I Can Meet the Needs of Gifted Learners in my Classroom at All Times - Let's Be Honest and Bust that Myth

This week is Gifted Awareness Week and the theme is all about Mythbusting.
There are so many myths about giftedness, gifted learners and gifted education in general that it's sometimes hard to know where to start, so I'm going to start with a very personal post which is all about my journey in gifted education - and it may just surprise some people.


WHAT I BELIEVED

When I was training to be a teacher in the late 1990s, we received very little in the way of learning about any aspect of gifted education.  In fact, the common mantra seemed to be in line with the image below and we were taught to believe that we could meet all of our learners' varying needs in our own classrooms and learning environments.  Honestly, do a search of this message and it's everywhere - even on coffee mugs!  And it still persists today.  Did I also believe this?  Absolutely I did!

The word 'differentiation' became the catch-cry through which we could ensure that all learners' needs were met.  This is great and does work to a certain extent, as long as there has been extensive professional learning and development (PLD) around it.  How many of us can honestly say that we have received that?

I spent a lot of time learning about differentiation in my own time. My learners and I always planned our learning together - at the beginning using the old separate curriculum documents and later on when the revised New Zealand Curriculum  came out in 2007.  My learners were engaged, owned their learning and, according to the data and my observations, they were all progressing very well and thriving in the learning environment.  Something was still bugging me though about the learners I could see who were standing out for so many different and unique reasons.  Something wasn't gelling with me in my observations.

Yes, I was extending those students who stood out in a traditional academic way, but this was always enrichment at the same level - it wasn't acceleration which is still a bone of contention in education circles. (For more information on this, click here). I started to question whether this was actually extending them at all - or challenging them enough.  I also started to notice as a new teacher that there were students who amazed me with their thinking and their creativity who didn't really fit the mould of being academically talented - we didn't use the word gifted because, as in the photo above, this was not really something that existed according to the powers that be.  The belief that you always took all learners horizontally across the curriculum level, never to the next level, was so strongly entrenched that you didn't really question it - until you could see that learners were switching off.  And what of the learners who were not in the so-called academically talented group - how were they being extended and was it really all about how successful you were in what was valued the most?


WHAT CHANGED?

Habits of Mind was always a foundation of learning in my classrooms from Day 1 and I started to question what I was doing the more we engaged with the concepts in this philosophy.  The more discussions we had, the more certain learners outside the traditional realm of what was judged to be talented, stood out.  I needed to make sure that I was meeting their needs.  I continued to question my practice and my beliefs around the word and concept of 'gifted'.

In the early 2000s I was fortunate enough to teach in an intermediate school that had a withdrawal programme for learners identified as gifted. This was really the start of me questioning my practice - why did we need a withdrawal programme when my classroom environment should be enough? What was I not able to do in the classroom?  The more I experienced what was happening in this programme and the more open I was to learning, and the more I could see how much this programme meant to the learners involved, how it was changing their attitude to school and learning.  The most important knowledge - I could see how powerful this programme was, how powerful and important it was for learners to be able to connect with like minds.  You can read about this in the Aotearoa New Zealand context here. I began to learn from the learners about what worked for them. I also learned so much from the teachers who were leading the programme. My practice and thinking started to change dramatically and I wanted to know and learn more.

In the mid-2000s I was lucky enough to attend a session on gifted education with one of the authors of the paper in the previous link.  This was run by the now New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education.  While I had started to read and learn about gifted education, I still had the residual of the mindset that "I'm a qualified teacher and I should be able to meet all learners' needs in my classroom." These sessions opened my eyes even further and raised my awareness to the point where there was no way I wasn't going to start questioning what we were doing to meet the needs of our gifted learners - and gifted learners absolutely do exist and they are often not your academic stand-outs. If you want to read more on this, check out "Gifted Children Do Exist - Here's What Happens When We Deny It."

From: Not So Formulaic

It was also about this time that the concept of Student Voice was gaining traction.  I had always planned with my learners but how much voice did they actually have and were they just being compliant or were they really engaged and owning their learning?  There were so many questions I had around this, especially as I began to question my beliefs around giftedness.
I read Clarity in the Classroom and this was a real turning point, particularly in using the power of student voice to change my practice.

