeleteDr. Robert Sternberg is a contemporary psychologist who developed the Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence, which in essence says that different abilities contribute to intelligent behavior. He has criticized IQ tests as being able to measure only one aspect of intelligence, and even in grade school elaborated his own test to measure intelligence. He states that intelligent behavior arises from a balance between analytical, creative, and practical abilities. This reminds me of the definition of a gifted person, in which extraordinary ability in any of these aspects can be considered a sign of a talent or gift. He created The Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Test to measure these other abilities. In fact, he added additional criteria to the admissions process in Tufts University when he was a Dean to test "creativity and other non-academic factors."
He has also defined an implicit theory of giftedness that specifies conditions that gifted people have in common: excellence, rarity, productivity, demonstratabiblity, and value.
I chose this person because he is working on alternatives to measure the “other” aspects of intelligence that can make a person gifted. Once these people are “measured” and regarded as “intelligent”, they may benefit from more programs to develop their gift. He may one day part of the historic figures studied in GT trainings.
Sandra Kaplan is the researcher that I chose for enhancing the field of gifted and talented education. Kaplan has developed a set of GT behaviors (i.e., asking questions, using many tools and resources) and what teachers and students who exhibit scholarly behaviors look like. I relished in the fact that she referenced the artsy crafty and academically inclined individuals as scholars. This reference works well for both the GT teacher as well as the student. Kaplan emphasized that the scholar will spend time pondering ideas and problems. Also she noted that they will exercise academic humility by realizing that they will always have more to learn. Scholars come on board with a vision rather it is long or short term. Scholars or GT students often exercise their intellect by trying challenging tasks. Finally, she incorporated big ideas, icons, prompts, key questions and Bloom's taxonomy into a functioning model that every teacher use within their different instruction set.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was looking for a definition of giftedness, I discovered a website for the National Socity for the Gifted and Talented. It has information about scholarships and online resources.
ReplyDeleteThe definition accepted and employed by this group is that of the US Dept. of Education (1993). The article goes on to say that they use this definition because it "is the broadest and most comprehensive."
Regarding the second part of the homework, I am very interested in gifted kids at risk, gifted kids who do not perfom or acheive as adults, and symptons of anxiety such as drug abuse.
In this regard, I have found the names of two researchers Patricia A. Schuler and M.A. Dirkes.
I chose Kazimierz Dąbrowski to do research on. He suggests that gifted children have greater psychomotor, sensual, imaginative, intellectual, and emotional "overexcitabilities. Unlike mainstream psychology, Dąbrowski's theoretical framework views psychological tension and anxiety as necessary for growth. These "disintegrative" processes are therefore seen as "positive," whereas people who fail to go through positive disintegration may remain for their entire lives in a state of "primary integration." Advancing into disintegration and into the higher levels of development is predicated on having developmental potential, including overexcitabilities, above-average reactions to stimuli.
ReplyDeleteLike L. Matthew, I chose Maria Montessori, not because she directly had a hand in gifted and talented educucation, but because of her initial philosophy of differentiation and learner directed instruction. This method instruction has proven that meeting children where they are and pulling them up from there helps to develop stronger and more independent thinkers. Although the line of high achievers and gifted students is fine, Maria Montessori's methodology in education provides students with a foundation to become straddlers of that line because their instruction doesn't directly come their teacher...it's their own.
ReplyDeleteI chose to read about Nicholas Colangelo, one of the co-authors of the 2004 report, A Nation Deceived, which advocates the acceleration of instruction for gifted students. The report was critical of American schools for holding back gifted students by keeping them with peers of their age rather than academic ability. The report advocates early entry into kindergarten, skipping grades for those who are ready, above-level testing and use of measurements such as The Iowa Acceleration Scale in deciding how far to accelerate instruction, placing gifted students with older students to prevent boredom and other affective problems. Early entrance into college programs was also strongly advocated for gifted students. The report was critical of schools that offered the same instruction for all students, including the gifted. It also claimed that acceleration, in its various forms, is only ever detrimental to the gifted when it is poorly planned. Colangelo directs the Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration which holds an annual symposium on the acceleration of instruction for gifted students.
