Five Ways to Avoid Creating an "Elitist" Gifted Program

Whetherdeserved or not~ gifted education has long been accused of being elitist. Some have claimed thatgifted students receive special treatment~ and that those children unable to pass entrance requirements to gifted programs~ fail to receive the same types of services. Students themselves question why do gifted kids get to do all the fun stuff while the rest of the class completes mundane activities.

In all honesty~ Im not sure this image of elitism will ever be truly eliminated. However~ it has been my experience~ and the experience of others~ that there are certain approaches that educators can take to avoid contributing to the problem. Normally~ I like point out the positive steps when writing a blog~ however~ for the purposes of getting my point across~ Id like to touch upon five mistakes that I think schools and faculty members make when implementing gifted services~ which can cause this elitist perception.
MISTAKE ONE:

Do not allow gifted students to mix with mainstream students during the day. Keeping gifted students together at times~ is beneficial according to studies~ however~ never allowing them to mingle with other students outside the program during recess~ specials classes~ and other opportunities~ shields them from the real world and does not provide them with a chance to fully develop social skills needed to be successful in later life.

MISTAKE TWO:

Only allow gifted students to engage in enrichment activities~ independent studies~ and opportunities to explore their interests and strengths. While it is true that gifted students can often demonstrate mastery of curriculum~ and therefore~ earn the right to participate in enrichment activities~ these types of activities should not be reserved only for higher-level students. All students should have some time during the school day to engage in enrichment that allows them to pursue interests~ gain exposure to new ideas and topics~ and develop talents and abilities. Also~ in my experience~ some students- who do not qualify for gifted services- may display advanced ability in certain areas or during certain types of lessons~ and therefore~ might~ at times~ require enrichment.

MISTAKE THREE:

Equip gifted programs with advanced technology~ such as I pads~ laptops~ and other devices~ and not provide general education students with the same access to these types of technologies. Again~ while gifted students may grasp these technologies faster~ all students need exposure to this area.

MISTAKE FOUR:

Have faculty members hold separate meetings for gifted programs and not attend~ or want to attend~ faculty meetings and professional development workshops with general education teachers. Teachers of gifted need to be included in the informational loop at schools in the same manner as other teachers. Likewise~ general education teachers should be invited to gifted education program meetings so they can be made aware of new developments.
MISTAKE FIVE:

Continually refer to gifted students as gifted in front of their peers or use other labels that cause perceived separation. While certain students might require differentiated curriculum~ it is unnecessary to continually point out~ in a verbal manner~ that these students are somehow better or more special than classmates. For instance~ when a teacher divides a lesson up using stations~ he or she would not (I hope) refer to students working on remedial skills as the lower-performing or struggling group while calling another group of students advanced or faster-learning. The teacher simply needs to assign students to various stations based on their academic needs.

As you can see from the above mistakes~ gifted program coordinators and teachers of gifted need to take extra precautions to avoid creating an us-against-them mentality. Rather~ efforts need to be made to create cooperative relationships between those working with gifted students and those working with other populations. The goal should be to include gifted students in mainstream activities~ whenever possible~ while at the same time~ providing them with differentiated instruction that meets their needs. In addition~ teachers need to share information and work together regardless of their students academic level. While these are lofty ambitions (what some might call unrealistic~) I believe this is whats best for kids.

Thank you~
Steve