Pedagogy and the Inclusive Classroom PDF

PGCE Pedagogy and the inclusive classroom Children with high or exceptional ability Dr Christos Dimitriadis https://www.kingston.ac.uk/staff/ profile/dr-christos-dimi...

PGCE Pedagogy and the inclusive classroom Children with high or exceptional ability Dr Christos Dimitriadis https://www.kingston.ac.uk/staff/ profile/dr-christos-dimitriadis-747/  Available online from iCat at: https://kingston.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/44KU_I NST/r4ft2/alma997671822001931Links to an external site.  Modern conceptions of high ability, “giftedness” and talent development Diversity and complex needs within “gifted” population Global issues and debates regarding the identification of and provision for students with high or exceptional ability “Gifted & Talented” and current policy in England MODERN CONCEPTIONS OF GIFTEDNESS AND TALENT DEVELOPMENT  From a monolithic view of giftedness simply as high intelligence to a multifaceted view of talents and abilities intellectual affect and Bloom (1956) ability “Multiple Intelligences" motivation (Gardner, 1983, 2006) “Triarchic Theory of environment Other natural Intelligence” & culture abilities or (Sternberg 1985, 2003) acquired skills “Three Ring Conception of Vygotsky (1978) Giftedness” interaction (Renzulli, 1978, 2012) with others experiences & “Differentiated Model of opportunities Giftedness and Talent” Challenge (Gagne 1985, 2011) and support offered © Dimitriadis, C. “Educating the gifted student of mathematics in primary schools: What works in practice”. 11 th for extension International Conference on Excellence in Education: The Creativity – Innovation Challenge. Paris, July, 2014. Gifted student? Five-year old Kim solving differential equations and integral calculus problems in 1968. Eight years old, Kim went to study nuclear physics at the University of Colorado (US), He worked for NASA. He earned his PhD at the age of 15. Gifted student? 7+3+4=16 Alvin’s, a Year 2 child, mental calculation  MATHEMATICAL CREATIVITY “An ability to process 7+3+4=16 information flexibly, to reverse I didn’t know what 7 + 7 equals. processes, to solve problems I knew 9 + 9 and then I took in unique away 2, but that was a mistake, ways, to try because I had to take away 2 unusual more because 9 + 9 has 2 + 2 methods, and to explain more than 7 + 7. reasoning with Alvin, a Year 2 child, explains his thinking clarity” (Sheffield 2003) (Dimitriadis, 2016b) “…but I am not the best one. I am just in the best because there are Nevil, Jason, Amy...They are good, and I am good, and I am the last one out of them.” Dimitriadis (2016b) Students with… Academic and emotional Statements from gifted children (Hans Henrik Knoop 2015, “Positive Psychology in Education”) How different are the above from what we hear from children with SEND? These students need ‘Help to understand and accept their intensities, their perfectionism, and their need to seek balance in their lives (Sisk 2009) Perfectionism and failure may Gifted cause serious students have problems feelings too!  They get “I am working quite alone because the teacher is choosing other people that hurt when need help… with the answers, so I feel being like shutting it out…” neglected Amardeep, Y5 class “[W]e have gone to a part where Miss Kate has to help other people and she really They need no gives… simple work and she just says, ‘Do more of what your own work… Help other people a bit…” they already Amardeep, Y5 class know; it is boring! Dimitriadis (2013) “One time I felt a little bit sad They need not when Mrs Sarah gave me some other people’s work that I thought simply hard work, that I might be able to do, but the which is for older work she gave me was quite hard… children; it may be harmful! …I had to have her coming to me all the time. I didn’t like it too much.” Jake, Y2 class Dimitriadis (2013) Gifted students at any stage/phase need ‘Help to develop their gifts and talents not only for their own good but for the common good (Renzulli 2002; Sternberg 2003) An efficient lesson- learning person does not necessarily make contributions to A person with great knowledge! leadership skills does not necessarily benefit the society! Twice-exceptional students or Students with dual or multiple exceptionality (DME) Department for Education and Skills. (2007). Gifted and talented education: Guidance on preventing underachievement: A focus on dual or multiple exceptionality. Norwich: HMSO. What does this mean?  