ReplyDeleteI choose to read about Colangelo because of his role in producing A Nation Deceived which was mentioned prominently in another timeline similar the one we completed in class last week. I agree that acceleration should be offered to those students who are academically gifted as long as social and emotional support is provided to these students. They may be ready academically for the workload and challenge, but they may not be as prepared emotionally or socially.
While researching, I came across Julian Stanley who has made many attempts at advancing gifted education. I liked the fact that they refer to him as an advocate for gifted children. He started researching GT education when he was teaching and came across a math student outperforming his peers. He started the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth which is still going on today at Vanderbilt and is intended to be a fifty year long study. Not only did he move to start this study to find out more about gifted children, but once he identified them, he offered ways to help them reach their potential!
ReplyDeleteRobert Sternberg categorizes intelligence into three parts (triarchic theory). He has had a profound effect on the study of gifted students. He was one of many authors that was a trailblazer for multiple intelligence. I believe that gifted learners are individuals that display high achievement capabilities in academic fields. They may display creativity or have leadership capacity. Like Sternberg, I believe that giftedness can manifest itself in different ways and in different situations. There are a number of thinking styles. Everyone has a mix of such styles, but will vary in the strength of their preferences. This is why it is essential that we vary our instructional strategies. Sternberg’s view is that what is good for gifted students is good for all students, but that if inappropriately done, gifted education can become an exclusive program.
ReplyDeleteI found an article written by Ernesto M. Bernal, vice president of the San Antonio Gifted Education Foundation. He talks about the research and books published by Yolanda Benito Mate, a clinical psychologist from Spain. She has published three different volumes about the subject .I would like to find those publications, but still, based on what read on the article, I chose Bernal’s article on Mate’s work because it analyzes the GT students of Hispanic origin/Hispanic countries. I found interesting how they mention the challenges faced by GT students in a world where, despite their “being different”, they still have to face all of the developmental tasks that every children have to master and sometimes their intellectual maturity does not match their physical development. There is also a concern to help GT students avoid some “bad habits” or psychological traps, and the need to prevent academic frustration and failure, by teaching/developing psychomotor skills, study skills, social/interpersonal skills and provide opportunities to develop creativity. Like I mentioned in my definition of GT, I agree that GT students need attention far beyond the academic achievement in the traditional school setting.
ReplyDeleteBruce Torff that worked with Robert Sternberg demonstrated that having analytical, creative, and practical components (Sternberg's triarchic) enhanced learning. It seems like it's nothing new because Bloom talked about higher level thinking. But his research puts it in components of strategies and not just components of objectives.
ReplyDeleteI also looked at Rensulli as did Cris.The Neag Center for gifted and talent Development at the University of Conn began a research team that includes Dr. Joseph S. Renzulli, Dr. Sally M. Reis, Dr. Del Siegle, Dr. E. Jean Gubbins, Dr. M. Katherine Gavin, Dr. Catherine Little, Dr. D. Betsy McCoach, and Dr. Tutita Casa. They have began several aclaimed federally funde progams which are for reading (Schoolwide Enrichment Model-Reading) and mathematics (Project M3: Mentoring Mathematical Minds). The Enrichment Triad Model, have led to the development of an exciting new technology-based learning system which you can tutorial on-line. Confratute (conference & institute)caught my interest for a proffessional development twist of a name. The on-line is fascinating because it evaluates the students creative niche to specialize their program and activities through technology.
ReplyDeleteDr. Carol Tomlinson
ReplyDeleteShe systemized differentiated instruction. Her theory is based on a few principals: 1. Teacher-student connection 2. Sense of community in the classroom (assigning specific roles for each community member as they work together) 3. Quality curriculum. In general, she places a practical spin on a theory that has been around for years.
I chose Lulu Stedman to post about since I did not see her mentioned in other posts and because she was one of the US pioneers in Gifted Education.
