ACCEL: A New Model for Identifying the Gifted

Serious identification of the gifted started with the work of Lewis Terman early in the 20th century. Terman’s model, based largely on IQ, may have made sense in the early 20th century, but it no longer makes sense today. The problems that society needs its gifted individuals to solve in the 21st century require much more than IQ—in addition to analytical, IQ-like skills, they also require creative, practical, wisdom-based, and ethical skills. In this essay, I discuss some of the background for the conventional IQ-based model of gifted identification and education and then consider the problems the world faces today and why IQ is insufficient to solve them. I then present a new model—ACCEL (Active Concerned Citizenship and Ethical Leadership)—that perhaps will better prepare our gifted students for the world of the future.     

Ethical Leaders Resist: A Feminist Response to ACCEL

This response to Sternberg’s ACCEL (Active Concerned Citizenship and Ethical Leadership) model aims to provide a feminist perspective on the rationale and relevance of the model in mitigating harmful patriarchal gender expectations. Additionally, this response investigates potential barriers to the implementation of ACCEL as a model for gifted education. Furthermore, it examines Sternberg’s ACCEL model as a tool that can help create a more egalitarian society that actively challenges and resists harmful gendered stereotypes.     

Response to ACCEL: Emphasize Development,Domains, and Application

In this article, we provide a response to the Active Concerned Citizenship and Ethical Leadership (ACCEL) model put forward by Sternberg (2017). Our commentary focuses on four critical areas that do not receive sufficient attention in Sternberg’s proposed model: (a) the developmental nature of giftedness; (b) that giftedness is domain specific, particularly at later stages in the talent development process; (c) the challenge in applying ACCEL in the real world of schools; and (d) whether the arts and other performance areas are compelled to have an ethical theme in order to be valuable.     

Teacher Education Is the Key to Changing the Identification and Teaching of the Gifted

In this response, I emphasize the importance of teacher education for making changes in identifying the gifted. As a European scholar and teacher educator, I reflect on Dr. Sternberg’s ideas. Educating for a growth mindset in learning is crucial for the development of creativity and risk taking. Teachers also need a clear goal for gifted education to give them purpose in educating purposeful gifted students. Purpose is needed for transformational leadership, passion, and skills in ethical thinking. Ethical sensitivity is necessary to be able to combine excellence and creativity with ethics. A hacker ethic with passion is introduced as a suitable approach for high-ability students with a strong inner drive to excel. Teachers are identified as key agents in making the change in identifying and teaching the gifted. Researchers in gifted education should take the leadership in this change and commit to cooperation with schools.     

论教师校本教育"场"

我国的教师校本教育是师范后教师教育的主要模式，由此所构建的教师校本教育场为教师专业化发展开拓一片新天地，分清整合教育场所制约的诸多因素，发挥场域各种资源群的优势，将为探索教师校本教育的理论与实践产生积极的影响。     

From the editor's desk

This article examines the underrepresentation of African American and Hispanic students in gifted education, proposing that social inequality, deficit thinking, and microaggressions contribute to the inequitable segregated programs. Underrepresentation trends are presented, along with methods for calculating underrepresentation and inequity. Underrepresentation is placed under the larger umbrella of achievement gaps and inequities in school settings with attention to de jure segregation. I argue that underrepresentation is beyond statistical chance and is a function of attitudes and beliefs grounded in deficit paradigms among those with power or social capital. Denying access to gifted education based on race is counterproductive and illegal and is discussed with Brown v. Board of Education as the legal background and a recent court case in gifted education (McFadden v. Board of Education for Illinois School District U-46). Recommendations for desegregating gifted education are provided.     

From self-reliance to that which relies: Emerson and critique as self-criticism

Abstract

How is one to navigate between a thinking grounded in the individual and a claim for communality? In Emerson, this kind of difficulty comes into view in familiar sentences such as Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense.’ How does the relationship between the personal and the universal look and function? In this paper, it is argued that Emerson may bring us clarity regarding the difficulties we are facing when it comes to questions about how we are to frame human personality, morality, and knowledge in the field of tension created by distinctions such as private/public, original/conventional, and particular/universal. A crucial thought in this line of reasoning is that that the critical philosophy Emerson pursues is also self-critical. The idea that true critique is self-criticism is then used as a tool to make clear that there’s no fundamental gap to be bridged here. The self-critical dimension makes clear the ways in which coming to share a world—learning from one’s teachers for example—is a matter of earning (shared) words. Therefore, Emersonian self-cultivation does not stand apart from the cultivation of something shared, but should be seen as a form of path towards a shared world.     

