SPECIAL ISSUE INTRODUCTION: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Consultation in Gifted Education: An Overview

This article provides an overview of the purposes of this special issue, which focuses on consultation services for the gifted and talented. The special issue provides a forum within the professional literature to discuss the ways in which various professionals in the fields of education and psychology can provide consultation services of benefit to the gifted. The articles address the need to increase awareness about the gifted and to provide services that enhance the knowledge base of educational and psychological consultants.     

SPECIAL ISSUE COMMENTARY: Consultation in the Gifted-Education Arena: Old Wine in a New Skin

In this commentary, I provide a brief overview of definitions and types of consultation, as well as a discussion of the distinction between consultation and collaboration. I then apply the information from this review to the four articles on consulting about gifted and talented students. Using Caplan's framework, I argue that these papers contain examples of both case and administrative consultations, and that the focus on students who are gifted and talented takes consultation from a preventative intervention to a promotive one, thus expanding the applicability of the process of consultation. However, it is important to remember that consultation as it is defined in the literature has certain specific features. Therefore, simply labeling oneself as a consultant does not necessarily mean that one is engaging in consultation.     

INTRODUCTION TO SPECIAL ISSUE: Vygotskian Perspectives in Early Childhood Education: Translating Ideas into Classroom Practice

This special topic issue of Early Education and Development is devoted to Vygotskian and/or CHAT (Cultural Historical Activity Theory) perspectives on early childhood education. Although the ideas of Soviet developmental/educational psychologist, Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), and those of his followers, are now central theoretical grounding within the field of early childhood education (Berk & Winsler, 1995; Bodrova & Leong, 1996; Bredekamp & Copple, 1997), it is still often a challenge understanding and implementing Vygotskian and neo- Vygotskian ideas in early childhood classrooms. Perhaps this is due to the fact that many of the central constructs within this tradition (i.e., scaffolding, zone of proximal development...) have often been conceptualized and empirically examined at the one-on-one, adult-child level, rather than at the level of classroom processes. Or perhaps the inherent conceptual and methodological complexities of socio-cultural, historical, and semiotic analyses become an obstacle to effective integration of scholarship and practice in this area. Indeed, Vygotskian theory forces us to think about not only the child and his or her current activities, but also about the child's history of previous experiences, the cultural backdrop and meaning that such activities have for the child, the social context in which that particular activity occurs in the classroom, the structure of the larger classroom context and the opportunities afforded by the available tools and cultural artifacts to be found there, and the way that teachers and other children "mediate" children's experiences in the classroom via social interaction and language use. Clearly, it is difficult in both theory and practice to think about and coordinate these multiple levels, but it is certainly worth the time and effort to do so. The goal of this special issue was to compile a selection of both empirical and theoretical papers that would help toward that effort and make a significant contribution to advancing early childhood policy, practice, and applied developmental science by both informing, and learning from, practice in early childhood settings. Although the subtitle for this issue, "Translating Ideas into Classroom Practice," might appear to suggest the existence of a unidirectional path from theory to practice, the Vygotskian dialectical perspective and contemporary applied developmental science in general views theory and practice as being inseparable, intimately intertwined, with each informing the other and both evolving dynamically together over time.     

英才教育的几个理论问题

当前超常教育或英才教育的概念以及基本假设存在许多模糊之处,需要澄清.本文结合国内外英才教育的发展历程、现状和趋势,讨论了英才教育的理论问题,并以国际比较的视角,为我国教育服务体系的建设提出了发展思路和实践教学模式的建议.     

Consultation for Gifted Hispanic Students: 21st-Century Public School Practice

The authors offer a consultation approach that grew from a review of literature on the differential participation rates of various U.S. demographic groups in programs for gifted and talented children and from two small evaluation studies of consultation efforts to increase the number of Latino English language learners in gifted and talented education (GATE) programs. The authors suggest the efficacy of combining consultation models (i.e., administrative, case, and conjoint behavioral consultation) to achieve greater equity in the identification of Latinos for GATE programs. The apparent link between family factors, especially socioeconomic status, and participation in GATE suggests the efficacy of using findings from consultation research to implement programs in public schools that support the exceptional success of diverse young people.     

Computers in Gifted Education:

No abstract available for this article.     

高等学校管理中几个问题的新解析

对高校管理中的一般问题赋予新的见解,也是管理创新的重要内容。就“问题解决者”的困境、长期行为对初始条件的敏感依赖、慢变量支配快变量、悖论的实质是一种思辨、控制中的“有问题推断”和交往中的尊重原则等问题进行新的解析,有利于高校管理者观念的更新。     

Gifted Metaphors: Exploring the Metaphors of Teachers in Gifted Education and Their Impact on Teaching the Gifted

Metaphors are devices that people employ for both poetic purposes and rhetorical elaboration and belong to the realm of extraordinary language. Metaphors are used to connect abstract ideas and information to more concrete experiences, thus making these experiences more familiar and easier to understand. Moreover, metaphors are more than symbolic intellectual processes; they influence the conceptual understanding of our experiences and help define our everyday realities. For education, there is an important and relevant practical connection between the metaphors that teachers employ and their beliefs about teaching and classroom practices. This stems from the notion that metaphors guide one’s mental framework. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the metaphors influencing teachers in gifted education, this study specifically asked teachers to describe both their metaphors concerning gifted students as well as those influencing their teaching. In this study, nine different themes were identified. This research demonstrates a clear connection between reported metaphors and how gifted students receive their education from teachers. Participants’ answers demonstrate a strong connection between their metaphors and their classroom practices. However, strict adherence to one’s root metaphor increases the chance for dogmatism in the classroom and can lead to potentially incoherent classroom differentiation and a potential disconnect between classroom practices and the actual pedagogical needs of the gifted learner.     