So What?

Being honest and reflective in our practice and acknowledging that we can't meet all of our learners' individual needs in our learning environments without adaptation and flexibility is not a sign of weakness or failure as a teacher - it's a sign of strength and reflection and it shows strong advocacy for our learners, particularly as we find the best way to meet their needs. It shows that we understand their individual needs and will do whatever it takes to meet those needs.  It is always, always about our learners.

WHAT NEXT?

• Challenge your thinking around giftedness and gifted education - it's a matter of equity for our learners. Gifted learners matter as much as those who have learning difficulties - in fact some of our gifted learners can be found in these groups - they are our twice- or multi-exceptional learners.

• Join in discussions and join groups focused on gifted education and be open to ideas and conversations.  You could join Gifted and Talented Teachers (NZ) which is the group I started.

       

• Be aware of the research and other publications out there. Giftedness is backed by evidence. It is not elitist or the domain of 'pushy parents.'

• Have a look at some of the ways you can celebrate your gifted students - not just this week but throughout the year.  Some ideas can be found here, and here.

• Know what to look for - identification is key to their success and engagement as learners.

• Be open to using STEAM, Passion Projects, Problem/Project Based Learning and Genius Hour as ways to meet the needs of your gifted students.

• Be open to the ideas of acceleration, cluster grouping and withdrawal programmes to meet the needs of gifted learners and be aware of taken the identification and definition of giftedness wider.  Gifted students need 'like minds' to connect with.

• Understand what true differentiation looks like and how it can be used to meet learners' needs.

• Know that our gifted students need depth and complexity.

• Utilise organisations such as NZCGE, NZAGC, giftEDnz and Gifted Aotearoa to challenge and question your practice and keep learning and reflecting - and acting.  Don't forget the Gifted and Talented community on TKI - this resource site is growing all the time.

Above all... be open to the ideas and evidence that gifted learners exist and it's a matter of equity that their needs are met. Don't be afraid to be a Lone Nut or First Follower...

Refocusing Learning and Teaching

(Apologies in advance for the strange variations in font - Blogger kept crashing and not matter how many times it's edited, the strange variations remain).

Day 23 of the giftEDnz blog challenge is all about shifting our focus...are we too focused on assessment? Have we narrowed the curriculum too much?

Over the past 8 years since the introduction of National Standards, we have faced an ever-narrowing curriculum and learning and teaching focus. The pressure on teachers to show that their students are achieving has been enormous and there is little evidence that this intense focus made any impact on achievement levels. Anecdotally, we had many students who were not engaged or motivated in their learning. Some schools worked well with the standards and worked incredibly hard not to narrow the curriculum, others had an enormous focus on standards without connection to real learning.

Refocusing on the New Zealand Curriculum - Effective Pedagogy

Teacher Actions Promoting Student Learning - Effective Pedagogy

These are all things dear to teachers' hearts. There is one area on this list which I think warrants further open and honest discussion and it is that of teachers needing to 'inquire into the teaching and learning relationship.' I'm going to reflect on this in another post but I'm wondering if we've gone too far with the incredibly in-depth inquiries we are expecting of our teachers? Some of these inquiries are so in-depth that they are almost mini theses. If we're going to refocus on learning and teaching, we also need to address what is happening in this area as well.

Of course we need to reflect on our practice - that's one of the most powerful aspects of what we do to make sure that our learners are progressing, but does it need to be done in the depth of detail that is currently occurring alongside the evidence that must be recorded for Practising Teacher Criteria.  We know that reflective practice is what leads to changes in practice but we need to be realistic to ensure that the focus is not on too much on this and shifts our focus from the students. Of course, it’s absolutely necessary and they all work in together to help us meet the needs of our students but, like anything, we need to make sure that there is a balance.