Inclusion (Ofsted) Ofsted (2000): Evaluating Educational Inclusion: Guidance for inspectors and schools. “…It is about equal opportunities for all pupils, whatever their age, gender, ethnicity, attainment and background. It pays particular attention to the provision made for and the achievement of different groups of pupils within a school. ” Ofsted (2020): Draft equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) statement SEND, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation and gender reassignment  What does “equal opportunities for all pupils” mean? “unequal treatment of unequals in order to “Tall poppies” syndrome make them more equal.” Gallagher, 2015b, p80 Educational provision for exceptionally able or gifted students o An educational programme o There is no Academic Talent for gifted children must not Development (ATD) within the require identification and regular classroom, in which the special placement for the goals set can be reached by gifted but “the creation of intellectually bright students too highly individualized easily. ATD occurs within an opportunities” and the enriched environment, in which provision of “individually “academic talentees face tailored learning constant intellectual challenges”. environments” within the existing framework (Ziegler & Phillipson, 2012, p. 24) (Gagne, 2011, p. 14) Usually, all three strategies use some kind of grouping by ability “Gifted” and “post-gifted” education in England In the last four decades 1999 – 2010: The “Gifted and Talented” initiative  1999 - Excellence in Cities (gifted underachievers, 11-16, urban areas)  2002 - Extracurricular activities for the top 5% of students (11-19)  2006 - National register for gifted and talented pupils (10%, 4-19) - Introduction of the Institutional/Classroom Quality Standards  2007 - National Strategy for Gifted and Talented  2008 - National Strategies Team to support LEAs and schools  2010 - The Gifted and Talented initiative was abandoned 2010 - The Gifted and Talented initiative was abandoned “elitist” “inconsistent & incoherent” “patchy” in relation to classroom provision Government Select Committee (House of Commons 2010) Publications and support materials from G&T initiative have been archived: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110113104120/http:/nationalstrategies.standa rds.dcsf.gov.uk/node/288011 o Problems in classroom practice, despite teachers’ best intensions. o Rrecommendations for improved and more systematic training for teachers. (Dimitriadis, 2012, 2016a; Koshy, Pinheiro-Torres, & Portman-Smith, 2012; Ofsted, 2009) o In general, schools did not follow any particular framework, based on theory and research. o We did not really evaluate the G&T programme against some theory- and research-based success criteria. (Dimitriadis, 2016a) The “post G&T” era in England “Our education system must compete with those around the world – because while we improve, so do they.” (p5) o Schools are still required to identify their "most" or ”more" able children and offer provision for them (Ofsted 2015a), and… to “stretch their brightest pupils” (Department for Education, 2016, p. 98) o School inspectors are instructed to “pay particular attention to whether more able pupils in general and the most able pupils in particular are achieving as well as they should” (Ofsted, 2015b, p. 63) o “The most able students – still too much talent going to waste” (Ofsted, 2026) o SENCOs are officially the only specialists that run and oversee provisions for special populations o There is neither statutory policy nor specific guidance for teaching gifted pupils. o Provision for high-ability learners is up to the school management and leadership E.g. “Mastery” a new initiative… o For enrichment o Not for differentiation o Especially not for acceleration “The new curriculum requires that everybody learns at the same rate, and moves through the content at the same pace. This is unrealistic, and I worry about how to stretch the most able without moving them on to new material. There is only so much lateral movement before children will become frustrated.” (TEACHER 1, math coordinator) “The needs of able pupils are being overlooked with the new style assessment system which supports mastery, as I feel this will slow learning for some pupils and could demotivate [them].” (HEAD 15) (Dimitriadis & Georgeson, 2017) A screenshot of a computer Description automatically generated How could schools and teachers How ready are the meet Ofsted’s requirement schoolteachers to meet without specialised training, the needs of the ”most guidance and support? able” students? Are the SENCOs prepared to How does the change in deal with issues of terminology from “gifted” to identification of and provision “most able” or other help? for exceptionally able or twice-exceptional students? What does really help? How does avoiding differentiation or acceleration help? Thank you! E-mail : [email protected]  Reference list DfE (2016). Educational Excellence Everywhere. Cm 9230. London: Department for Education. Dimitriadis, C., & Georgeson, J. (2017). Provision for mathematically able children in primary schools: A review of practice five years after England dropped the gifted and talented initiative. Educational Review, 70(3), 358-380. Dimitriadis, C. (2016a). Gifted Programs Cannot be Successful without Gifted Research and Theory: Evidence from Practice with Gifted Students of Mathematics. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 39 (3), 221-236. Dimitriadis, C. (2016b). Nurturing mathematical promise in a regular elementary classroom: Exploring the role of the teacher and classroom environment, Roeper Review, Vol. 38, No 2, 107- 122. Dimitriadis, C. (2013). Developing mathematical giftedness within primary schools: A study of strategies for educating children who are gifted in mathematics. 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