Being Smart About Gifted Education: A Guidebook for Educators and Parents
Great Potential Press
Paperback | 448 Pages
ISBN: 978-0910707954
CAD $26.95
Buy Being Smart
Being Smart about Gifted Education, now in its 2nd edition, is written for teachers and parents who want to understand what intelligence, giftedness, and talent are, how high level ability develops, and what they can do to support and encourage it. It connects current research in the cognitive and neurosciences and developmental psychology with practices in education, illustrating the important roles that appropriate support, challenge, practice, and persistence play in high academic achievement.
Foreword to Being Smart about Gifted Education by Rena Subotnik, PhD
Psychology has lots to offer gifted child studies and gifted education, and always has. Most of the patriarchs and matriarchs of the field were trained in the discipline, as were many of their rebellious “sons” and “daughters.” This wonderful volume continues that tradition by promoting evidence-based practices that have been carefully culled and vetted through psychological science, education and evaluation research, as well as by the deep expertise of the authors.
Dona Matthews and Joanne Foster’s conceptualization of “Mastery” versus “Mystery” approaches for gifted education and gifted child studies unveils the source of conflicting outcomes we see in the gifted education literature. They make it clear that unless the preparation provided to teachers and the consultations we provide to parents are grounded in some form of definitional consensus, our field will undermine its ability to play a greater role at the table of school reform and policy development.
The authors explicate the arena of gifted education in a number of constructive ways. They do not accept hearsay or ideology as an excuse for promoting practices in identification, curriculum, evaluation, or counseling services. They provide solid advice to parents, educators and decision makers in language that is accessible to all interested readers. Every reader, from those with little exposure to the field save experiences with their own children and their children’s teachers, to those who have been immersed for decades in serving the needs of gifted children, will find this book a welcome reference.
Director
Center for Gifted Education Policy American Psychological Association
Being Smart about Gifted Education
TABLE of CONTENTS
SECTION I. BEING SMART ABOUT GIFTEDNESS CHAPTER 1. PERSPECTIVES AND PARADIGM SHIFTS
CHAPTER 2. CREATIVITY AND GIFTEDNESS
SECTION II. BEING SMART ABOUT DIAGNOSING MISMATCHES
CHAPTER 3. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT TESTING
CHAPTER 4. ASSESSMENTS AND TESTS
CHAPTER 5. MISMATCH DIAGNOSTICS: MOVING AWAY FROM CATEGORICAL IDENTIFICATION AND LABELING
SECTION III. BEING SMART ABOUT MEETING GIFTED LEARNING NEEDS
CHAPTER 6. ADAPTATIONS: THE GIFTED LEARNER IN THE REGULAR CLASSROOM
CHAPTER 7. ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS: STRETCHING THE BOUNDARIES
SECTION IV. BEING SMART ABOUT GIFTED DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 8. MOTIVATION AND OTHER ISSUES
CHAPTER 9. HOW DOES GIFTEDNESS DEVELOP?
CHAPTER 10. EMOTIONAL, SOCIAL, AND BEHAVIORAL CONSIDERATIONS
SECTION V. BEING SMART ABOUT FAMILIES, ADVOCATES, AND EDUCATORS
CHAPTER 11. PARENTING MATTERS
CHAPTER 12. TEACHER DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 13: OPTIMAL LEARNING FOR ALL CHILDREN
APPENDIX I: THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF ASSESSMENTS
APPENDIX II: EDUCATIONAL DECISION-MAKING
POEM – They Tell Me I’m Gifted… REFERENCES
INDEX
In Being Smart about Gifted Education, we discuss many aspects of motivation to learn. In one section, we describe ten different motivators that parents and teachers can use to help children want to engage in learning. Here’s an excerpt, adapted from Chapter 10. You’ll see that we start off with some questions we’re often asked.
“What incentives will encourage children to complete enrichment activities?” “How can I make sure that learning is fair, interesting, and fun for kids?”
We suggest a number of evidence-based strategies that parents and teachers can use to motivate children.
Suspense, Intrigue, and Wonder
Give children opportunities to connect intellectual effort with the joy of discovering solutions. For example, you might say to a child, “It’s a hot summer day, and all of a sudden, the weather turns nasty. Big hailstones and ice pellets start to fall. Ice! On a hot summer’s day. How can this happen?” Children may not know the answer, but they are likely to be curious and uncertain, and they may have some ideas to share.
Guessing and Feedback
These two processes work well together. For example, suppose you start a science investigation with the question, “What do people require, in order to live?” Consider how guesses can motivate learning, and how appropriate feedback can guide and stimulate further inquiry.
Working with Children’s Previous Knowledge
Draw links between new material and what children already know. By connecting new learning to already consolidated knowledge (for ourselves, as with children), we greatly increase the likelihood that it will be accessible later when it is useful. For example, if you want children to learn about a historical event, you might start by talking about links with current similar circumstances. This will help them put the situation into a meaningful perspective.
Controversy and Contradiction
There are usually several points of view on any given topic, and awareness of controversy can motivate learning. A teacher or parent might ask a child to consider the relative importance of one thing as compared to another. For example, “Which is a better form of transportation, a car or a bicycle?” Or one might ask whether a regulation should be rewritten (such as allowing dogs in restaurants). Adults can help children gather information and engage in reasoning, critical listening, and refutation. By encouraging students to give serious consideration to alternative perspectives, controversy and contradiction can be motivating and stimulating.
Adapted from Being Smart about Gifted Education (2009), by Dona Matthews and Joanne Foster
Endorsements for Being Smart:
“Being Smart has become even smarter in its second edition. This is an essential book for anyone interested in gifted education”
“Talent is transformed into high performance through a willingness to try, invest time in guided practice, and persist when tasks are difficult. These authors describe ways to do just that.”
“This helpful book points out the nuances to teaching and parenting gifted children, and the fine line between achievement and underachievement. Rich with examples, it highlights the importance of an optimal match between challenging and engaging school and home experiences, and opportunities to develop gifts and talents! A practical, thoughtful contribution by twoleading experts!”
“This is a highly readable and accessible volume about the development of children with gifts and talents. It is practical and theoretical; it is informed by the most recent research; and it is filled with useful information and insights. It is a book that will be valued by all teachers, parents, and counselors who care about fostering the development of gifts and talents in children and adolescents.”
“These authors present exciting new work on mindsets, as well as recent research findings on expertise and cognitive neuroscience, that show the importance of habits of mind in cognitive development. This book will prompt people in the gifted child field to reexamine many long-held beliefs!”
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