The Key Competencies, Vision and Principles

The Key Competencies were intended to be the driver of the curriculum with the learning areas providing contexts that would link to real-world learning connections. Too often they have become a checklist to be ticked off with little depth and connection. The NZC has often become the place where we go to get the appropriate Achievement Objectives. If we can go back to the original intent of the NZC and understand how the Vision, Principles and Values form the overarching structure with the Key Competencies and Learning Areas underpinning these, then we have the start of a winning formula to increase motivation and engagement in learning for our students and a chance to really improve the learning environment for all, including our teachers who will be able to again focus on what they signed up for. Perhaps we could have fewer behaviour issues as well. A simplification of all of the complex problems we face, I know, but it's a starting point.

We have the chance to take a broader view of learning and teaching but there is much-needed professional learning and development around the NZC and its original intent. Yes, we still need assessment - that guides our 'where to next' and ensures that we're meeting the needs of our students. However, it needs to have a purpose and to not always be focused on a test. There are so many different ways to assess how our students are achieving and their voices needs to be at the centre of this. By refocusing on the NZC we have a chance to put creativity and passion back into learning and teaching."These principles put students at the centre of teaching and learning, asserting that they should experience a curriculum that engages and challenges them, is forward-looking and inclusive, and affirms New Zealand's unique identity." New Zealand Curriculum (2007, p. 11).

Image Source: Roman Nowak - @NowakRo on Twitter

Don't Miss the Ability Because You Only See the Disability

Day 17 of the giftEDnz Blog Challenge!

Why So Many Gifted Yet Struggling Students Are Hidden in Plain Sight

This prompt, which is all about how our gifted students can be hidden in plain sight made me wonder about the times over the years when I've encountered these students.  As a teacher, you're always observing and reflecting on your practice.  You start to become attuned to individual behaviours and characteristics of your students.  You know - or you suspect - when a child is possibly gifted or operating at a different level to their peers.  I use the term 'operating' as 'achieving' has connotations of always being about an assessment and can really limit the possibilities of diverse giftedness in our students. It can also then limit your own thinking and narrow your focus which we can't do if we want to meet the needs of these students.

The difficulties arise when you have a student who you know without question is possibly gifted but they also have a learning disability.  The parents have talked to you about their special talents, you also recognise and celebrate these but then you come up against the bureaucracy or other teachers who perhaps only see the disability rather than the ability.  This is deficit thinking and it's not helpful for the students, their families or the teacher who believes in them and knows without question that they are gifted.  In fact, this type of thinking can be dangerous as it limits the possibilities of what we can offer a student in their learning and also of what they can achieve.  We also run the risk that these students become our disengaged students who may exhibit behaviour problems and also risk being our underachievers.

We have to challenge our understandings and sometimes also our beliefs. So many of our gifted students will remain hidden unless we do so.  That becomes a question of ethics for me. We have to expand our thinking about who gifted students are. There are many underrepresented groups in this country along with the twice-exceptional.  Our Māori and Pasifika students, students from lower socioeconomic groups, underachievers and those who don't have English as their first language. Until we acknowledge this and push back against the assumptions, then many will remain hidden. They often become statistics in mental health and in our justice system. I've often wondered how many of the inmates in our prisons are gifted.  I think we have an ever-widening gap in excellence or giftedness in this country.

Getting Back to the Heart of What We Do

It's Day 15 of the giftEDnz Blog Challenge and we're halfway!! 

One of the things I've loved the most about the challenge so far is the way it's challenged my thinking and encouraged me to think deeply about specific areas of gifted education in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Social and emotional needs matter in learning and teaching - both students' and teachers'.

The focus of this post is on the unique social and emotional needs of our gifted students. The prompt challenges us to reflect on our practice and think about how we meet these needs in our learning environments.  How do we acknowledge these differences in our day-to-day rush of learning and teaching?  At this present time, there are so many issues in education in this country.  Teachers have so many pressures coming at them from all directions so how do we manage to make sure that we are focusing on this area of need - for all of our students as well as our gifted and talented?

Sometimes we need to take a step back from the negativity and refocus on our 'why' - the 'why of what we do and why we became teachers. (I've blogged on this before here).  Not always easy in the current environment but this can act as a welcome antidote to all the other issues - it can, in fact, also be a way that we take care of ourselves. (A great post to read is from the research of Meg Gallagher).  Going back to the beginning and making sure we haven't lost the passion for what we do is, I believe, the first step in making sure we can meet the social and emotional needs of our students.