Issues in Special Education Research Within International Perspectives

ABSTRACT

A comprehensive search of the Westlaw case database for the period January 1, 2008 to August 31, 2018 identified 22 court decisions that contained federal civil rights claim rulings specific to the actions of school resource officers in response to the conduct of students with disabilities. Both the quantitative and qualitative results revealed (a) a disproportionately high incidence of such court decisions among a larger sampling of 79 court decisions with such civil rights claims for public school students in general; (b) a wide variety of predominantly behavior-related disabilities, such as autism and emotional disturbance; (c) a notable number of cases in which the school resource officer’s actions were questionable in terms of disproportionately excessive force in relation to conduct that was often disability-connected and not substantially dangerous to self or others; and (d) rather gross and defendant-skewed judicial rulings. The recommendations were primarily for professional proactivity that includes but extends beyond reform of legal requirements.     

成人教育中以实践为主导的翻转教学法

阐述了构建翻转课堂教学模式的理论依据和原则,提出了以实践为主导的成人教育翻转教学法设计思路,从成人学习者的心理特点出发,围绕以实践为主导的翻转教学,对如何运用翻转教学理念实施有效的成人教学进行了研究,并从学习者角度和教师角度对成人教育翻转教学法实施成效进行了总结。     

Trends and Issues in Distance Education: International Perspectives, 2nd Edition

Good books on broad topics are hard to find. The second edition of Trends and Issues in Distance Education does a great job of meeting this challenge by offering chapters on far‐reaching international trends that can have practical influence on the decisions that readers must make at the local level. From e‐learning in manufacturing companies in Malaysia to various models for supporting learners who are at a distance, the book is a valuable resource for when performance issues lead you beyond the boundaries of the traditional training classroom. Trends and Issues in Distance Education: International Perspectives, 2nd ed. (2012; ISBN: 978‐1‐61735‐828‐9) is published by Information Age Publishing (paperback).     

The Possibilities and Limitations of Gifted Education in Korea: A Look at the ISEP Science- Gifted Education Center

Education for gifted children is currently one of the hottest educational issues in Korea. Much money and effort are being invested in this area of education. Recent announcements by the Korean Ministry of Education state that all children should be educated to the level of which they are capable, and the current program for gifted students should be and will be extended. However, there is little attention paid to the actual substance of gifted education in Korea. What is happening in the name of gifted education? What is the meaning of giftedness and gifted education? How and in what respects can the gifted program be differentiated from general programs? What are the problems and concerns in serving gifted students? What are the effects of gifted programs? These are the main questions of the present qualitative study. For the purposes of this ethnographic study, the ISEP science gifted education center in Korea was observed for a six-month period, and 10 professors and 50 students at the ISEP were interviewed in depth. The results of the study are as follows. First of all, the ISEP science gifted education center provides differentiated learning environments and teaching methods. Second, through these differentiated learning experiences, students improve their thinking skills and creative problem solving abilities, as well as developing positive self-esteem. In addition, the formation of human net works, the special meaning of the ‘gifted’ label, and the acquisition of personal knowledge were seen to be some of the major educative possibilities on offer at the ISEP gifted education center. However, some professors’ low levels of motivation, the absence of individualized educational plans, bureaucratic management, weak student commitment to set tasks, and a lack of opportunity for students’ social activities were clearly limitations of the ISEP gifted education center. The results of this study will contribute to, specifically, the search for new ideas to improve the operation of gifted education as well as helping to surmount the hidden problems lurking beneath the surface of the current gifted education practices in Korea, and, more generally, to enhance our understanding of the diverse gifted educational practices in operation worldwide.     

聚焦弱势群体：当代成人教育的理论与实践探索

20世纪90年代以来,成人教育弱势群体的研究渐成热点,研究者围绕成人教育弱势群体的界定、形成原因以及社会支持进行了广泛和卓有成效的探索。同时,国际社会积极实践,开展了多种类型的,富有针对性的改善成人教育弱势群体的教育活动。     

Marketing of Higher Education: Problems and Issues in Theory and Practice

The purpose of this paper is to offer a positive challenge to the current state-of-the-art and status of marketing theory and practice in higher education. As such, it stands in an academic tradition which attempts to stimulate thinking and raise awareness about a range of 'issues in practice' which have to be addressed, if our ideas are to progress beyond, what can at best be categorised as, 'naive marketing' in education.