On Being A Champion and a Voice for our Gifted Students

Day 1 of the giftEDnz October Blog Challenge and it's all about the importance of being a champion or as Tracy Riley writes in her blog post for this challenge - of being an advocate.

Since I watched Rita Pierson's TEDTalk many years ago, I've been inspired by what she had to say and it's made me reflect deeply on the purpose of being a champion for our students and which students need that champion the most.  Of course, all of our students need a champion but there is a group which, at the moment, are in very real danger of being forgotten.  These are our gifted students.

I've been thinking about why this is the case and there are many reasons and issues.  A common belief is that "All children are gifted, they just unwrap their gifts at different times."  Unfortunately, this belief has taken hold and doesn't account for the unique social, emotional and learning needs of this group of students.  Yes, all children have or are gifts but not all children are gifted.  There is a wealth of research and information on this, some of which I've listed below, but still, the misinformation persists.  Why?

During recent discussions, I've come to understand that it seems to be a lack of knowledge through the professional learning and development gaps.  I graduated from university in 1998 and we were exposed to very little information on gifted and talented students.  In fact, the quote in the image above was frequently used.  I think it's like many things...if used enough it becomes a self-perpetuating belief that many grab hold of.  After all, we're teachers and we believe in every one of our students and we know that they have gifts.  That's of course as it should be, but by denying that truly gifted students exist by definition and identification we are perpetuating this myth and also taking a rather large risk with the specific social, emotional and learning needs of this group of students.  It then becomes an issue of equity.

We always champion our students and I've blogged about this in the past (here, here, and here) but have I really championed the gifted students I've learned and taught alongside?  Could I have done things differently?  Of course, there are always things we can do better.  I had a large group of gifted Year 5/6 students in my class in 2011 and I think, together, we really enabled them to shine, to share and value their learning from their one-day school and to make connections between the two learning environments.  There were so many lessons I learned from them and from fighting for them and their peers to be recognised in the school.  These are lessons I take with me today.

Prior to this, I was differentiating and personalising the learning for all of my students and they always planned the learning alongside me but knowing what I know now, I could have done it even better and made a real impact on how and what they were learning and how they were recognised and valued.  This understanding of gifted students and how to be a champion for them only came about through my own need to learn.  There was very little organised for us in terms of professional learning and development (PLD).  I think in the whole of my teaching career I have only attended one PLD session on gifted students.  One session - a one-off - does not ensure that changes in practice are made or are even sustainable. 

Having the knowledge and understanding about giftedness and gifted students helps us to be better champions for this group of students.

'Kids don't learn from people they don't like'.  This is an often-quoted statement from the late Rita Pierson. I wonder what happens to our gifted students who know they are different, who feel that they don't fit in if we as teachers don't acknowledge that giftedness even exists?  What does that do to a student's self-esteem and identity? To their understanding of who they are?  What impact does that have on their love of learning and of school in general?  These are all questions that need further thought and research - and most importantly, input in the form of student voice.

For me, being a champion for our gifted students means that we open up the debate and have honest reflective discussions around our own beliefs and understandings - this can be quite confronting but our students need and deserve this.  We need to share as much evidence as we can about what the experiences are for this group of students.  We can say that we're differentiating the learning and personalising it but unless we understand the specific needs of this group of students, I'm betting that we have a way to go - but isn't that the great thing about learning?  

A champion is someone who will always have their students' backs and fight for what is their right in the education system.  They help give students a voice.  That is currently leading to some fantastic debates on social media.  The more we can have these conversations, the better chance we have as champions for gifted students. 

Rita Pierson by Sylvia Duckworth

Resources

Aren't All Children GIfted? - David G Myers

Giftedness is not an unwrapped present - Carol Bainbridge

The Problem of Giftedness - Jim Taylor

10 Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted - Ian Byrd 

Social and Emotional Issues of Young Gifted Children - Carola Sampson

Identification - NAGC

Gifted and Talented Students: Meeting their needs in New Zealand Schools - Ministry of Education

Championing Our Gifted Students

Although this blog post is part of the celebration that is Gifted Awareness Week in Aotearoa New Zealand and our Gifted Blog Tour that is held each year I think every week is Gifted Awareness Week.

As teachers, we are always determined to celebrate our amazing students.  As the late Rita Pierson said, we ARE their champions and they need us now more than ever.   We get excited by their successes and achievements and this is so easy to do when they're in our area of focus during the week but how do we make sure that we do this when they're not - when, for example - they're part of a one-day gifted and talented school?  For these students, it can be even more important to provide that crucial link between the two learning environments - to celebrate their achievements and shout them from the rooftops.  Why?  Because relationships and connections are everything in learning and teaching.  Because it celebrates and normalises who they are - it makes it okay to be gifted and keeps us connected to them.  And it absolutely is okay to be gifted.  So many of our gifted students have to fight to be accepted when we should be celebrating that giftedness and as my colleague, Andrea Delaune writes in her blog post for Gifted Awareness Week - having a party for it!  This has really struck a chord with me.