In terms of our gifted students, there are specific things we can do to make sure that their social and emotional needs are being met.  I've summarised what I believe is important and have been guided by my experience and a post I read from SENG (Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted) and which was also the prompt for today's post - 28 Acts of Kindness for the Gifted.

28 Acts of Kindness for the Gifted

Caring for the Social and Emotional Needs of our Gifted Students - some ideas based on my experiences and learning to date about this unique group of individuals.

• Provide opportunities for them to connect with like minds.
• Be aware of and acknowledge that they DO have unique social and emotional needs - learn all you can about these.
• Know them as individual people first and students second.
• Help them explore what it means to be gifted - the good and the not-so-good, so that they have the skills needed to navigate the seas of giftedness (there's always rises and falls, it's how we deal with them that matters the most).
• Celebrate and encourage their passions and who they are - expect them to be themselves and not hide their giftedness.
• Be empathetic - put yourself in their shoes.
• Use mindfulness techniques to help them develop strategies to manage their emotions and perfectionism.
• Focus on the products of their learning not on how gifted they are.
• Be the scaffolder they need to help them go further in their learning.
• Let them express their emotions - don't expect them to hide or minimise them.

Krissy Venosdale

What Happens When We Deny That Gifted Kids Exist?

This post combines Days 11 and 12 of the giftEDnz Blog Challenge as they were quite similar prompts which work well together and respond to the work of Jo Boaler.

No, It's Not Time to Ditch the Gifted Label - Gail Post, PhD

The first one - "No, It's Not Time to Ditch the Gifted Label" was written by Gail Post, PhD, and takes an in-depth look at a recent video and commentary by Jo Boaler.  Don't get me wrong, I love much of the work of Jo Boaler and agree with her on many points.  However, I think in this instance what she is saying runs the risk of being misinterpreted and used as a reason to 'ditch the gifted label'.  Apart from all the research that is evidence that giftedness exists and that problems arise when it is not acknowledged, we just have to listen to all the voices of the children who are gifted and who have not had their learning, social or emotional needs met to date in the education system.  For all the carefully-chosen students in Boaler's video, there are so many more who see this from a totally different perspective.  This is not to negate the feelings and beliefs of the students in her video, it is just to caution that, like anything we see and hear, we need to be objective and keep in mind that there is always more than one side to a story - just as we remind our students to do.

"Unfortunately, this heart-rending video overlooks research about gifted children and gifted education. It perpetuates stereotypes about gifted people, the gifted label, and the myth that everyone shares an equal amount of ability and potential. And although some gifted children may receive conflicting and distressing messages about their giftedness from parents, teachers, and peers, this should not indict the label itself." Gail Post, PhD

The NAGC (National Association for Gifted Children, US) also responded to Boaler's stance in a summary from their STEM Network Working Group:

"Refraining from offering suitable curricular challenges to students who are ready for them, whether called gifted, talented, exceptionally promising, advanced, or something else because other students are not ready for or do not have an interest in them is not ethically justifiable." NAGC 2018

This statement, which is also discussed by Post, raises a crucially important point.  It is a matter of equity that the needs of this group of students are met but is it also a matter of ethics as outlined in this statement?  I think it is.  It wouldn't be ethical to deny a student with Aspergers or dyslexia an education that meets their needs and yet we keep denying that giftedness and the specific and unique needs of giftedness exists and insisting that all students are having their needs met in our system.  My concerns around this are that we are only identifying a small portion of the population and the identification process is too narrow which means that we are missing so many gifted students who are multi-exceptional, twice-exceptional (2e), underachievers or who may not have English as their first language or are not identified as gifted through a cultural lens.  Our lens is very focused in one direction and dimension.


The second post has this title: "Gifted Children Do Exist. Here's What Happens When We Deny It."  This is a powerfully written piece by Ginny Kochis teacher and parent that explores what happens when we deny that gifted children exist.

Gifted Children Do Exist. Here's What Happens When We Deny It.