The relationship between critical thinking skills and in‐class questioning behaviours of English language teaching students

It is important that trainee teachers in the faculties of education should develop their critical thinking skills so that they can meet the expectations and needs of their profession. This study aimed at investigating the relationship between critical thinking skills and in‐class questioning behaviours of English Language Teaching (ELT) students at the Faculty of Education at Mugla University. The authors attempted to find out answers to the following questions: ‘What kinds of questions do students in lower and higher critical thinking groups ask?’ and ‘Is there a difference between the questions of students with higher and lower critical thinking scores?’ Three data collection instruments were used: Ennis‐Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test; a reading passage; and a structured interview. The findings obtained suggest that the questions asked by the students of the higher critical thinking score group are not questions that clarify unclear points, but questions asked out of curiosity, to remove the uncertainties, and to lead people to think profoundly. Moreover, these students ask questions to find alternatives, to think the reverse and to head for new ideas. The students in the higher score group experienced thinking processes more intensively than the lower score group.     

Counterfactual mutation of critical classroom incidents: implications for reflective practice in initial teacher education

This study explores reflective practice through the lens of counterfactual thinking and examines its role in encouraging student teachers to reflect on negative ‘critical incidents’. The study posits that reflections on critical incidents are often not ‘critical’ in nature. They more frequently result in counterfactual thinking processes which leads to a counterfactually mutated outcome congruent with one’s initial beliefs. To explore this issue, the study examined a collection of school placement reflections (n = 180) from a cohort of initial teacher education students on a 4-year B.Ed programme in the Republic of Ireland. The data revealed that, where present in the student teachers’ reflections, critical incidents of a negative nature did invoke counterfactual thinking. These counterfactually mutated scenarios and actions tended to draw on quite traditional views of teaching and tended to reinforce the idea that teachers should be authority figures. The study discusses some of the factors, specific to teacher education, that increase the likelihood that counterfactually thinking is invoked and raises questions about current practice in teacher education that contribute to this.     

关注与促进教师的自我信念——自我效能感理论的重要启示

自我效能感在人类自我控制和调节中具有核心地位。本文在阐析自我效能感理论的涵义、影响作用、主要来源与作用机制等主要观点的基础上,着重探讨了该理论对于教师教育的有益启示,提出教师教育应关注与促进教师的自我信念。     

An exploratory study examining the influence of the number of reading methods courses on pre-service and in-service teacher perceptions of ability to teach reading

Teacher education programmes (TEPs) are left with limited research on how the coursework they provide influences the perceptions teachers have about their ability to teach young children how to read – especially over the long term. The purpose of this study was to compare how teacher candidates rate their ability to teach reading at the conclusion of their TEP, and then again after a year of teaching. The matched participants (N = 126) were elementary education teachers representing five TEPs in one US state. Results revealed that the number of reading methods courses provided does influence the perceptions of pre-service and in-service teachers. Teachers who had two reading methods courses compared with teachers who had only one reading methods course reported statistically significant higher scores at the pre-service stage and were able to maintain higher scores at the in-service stage. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Incorporating critical thinking in the pedagogical content of a teacher education programme: does it make a difference?

Recent educational policies, national reports, and voluminous literature stress that critical thinking (CT) is an essential skill in any stage of schooling for producing critical thinkers and ensuring better learning. The importance of teaching CT has been raised in teacher education programmes because students are supposed to teach this skill in schools in the future. This study therefore assesses the effects of a CT-based pedagogical course on student teachers’ content knowledge and CT disposition. A pre-test–post-test experimental study was carried out in a vocational pre-service teacher education programme in Turkey. Although the students who were exposed to CT-based instruction showed better progress in both academic achievement and CT disposition than in traditional instruction, this result was not statistically significant according to the Mixed Factorial ANOVA and ANCOVA results.     

从现象学到智慧教育学--范梅南教育思想探微

作为"现象学教育学"的开创者之一马克斯·范梅南运用现象学态度方法思考教育学问题,特别是以儿童为中心的教育学理念,提出了以儿童发展为取向的智慧教育学,这种真实直接的态度对于我们今天理解教育极富启示教育应立足于具体的实践场景;教育应关注儿童真实的生活世界.     