ReplyDeleteLulu Stedman established one of the first classes for gifted students during the time of the progressive movement in education and psychology. She called her class the "opportunity class". She was driven to find an alternative class for the students who needed more opportunity to develop learning. She saw the special education opportunitites afforded the subnormal students and felt that the students above normal needed their needs met as well. Her opportunity class included mixed age children in grades 3-6 and provided significant enrichment opportunities. Stedman felt that keeping the advanced students within general confines of ages was important as she recognized that not all development was accelerated in these students. She also implemented ways to allow students to learn independently so as not to curtail their learning progress while waiting for others to catch up. She noted that most of these students preferred the abstract and were not especially interested in concrete projects.
A most interesting pioneer.....
I chose Howard Gardner as someone very important to gifted education. Howard Gardner came up with the idea of Multiple Intelligences. This theory states that there are many different ways a child can learn and process new things. A gifted child will learn different from everyone else, even some other gifted children. Because Gardner came up with this theory, many other educators and researchers have contributed to this idea. There are many models out there now that help teachers understand how to differentiate the lessons in order for all students to succeed.
ReplyDeleteI chose Lewis Terman to investigate and found some of his research/contributions to GT theory very informative and revolutionary for the time. He was a cognitive psychologist who developed various tests to measure and demonstrate higher levels of cognitive complexity and functioning. In the early 1900s, children that were "genius" or "gifted" were considered weak, dull, and even sickly; his longitudinal cognitive and physical testing of these children proved that this was opposite. He wanted to find whether or not gifted children would achieve and find success as adults or if the genius faded. The children in his study proved to be socially normal, physically taller and healthier, better leaders, and cognitively more advanced than the rest of the population as adults. His findings helped to revolutionize the way of thinking about gifted children (and adults) and how they were treated. Terman is also known for taking the popular Binet-Simon IQ test and revising/updating it to where it became so much more accurate and best-available that the name was changed to the Stanford-Binet scale test (his research was done at Stanford University). Although I feel that his research on minorities was naive and even ignorant (I'm not going to touch on that in this review), his contributions proven through a lifetime of research on giftedness and intelligence is amazing and insightful.
ReplyDeleteSara Veigel
In completing this assignment, I wanted to chose someone who has not already been mentioned, so most of the people that I researched are contemporary researchers and authors in the field of gifted education. I researched areas that are of interest ot me and came up with 2 perople worth noting:
ReplyDeleteDr. Donna Ford (no relation!) is a professor of Education at Vanderbilt University. Her research has focused on the underrepresentation of minority students in gifted education. She conducts research in gifted, multicultural, and urban education. Her work focuses on recruiting and retaining culturally diverse students in gifted education programs.
Dr. Thomas Greenspon is a psychologist and author whose research and writings focus primarilary on the problem of perfectionism in gifted students. His writing focuses on helping children and their families adjust to being gifted and overcoming perfectionism.
I chose Ben Bloom (Blooms Taxonomy)because he was interested and devoted in understanding the ways in which cognition functions and most important, how high-level forms of thinking can be promoted in our classrooms.
ReplyDeleteI chose William Torry Harris. Harris was a U.S Commissioner of Education (1889-1906). I found that he had a profound impact on establishing and strengthing the educational system in the United States. He instituted libraries into the public school infrastructure. He also was an advocate for free common public schools. In his service as a superintendent of public schools, William began the earliest systematic efforts in public schools to educate gifted students. I feel that this is important to gifted education because in 1880's William realized that some students learned differently. He saw the need to establish a curriculum to meet the needs of gifted students. I believe if William were not a pioneer of gifted education in public school other studies may have taken a different approach to educating gifted students.
ReplyDeleteJerome Brunner theory of Constructivism was influenced by the research of Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget. Brunner feels that learners construct new ideas or concepts based on existing knowledge. His three stage development plan (enactive, iconic, and symbolic) is very important for the motivation of letting learners transform and make decisions based on the readiness of the learner. The enactive stage is motor response (physical task), Iconic stage is visual images (visualizing thoughts), and symbolic stage is arbitrary words (symbol system). Brunner knows that learners go through various stages of development but he does not say at what age this happens. His constructivism can be applied across many different subject areas. He understands what it take when working with different learners and is looking for the day when things shift toward a Constructivist framework.
ReplyDelete