This post is a personal account but also links to research and the areas that affect gifted students if we deny that they exist.  It also links to Boaler's work and discusses the areas where there are flaws.  Some say that Carol Dweck also agrees with this stance through her Growth Mindset work but this is not strictly true.  While she does have issues with the term 'gifted' she does not say that giftedness does not exist but that we need to praise the process rather than the label as focusing too much on the label can mean that students don't develop a growth mindset that can take their learning even further. The clip below from Dweck (2015) explains her thinking.  I think it's important for us as educators to question what we see and hear, particularly when it comes from popular academics, and go back to the source so we know what is the correct information - just as we expect our students to do.




Giftedness is not a badge of honour or a term of superiority - it is often quite the opposite for many gifted students - gifted students are wired differently if we want to look at it this way.  They are not better, they are just different but they do have unique social, emotional and learning needs.  They are part of a neurodiverse group of students which includes our students with additional learning needs, our Aspergers students, our dyslexic students to name just two.

Would we deny an equitable education for any other group of students?

All Children Have Gifts But No, Not All Children Are Gifted

This post from the Day 10 prompt of the giftEDnz Blog Challenge has definitely been one of the most difficult and challenging to write to date.  I've chosen to reflect deeply and confront my beliefs and assumptions over the years and share why I changed from initially quite firmly believing the quote that inspired today's post.  The image is below and you, like me, will have seen it and heard similar expressions many, many times over the years.

I'm really not sure where this originated and it sounds fantastic in principle.  But it's wrong.  Yes, all children absolutely are gifts and they have unique skills and possibly talents, but not all children are truly gifted.  Gifted students have unique social, emotional and learning needs. 

I began my teaching career in 1999 and we had little experience or sessions in gifted education and gifted students and how to meet these unique needs.  In fact, I can remember that we were often told information that wasn't a hundred miles away from the above quote.  Our learning suggested that we were quite capable of meeting the needs of all our students in our classes because we would personalise and individualise the learning.  This is absolutely correct with one important condition...it was crucial that some of our learning covered the growing area of students with special and particular learning needs.  Looking back, our programme was informative and challenging but it didn't provide enough, or in some cases, any information on gifted students. Did they not exist? Would their needs be the same as any other student?  Surely, we were told, if we were teaching to the individual needs of each student and developing personalised learning programmes which, in the main I always did, then those needs would be met no matter what.

While it is true that most individual learning needs are met if we have differentiated and individualised learning programmes that meet the student where they are currently and help them move to the next step, what happens when it doesn't work like this?


During the first few years of my career, I was relatively confident in my ability to be able to meet the learning needs of my students. They had individualised learning programmes and each student was achieving - most were experiencing accelerated progress which as we know continues to be the great focus in our schools to this day (more on how problematic 'accelerated learning' can be in a later post).  I believed I could - and was - meeting all their needs in my learning programme. Wasn't I now an experienced teacher whose students always achieved?

I was mistaken and quite wrong in some areas.

I did not fully understand the unique social and emotional learning needs of my gifted students - and I did have these students over the years. It was very obvious to me who these students were in so many different areas of the curriculum.  I've never been one for hanging my hat on academic achievement as a way of identifying giftedness.  For me, it's often the ones who are flying below the radar, the ones who come up with the most amazing ideas or have incredibly interesting and insightful conversations, among other indicators, or the ones who are seen as having 'behaviour issues'.  I'm always concerned when I hear teachers say that they don't have gifted and talented students.  You do and you will have, but it can be a lack of professional learning and development and perhaps a school environment that has too narrow a definition of giftedness and hasn't developed policies and procedures to be able to identify these learners.

I was a bit stuck and I'd reached a crossroads.  Did I really believe that saying - that 'all children are gifted, they just unwrap their gifts at different times'?  Deep down I knew I didn't.  As my experience grew, so did the understanding grow that I had students who had different needs and they weren't really being met through mixed ability grouping and personalised learning.  Only some of their needs were and these were largely academic.  I was using innovative practice and was a very early adopter of digital technologies to support and extend learning as far back as when I began teaching in 1999.  My students were connected locally and globally. Wasn't that enough? In a word, no.

So what do you do?

