young, gifted, and black culturally specific needs of gifted african american learners lynne...
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YOUNG, GIFTED, AND BLACK
Culturally Specific Needs of Gifted African American Learners
Lynne Pressley Partridge
University of Pennsylvania
Leadership in Gifted Education
May 19, 2007
CAPSTONE NCLB reveals under representation LMSD commitment to closing achievement
gap Guided discussion of film and interviews
videotaped sessions with 8 gifted Black HS students
Reviewed and analyzed tapes to uncover issues that impact their school experiences and achievement.
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS Gifted African American learners have
culturally specific needs which must be addressed in order to reach their full potential.
These needs are cognitive, metacognitive, but predominantly social emotional in nature.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Which needs are common to all gifted
students and which are culturally specific to being African American?
What is the experience of being the only Black student in class?
What role does racial identity development have in motivation and school achievement?
What can Schools do to improve school experiences and support achievement?
COMMON GIFTED NEEDS
Underachievement - motivation and homework
Cognitive - time management & study skills
Metacognitive - awareness of the abilities
CULTURALLY SPECIFIC NEEDS
ISOLATION Cultural conflict, insensitivity of peers, and lowered expectations leads to feelings of isolation, inferiority and outrage.
“Persistent racism conquers the spirit of students of color. Too many minority students receive negative input about their ability to achieve academically.”
Donna Y. Ford (1999) Multicultural Gifted Education
CULTURALLY SPECIFIC NEEDS
RACIAL IDENTITY Cultural conflict Peer Group
Influences Struggles with
stereotypes…
“acting Black and acting White”
“Gifted African Americans share the same needs and concerns as gifted students in general… their concerns are compounded because they contend with social and environmental issues such as racism, discrimination, lowered teacher expectations, cultural conflict, learning style preferences, racial identity and underachievement.”
Cline and Schwartz, (1999)
Diverse Populations of Gifted Children
CULTURALLY SPECIFIC NEEDS
CURRICULUM
Dissatisfaction with surface Black history
Desire for more relevant in-depth coverage of Black history and multicultural curriculum
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“ Many ethnically diverse students do not find schools exciting or inviting; they often feel unwelcome, insignificant and alienated. Too much of what is taught has no immediate value to these students. It does not reflect who they are.”
Geneva Gay (2003) Educational Leadership
Vol 61, No 4 pp 30-34
RECOMMENDATIONS CLUSTER GROUPING - periodic homogeneous
grouping to address issues of racial identity and isolation
BETTER IDENTIFICATION - increase minority students in higher level classes to reduce isolation
CURRICULUM - integrate multicultural perspectives in curriculum for all students.
STAFF DEVELOPMENT - introduce concepts of cultural proficiency and understand cognitive learning styles of diverse learners
CONCLUSIONS
To understand the needs of gifted African American learners….
ASK THEM !
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