[Ohiogift] Labelling the gifted

[Susan Rakow]

I don't agree either because it presumes that giftedness is only about academic intervention and school instruction and disregards, particularly among the most highly gifted, the social and emotional aspects of experiencing the world through a gifted mind and heart. Lots of words have multiple connotations and sometimes the word "gifted" has baggage...but so does autistic or Asperger's or diabetic or artist and many others. And the fact is, that some children DO have abilities that others don't, just as some children DO have disabilities that others don't. 

If we throw away the word, then what is the National Association for Gifted Children, in which all of these authors are major players, all about?
Susan


-----Original Message-----
>From: Margaret DeLacy <margaretdelacy at comcast.net>
>Sent: Apr 16, 2014 8:07 PM
>To: OATAG at yahoogroups.com, "XL-PDX at yahoogroups.com" <XL-PDX at yahoogroups.com>, Tagfam at listserv.icors.org, Ohiogift at lists.service.ohio-state.edu
>Subject: [Ohiogift] Labelling the gifted
>
>http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/04/16/28peters_ep.h33.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1
>
>Commentary
>Gifted Ed. Is Crucial, But the Label Isn't
>By Scott J. Peters, Scott Barry Kaufman, Michael S. Matthews, Matthew T. McBee, D. Betsy McCoach 
>
>"But how does the label of "gifted" help teachers and administrators determine the appropriate programming for students? In our view, the term is not only unhelpful, but actually harmful to the interests of bright students. "Gifted" is an educationally nondescript concept, yet it also connotes an endowment that some students receive while others do not. Moreover, the term seems to suggest that high academic performance is a permanent quality, both due to chance and applicable in all domains.
>
>The truth is that "giftedness" is irrelevant to K-12 educational decisions. What is relevant is whether the instruction a child receives is sufficiently rigorous to challenge that child. When that is not the case, there are many potential causes." 
>
>Margaret comments:
>
>I disagree with this.  I think the authors are insensitive to the realities of a school environment where time and energy are at a premium.  These constraints make it exceedingly unlikely that a child will have access to "rigorous" instruction without a formal procedure for identifying the students who are likely to need significant interventions. 
>
>Suppose I went to a nursery and said "one of my plants is failing to thrive.  What should I do?"
>
>The nursery worker says, "what plant is it?"
>
>I say, "I don't know.  I don't believe in labelling my plants." 
>
>The nursery isn't going to send someone out to my home to see what plant it is.  I don't have the time to try to figure it out.  So the plant doesn't get what it needs.
>
>Labels are never perfect.  They are always probabilistic.  Labels can be switched or wrong.  But a good label would tell a knowledgeable person what kind of plant I probably have, how it fits in a taxonomy of plants, and what sorts of issues it might have.  For example, there are tens of thousands of species of rhododendrons.  But even if all we know is that the plant is a rhododendron at least that would also mean it probably needs acid soil. At least we would know to check for that issue. 
>
>Margaret
>
>
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Susan R. Rakow, Ph.D. 
Clinical Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Program in Gifted Education
Department of Curriculum and Foundations 
Cleveland State University
2485 Euclid Ave., EB374
Cleveland, OH 44115-2214
216-523-7296
s.rakow at csuohio.edu

“Modern cynics and skeptics see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing.” -John F. Kennedy