The questioning of my beliefs and practice has always been a part of who I am as a teacher but became more of a drive to learn more when I moved schools in 2003.  There didn't seem to be a great deal of professional learning available so I started reading everything I could get my hands on and also talking with two colleagues who ran the gifted and talented programme at my new school.  A few years later I enrolled in courses at Massey University (which still offers some of the best and most sustainable professional learning around).  Unfortunately, I had to withdraw very early from the programme as I was promoted and was being stretched too thin.  I did, however, read every article in the study guides and used these to continue to improve my knowledge and understanding of this group of students and how I should be - not could be - meeting their needs more effectively.  The key understandings I was missing were around the social and emotional needs.

Gifted students have unique social and emotional needs (along with learning needs)

Below is an excellent summary of the social and emotional needs of gifted students as summarised by Ian Byrd from Byrdseed (I recommend that you follow him on all of his platforms. His website has fantastic resources).

Summarised, these unique needs are:

"1. Be aware that strengths and potential problems can be flip sides of the same coin.
 2. Gifted students’ physical, emotional, social and intellectual growth is often uneven.
 3. Gifted students may doubt that they are actually gifted.
 4. Gifted students may face social challenges not just from peers, but parents           
      and teachers as well.
 5. As they get older, gifted students may take fewer risks. 6. Gifted students can have surprisingly heightened emotional sensitivity.  7.  Gifted students are often shy, know they’re shy, and know that shyness is often looked  
      down upon. 8.  Gifted students’ abstract intuition may conflict with teachers’ desire for concrete thinking. 9.  Gifted students needs cannot be met by one style of learning.
10. Gifted adults wish they were better informed about giftedness as children."  Ian Byrd

I changed my practice to make sure that these needs were being met, that students had opportunities to learn with like-minds (a key to supporting the social and emotional needs of gifted students).  I had always worked with mixed-ability groups since I began teaching but there is so much evidence for this to be balanced by making sure that there are opportunities for gifted students to learn and interact with like-minds that it can't be ignored.  (This is a reflection for another post).

No, not all children are gifted and until we are able to understand and acknowledge that this is a fact supported by evidence, then we will continue to have a group of students who are missing out and that is not an equitable situation. 

Using Genius Hour to Meet the Needs of Gifted and Talented Learners

The prompt for Day 9 of the giftEDnz Blog Challenge is all about Genius Hour which I'm a HUGE fan of, although most of my Genius Hours have usually turned into Genius Day...or Genius Week... (and sometimes Term...)

The prompt asks us to look at the resources in the crowdsourced resource from the Gifted and Talented Teachers (NZ) group and choose one (a challenge in itself) to share and reflect on how it would work to meet the needs of our gifted and talented students.

Gifted and Talented Teacher (NZ)

There are some great resources in here and it's being added to all the time by group members.

Genius Hour Resources - A crowdsourced collection of resources for learning and teaching

The one I've chosen to reflect on is a presentation created by Patricia Chiles from Anaheim Elementary School District in the United States.  This is one of my favourite resources because she begins with the 'why' which is something I always begin with for all learning and teaching.

Genius Hour - Patricia Chiles

So what makes Genius Hour so powerful, particularly for our gifted students?  Along with the 'why?' in the image above it offers:

• A chance to drive their learning in areas which they are passionate about
• The flexibility of timetables - the learning drives the timetable
• Authentic contexts that can connect to the real world.
• Can be asynchronous - anytime, anywhere learning - when it really takes off
• Students can choose to work with others or on their own (important for many gifted students)
• A chance to collaborate with like-minds at their level (also vital for gifted students)
• Offers depth and complexity in the curriculum - students can connect with experts and take the learning as far as they want to.
• The curriculum fits the learning and the learning drives the curriculum - not the other way round
• A powerful way to let the Key Competencies drive the learning (the original intent of the New Zealand Curriculum
• Empowering and creates ownership of learning 
• Encourages and supports true differentiation of content, process and product - learners have agency in that they are able to have choices in all of these areas with the support of their teacher.

There are many more reasons but, for me, these are the main and most important ones and the ones that have always driven student learning in my learning environments.  What else would you add?  There is a wide range of resources in the crowdsource collection to spark your imagination and understanding of genius hour.