So then, how do we change this thinking to make sure that the connections are strong and that our gifted students are truly valued? How do we create and change a culture to make it a collaborative one where learning is shared and celebrated between the two learning environments?  Where students don't become targets because they go to a different school one day a week? 

Like many things, it comes from the top down. The teacher sets the tone - be champions for our students.  It's not that hard and it's a whole lot of fun.

Back in 2011 I had quite a large group of gifted students attending a one-day school and wanted to find ways to connect, share, value and celebrate their learning so I talked to their teachers at their other school and also to the students themselves and we set up their blogs - all of my students had them in our home classroom and they also had them at their one-day school so they could share the learning from both environments.  The value of the feedback that was shared by the students, teachers and parents/whanau was powerful and had a huge impact on learning and confidence.

We also devised a plan where they could run workshops to share their learning across the school when they returned. This was voluntary initially but they were all very keen so we ran with it and it was very successful.  It didn't take a lot of time and it created exceptionally strong relationships in the classroom.  The learning from both directions was valued and celebrated, as were the students.

There are now so many different ways to connect and collaborate.  I've posted recently about one - using Hapara  and I've created a test Workspace in Hapara to try this out - you can take a look at it here and let me know what you think - is it something you think could be valuable for creating a better understanding and deeper, collaborative connections?  This one helps to connect the home school, the one-day school, students and their parents/whanau and caregivers.

Hapara - Workspace - Gifted and Talented Collaborations

Seesaw - student-driven digital portfolios and blogs are other ways that the learning can be continued along with workshops discussed above.  Talk to your students - they will have so many ideas for ways to share their learning with you. 

We've got to create better connections and be champions for these students in particular.  I will leave you with the fabulous Rita Pierson. I've shared this so many times, including with many students whose response was simply - "She gets us."

                                         Rita Pierson - Every Kid Needs A Champion

Inspirational TED

Day 20 of the Reflect and Renew Blog Challenge from Reflective Teacher @TeachThought 

TED Talks and all their TED-Ex spin-offs have been a source of inspiration for me for many years.  I've used them for professional learning, sharing with colleagues and many times with my students.  I love that there's now a TED-Ed site too.  This is a fantastic resource for supporting you to 'flip your classroom.'  There's always something interesting an inspirational and it's not just the education-focused talks that inspire.  The science, arts, personal experiences and many from the business world also inspire on a daily basis.

I've included links to previous posts as well as including some of my latest favourites.

Sir Ken Robinson - Out of Our Minds - Learning to be Creative - posted 2011




Zoe Weil - Our Students Need to be Solutionaries - fantastic and inspirational from 2011 post.



Simon Sinek - Love Your Work.
This is a very powerful TED Talk to share - all about the 'Why' of what we do.



Adora Svitak - What Adults Can Learn From Kids
I've used this so many times over the years - particularly with students as an exmaple of a powerful speech.  This young lady continues to inspire me today.




Rita Pierson - "Kids Don't Learn From People They Don't Like."

And one more for now - possibly the one that really hit home for me.  From a passionate educator who sadly is no longer with us - Rita Pierson.  I really hope that this continues to be shared as widely as possible.  Great for the start of the year but also as a reminder when things get tough that ultimately, we are there for our students - always.
I've shared this with students too.  Highly recommend doing this as you will be surprised at the insights the students will provide based on this.  "Every kid needs a champion." I will always hold on to this statement, particularly when getting snowed under by all things admin.

Keep our students at the heart of what we do.  Always.

A Simple Quote That Says Everything...

Day 6 of the Attitude of Gratitude Reflective Teacher @TeachThought Blog Challenge...

The Importance of Liking the Students We Teach and Learn With or... 

"Kids don't learn from people they don't like." - Rita Pierson

When I was thinking about what quote means the most to me there were so many which are profound and deep with great meaning from the one at the top of my blog to all the other ones surrounding learning and teaching.  In the end, like the quote above, it's as simple as this, but also as difficult as this.  I've also blogged on this before and needed to include it again here as this presentation from Rita connected so strongly with my beliefs.

We all have those 'hard to reach students', the ones who seem hell-bent on pushing and challenging you.  I absolutely believe, hand on heart, that they need us the most, even if they're in the middle of telling us to 'get lost', or using similar words which indicate a rather wide vocabulary - not always an appropriate one!  

Rita Pierson was an educator who loved 'her kids' no matter what their issues and challenges.  If I can be half the teacher she was then I will have succeeded.  I hope my students like me because I care about them as human beings, as individuals.  Not as 'the class' or 'the students'.  I want the best for them, no matter what.  I can honestly say, again hand on heart, that in nearly 16 years of teaching I have loved all the kids I've taught, even the most challenging ones.

Sadly, Rita is no longer with us but what a legacy she has left behind in a simple quote.

#reflectiveteacher