从狭义智慧教育到广义智慧教育

追求人的智慧发展是当代教育变革的一种基本价值走向。智慧教育有两个基本层次,即狭义的智慧教育和广义的智慧教育,从狭义的智慧教育到广义的智慧教育是当代教育变革的一种重要的价值转向。     

Spatial thinking in science,technology, engineering,and mathematics: Elementary teachers' beliefs,perceptions, and self-efficacy

Fostering students' spatial thinking skills holds great promise for improving Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. Recent efforts have focused on the development of classroom interventions to build students' spatial skills, yet these interventions will be implemented by teachers, and their beliefs and perceptions about spatial thinking influence the effectiveness of such interventions. However, our understanding of elementary school teachers' beliefs and perceptions around spatial thinking and STEM is in its infancy. Thus, we created novel measures to survey elementary teachers' anxiety in solving spatial problems, beliefs in the importance of spatial thinking skills for students' academic success, and self-efficacy in cultivating students' spatial skills during science instruction. All measures exhibited high internal consistency and showed that elementary teachers experience low anxiety when solving spatial problems and feel strongly that their skills can improve with practice. Teachers were able to identify educational problems that rely on spatial problem-solving and believed that spatial skills are more important for older compared to younger students. Despite reporting high efficacy in their general teaching and science teaching, teachers reported significantly lower efficacy in their capacities to cultivate students' spatial skills during science instruction. Results were fairly consistent across teacher characteristics (e.g., years of experience and teaching role as generalist or specialist) with the exception that only years of teaching science was related to teachers' efficacy in cultivating students' spatial thinking skills during science instruction. Results are discussed within the broader context of teacher beliefs, self-efficacy, and implications for professional development research.     

Initial teacher education and trauma and violence informed care in the classroom: Preliminary results from an online teacher education course

A trauma-and-violence-informed-care (TVIC) system within an educational setting provides a framework of practice that enables schools to become safe and inclusive places for some of the most vulnerable students. Initial teacher education may provide the opportunity to prepare teachers to create classrooms and learning experiences that are safe, equitable, and meet students' needs. A mandatory mental health literacy course for second year teacher candidates in a Bachelor of Education program (n = 287) at a large Canadian university introduced TVIC concepts. A case study approach was used to illustrate both the challenges that students exposed to trauma and/or violence can experience, as well as strategies and knowledge that teachers can use to support these students. This program evaluation used a repeated measures design to survey both attitudes toward trauma informed care for teachers and self-efficacy for teaching using inclusive practices before and after the course. A significant effect of time on both measures revealed an increase in both participants' attitudes toward TVIC and their self-efficacy in using inclusive teaching practices. These findings provide support for the inclusion of these important topics for all teacher candidates. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.     

The Southern mind and the savage ideal: deconstructing identities of place in the Cracker State

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study discusses one Southern college of education and its engagement with White supremacy. This research stemmed from the Institution’s publication of an offensive catalog cover and the subsequent reactions to its inherent racism. Following this incident, our institution was dubbed ‘Cracker State’ in the media, informing our decision to analyze the historical connotations of this term for our pre-service educators. Utilizing Critical Whiteness Studies and Southern epistemology frameworks, we reconceptualize White Fragility while pulling from this experience and data collected to advance a strategy for confronting Southern White supremacy. Participants included 154 majority White and female students. Data stemmed from document analysis and two years of empirical data drawn from classroom discussions and student assignments. Due to the demographics and location of our college, we utilize the autobiographical demand of place and pay particular attention to understanding the influence of the South on the development of our students’ ideology. We explore this Southern place utilizing the following themes: (1) romantic fictions, (2) the specter of guilt, (3) God’s chosen people, and (4) the final great tragedy of the South. The goal is to begin a conversation regarding place-based pedagogy.     

Teaching Philosophy of Education: The Value of Questions

The teaching of foundations courses, and in particular philosophy of education, is frequently under siege in teacher education programs across Canada, as these programs struggle to meet other demands on student teachers. This article results from a panel discussion addressing the context of a variety of undergraduate philosophy of education courses across the country, and the principles and practices instructors take in teaching their discipline. The result of the discussion is a strong argument in favour of teaching philosophy of education as an important means of achieving many of the other aims Faculties of Education and teacher education programs have for their teacher education students, in an atmosphere of reflective thought about the profession and its challenges.     

Bridging the gap between Religious Education and gifted education: theory and praxis in three secondary school programmes in Cambridgeshire

Religious Education (RE) has the potential to identify as gifted many students who might otherwise be missed. The findings discussed here are based on a study of Heads of Department in three very different secondary schools in Cambridgeshire, which investigated how their training and praxis affected the way they identified and challenged students gifted and talented in studying religion. Reasons are given for the gap between RE and gifted education, internationally, nationally and regionally. The lack of student challenge in much RE is identified and ways are suggested to extend and enrich all. Strategies are discussed for doubly exceptional students, with profound insights but poor written skills. Questioning the dominance of pragmatic approaches in the UK, the article suggests how the RE profession could develop a critical and theoretically informed approach to giftedness, with direct implications for classroom practices.