Be A Catalyst For Change - Find Your Tribe

Day 7 of the giftEDnz October Blog Challenge - already a week into it!

This time the prompt - from Tracy Riley - has reminded me of the importance of my tribe and how we as a group can be strong advocates for those who need their voices heard (there is a great article in this link).  In this case, our gifted learners and also their teachers who believe in them need this advocacy.


8 years ago I watched this clip on YouTube and saw it gain great momentum. It is still one of my favourites and a great reminder that while it's okay to be the lone nut and the first follower, it's also vital that, as part of it, you can find your tribe or your professional learning network (PLN).  Tribes can be powerful catalysts for change.  Teacher leadership leads the change through support from the tribe.




Now, more than ever, our gifted students are relying on us to utilise the strengths of our tribe to enable their voices to be heard.  We need to work with our tribe to create honest, open and reflective conversations and discussions around what it means to be gifted. These students are learners in our system who have unique social, emotional and learning needs.  We have to increase our understanding and knowledge of specific types of giftedness - for example, our twice-exceptional students, our underachievers, the different cultural aspects of giftedness.

Often, we find ourselves being criticised for even mentioning the word 'gifted.' It's almost as if we are doing something wrong by daring to suggest that giftedness exists. But it does and we know it does - to deny it, in my view, is denying a group of individuals their right to an education that meets their individual needs.

One way of fighting against this - and we must fight against it - is to find your tribe, your PLN or be a part of a community of practice which has a common goal of working to create an equitable learning environment for our gifted students.

Finding our tribe helps us become part of a community of practice (different to our current CoLs).
A community of practice (CoP) is all about ownership and leadership.  Everyone is on an equal footing and has something of value to share no matter whether you're a student teacher or a professor - what you think and have to say is valued and respected.  Learning happens with others and through discussion and sharing of thinking, new learning and understandings can evolve.  It is not a top-down model.  That's a CoP in a nutshell. If you want to know more, the link below takes you to my presentation on CoPs which grew out of my Masters.  I have an absolute passion for this form of a professional community because the learning is owned by its members.

Pathways to collaboration changing the face of teacher professional learning and development from Justine Hughes / PhD Candidate/Teacher

What Does Your Tribe Have to Offer?

Your tribe discussions will be some of the best professional learning you can get - if not THE best as you all own it and drive it.
They will challenge your thinking - and their own at the same time.
They 'get' you and understand and share your passions.
Your tribe provides a group of 'critical friends' who are there to help you reflect on your practice and be a reflexive teacher.
Your tribe contains a group of 'like-minds' who you can learn from and with.

Sylvia Duckworth (@sylviaduckworth on Twitter) sums up, in this sketchnote, the value of having a tribe and what it means to be a part of one...

Image Source: Sylvia Duckworth

We need to challenge the thinking that there's no such thing as giftedness or that 'all children are gifted' and the other myths out there. We need to fight it and with our tribe I believe we can do just that. We accept and value other groups of learners so:

...why is there such animosity towards the concept of giftedness when there is a wealth of research and other evidence to show that these students absolutely do exist. 

From the #gtchat in December 2017

To end this post, Seth Godin talks in this TED-Ed presentation on tribes being "Founded on shared ideas and values," and that ..."tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change. He urges us to do so."

Our gifted students are depending on us - and our tribe. 

We Are Not Inclusive...Yet

Day 5 of the giftEDnz October Blog Challenge is all about helping our students be themselves and 'come out of their shells.' It is inspired by this blog post from Vanessa White which has really struck a chord with me.  Sadly, Vanessa's story is all too common.

Coming Out of His Shell - One Gifted Kid's Success Story

As teachers, we try very hard to respond to individual differences but sometimes this can, unfortunately, be in the form of trying to get students to comply and act in the same way.  With the pressures placed on today's teachers, this is understandable but it is not right.  We can't do this.  Not if we want all of our students to have a safe and nurturing learning and teaching environment.  We have to really embrace and celebrate those differences otherwise our students lose their identity and self-esteem as an individual.  See the person first - not the student.  

