As part of my degree I am studying gifted and creative learners. As part of the reflective process we were asked to develop five key questions to engage thinking in regards to the social/emotional dimensions of creating a classroom environment that fosters giftedness and creativity. The questions were to have reference to our extended reading, and I have provided references to the appropriate sources following each statement. I have posed the following questions to my peers and tutor, and will follow this post up with the subsequent discussion that occurs. However, I am interested in what others have to say in regards to these questions, or to gifted education in general, please post any thoughts/responses in the comments or by emailing me personally, this is an area of specific interest for me which I might pursue in the future.
Questions:
1.“There is a concern that ‘Martin’s’ teacher is not facilitating the development of his gifts”(p. 5). While it is absolutely necessary for teachers to allow students opportunities to make independent, personal discoveries in learning and construct their own knowledge, how can this always be achieved when curriculum or school mandated processes/procedure dictate specific methodologies to be taught in the classroom? Is the curriculum actually limiting and confining the experiences of gifted students and contributing to underachievement? How do teachers find a mutually agreed balance?
Diezmann, C. M., & Watters, J. J. (1997). Bright but bored: Optimising the environment for gifted children. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 22(2), 17-21.
2. “Obtaining the right answer without being able to reflect on the processes that led to it would not be considered as a successful achievement” (p. 8). As teachers, what type of reflective practices should we model in our own lives, as well as to provide for students, that allow for gifted students to continue being engaged, while simultaneously creating these optimum holistic learning experiences? Following the reflection process, how do we provide students with the opportunity to expand further and create deeper meaning?
Diezmann, C. M., & Watters, J. J. (1997). Bright but bored: Optimising the environment for gifted children. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 22(2), 17-21.
3.“Social pressures to conform and achieve acceptance among peers develops early and can impact negatively on achievement oriented goals”(p. 11). Positive classroom culture appears to be a recurring thematic concern in the discussion of gifted education, and specifically in relation to the peer-peer relationships, and the impact social pressure has on student achievement. What are some specific strategies that can be employed in the classroom to a) promote a culture of acceptance and encouragement towards gifted students, and b) develop resilience in gifted students who may face pressures and social stigma from their peers?
Diezmann, C. M., & Watters, J. J. (1997). Bright but bored: Optimising the environment for gifted children. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 22(2), 17-21.
4. Ugur Sak (2004) remarks that teachers of creative students should possess three critical personal characteristics or behaviours that reflect the necessary “personality (e.g., openness), intellectual (e.g., creativity) and knowledge prerequisites (e.g. instructional knowledge)” (p. 216). With this in mind, do all teachers possess the appropriate traits to teach creative students? Can any classroom teacher be an effective educator of all students if they don’t meet or are lacking in these criteria? If a teacher does not consider themselves creative, are they disadvantaging their students by limiting their access to a teacher who is regarded as highly creative?
Sak, U. (2004). About creativity, giftedness, and teaching the creatively gifted in the classroom. Roeper Review, 26 (4), 216-222.
5. “she [the student] was at times very expressive and could hardly contain herself, frequently interrupting the teacher” (p. 219). When teaching creative students whose enthusiasm and intensity towards original thoughts and ideas causes disruption in the classroom, what management and interpersonal strategies can be employed to keep students focused, to give opportunities to all students to express themselves, and to maintain a productive climate, without diminishing students’ ideas and suppressing their opportunities for self-expression?
Sak, U. (2004). About creativity, giftedness, and teaching the creatively gifted in the classroom. Roeper Review, 26 (4), 216-222.
Other reflections/comments:
Sak remarks that “[s]tudents displaying creative behaviours tend to be unappealing to teachers… [w]hen teachers don’t know what creativity is, how it manifests and how it is important, they may ignore teaching for creativity” (p. 216). This comment resonates deeply with personal understanding of education for gifted and creative learners, as I have observed many missed opportunities for flourishing creativity in the classroom setting. Teachers have a responsibility to develop opportunities for students to maximise their potential, and for many students this entails expressing themselves through exploration, making mistakes, trying new things and realising their imagination through the physical – that is, through being creative. I am intrigued by the impact that a lack of teacher understanding can have on transcending levels of being, that is, the impact it can have on the individual, on a class, on a school, on a community, on society and on humanity in general. Fostering creativity for lifelong success is at the foundation of societal revolution. Again, this reinforces to me the huge role that teachers can play on a global scale.
Sak, U. (2004). About creativity, giftedness, and teaching the creatively gifted in the classroom. Roeper Review, 26 (4), 216-222.