We say that we have an inclusive education system in Aotearoa New Zealand...but do we really?  Can we honestly say this - hand on heart - when so many of our children feel that they don't fit in?  Student voice is a powerful tool and over the past few weeks, I've read too many comments (around 120 from a student voice survey) from a wide range of students at different ages and stages who are saying that they don't fit in - they don't feel included.  

All children need a voice and need to know - and feel - that they fit in and are included as a valuable - and valued - member of the community, that they are equally as important as anyone else.  As teachers, we can make sure that happens by increasing our knowledge and understanding of what it means to be gifted and/or multi-exceptional.  So much confusion and misunderstanding exist around giftedness.  If we deny that giftedness exists just as much as ADHD, Aspergers, Dyslexia, etc then we're denying that a group of individuals exist.  This is not inclusive and can we really afford to be doing this?

So what can we do about this...

• We can begin with empathy - all learning and teaching must start with this in my opinion.
• We can challenge our beliefs about giftedness and multi-exceptionalities.
• We can accept that giftedness is not just a name - it is a genuine category of people who have unique social, emotional and learning needs that are different to others - just as it is with ADHD, Aspergers, etc.  We can accept this and work to meet the needs of these students - so why not our gifted students as well? We need to stop denying the wealth of research that is out there.
• Discussion - be open to different ideas and thinking.
• Celebrate, encourage - and EXPECT - our gifted children to be themselves.  This needs to be done actively in all learning environments if we are going to see any change in our gifted children's self-esteem and development of strong identities. 
• Continue to push back on the amount of unnecessary administration so that we can place the emphasis firmly back on what we signed up to do - learning and teaching with inspirational and incredible individuals who need us to see them as people - not as data. Be very clear on the 'why' - if it doesn't impact learning, teaching and the well-being of our students then we need to question why we're doing it.  This isn't easy, but the more of us who question is, the greater the chance we have of creating change - our students and their whānau need and deserve this.

Empathy in the Classroom: Why Should I Care?

We have a chance to change the environment and outcomes for our gifted children with the Draft Disability and Learning Support Action Plan currently open for discussion until the end of October 2018.  We can't let this opportunity go by.  It's time to challenge beliefs, understandings and misunderstandings around gifted education and gifted children, (particularly our own through reflection and reflective practice). If we don't, then we're not going to be meeting the learning, social and emotional needs of all of our students - and that's not who we are as teachers.  It's not why we became teachers. 

Inclusion is About Belonging, Valuing and Celebrating Difference

Day 4 of the giftEDnz October Blog Challenge

Today's post is inspired by a post written by Andi Delaune for this year's Gifted Awareness Blog Tour held annually in June by NZCGE - the New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education.

Andi writes about the crucial role teachers have to play in making sure that "everyone is invited to the party."  Teachers work incredibly hard to make sure that everyone is included but 'we don't know what we don't know.'  If teachers don't have the understanding of what giftedness is and what it means to be gifted then how are they able to meet the learning, social and emotional needs of this group of students?  If they have misunderstandings around:

1. Gifted students are often not your high-achievers

2. Giftedness does exist. Problems can start when we ignore or deny it.

3. Gifted students have particular and specific learning, social and emotional needs

4. Giftedness may be hidden (think about twice-exceptional (2e), underachieving students along with cultural, gender and socioeconomic factors just as starting points)

Here are a few resources that are particularly useful when we as teachers are thinking about how we make sure that our gifted students are included.  The first one, a TEDxTalk really resonated with me and explains some of the differences so well. I would absolutely recommend watching this one, in particular, if you want to work towards a truly inclusive learning environment.

Why Gifted May Not Be What You Think

10 Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted - from Ian Byrd (Byrdseed)

10 Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted

What is Inclusion?

This is a great video to share and create discussion around - great for a professional learning and development (PLD) session where a starting question could be similar to what Andi states in her blog post -

"If joy was a party...then the teacher was the one to make sure that everyone not only got the invitation, but was partaking of this joy while they were there." A. Delaune (2018)




 One of our fundamental roles as teachers is to help every single student find the joy in their learning and make sure they are all included and their differences celebrated.  If we build our own knowledge around what it means to be gifted - in all its forms - then we really can't go wrong.