The Gifted Phoenix Manifesto For Gifted Education

The topic for discussion at our last #gtie chat was "The Gifted Phoenix Manifesto For Gifted Education".

Gifted Phoenix is the social media pseudonym of Tim Dracup, a former head of the English Gifted and Talented Unit. In that role, he clocked up ten years of experience in the drafting and implementation of national gifted education policy in the UK. 

For the past three years, he has been researching and writing about gifted education policy around the world on the Gifted Phoenix Blog. Tim has a very distinct writing style. His research is meticulous and his posts detailed and factual. He has an unusual ability to remain objective and unemotional. His blog has developed into an invaluable archive of research material, the likes of which you will not find anywhere else.

I always enjoy chats with @GiftedPhoenix because he is not afraid to say what he thinks, even if it jars with the general consensus . It's always far more interesting and exciting when people are prepared to call a spade a spade, don't you think? With @Peter_Lydon and @GiftedPhoenix, this one had great potential!

• The Gifted Phoenix Manifesto for Gifted Education full text
• The Economics of Gifted Education Revisited
• Storify summary of the #gtie chat
• Full transcript of the gtie chat

Tim explained that the Gifted Phoenix manifesto for Gifted Education was written to “encapsulate what I’d learned over 3 years of writing the blog...as a potential programme for change. A text that might attract broad consensus which advocates could use to convince skeptical policy makers (like  used to be) of the case for investment in gifted education”.

The Economic Argument: The economic argument highlights the economic benefits of investment in gifted education. Tim feels that this is part of the answer to the lack of growth that pertains at the moment. There are those who are uncomfortable, to varying degrees, with the use of the economic argument, on the basis that we should not politicise gifted children; that gifted children have special educational needs which deserve support regardless of any economic argument. I agree entirely with this sentiment but, I also feel that we need to be pragmatic. We have been arguing the case for gifted education for years and where has it got us? We have no consensus on what “gifted” is, never mind an effective, equitable programme of gifted education anywhere in the world, as far as I can see. We are all dancing about either trying to appear tolerant of each other’s views or taking umbrage with each other. The broad church model is all very well within the ranks but, let’s face it, if you were an unconverted policymaker, would you fork out some of your precious budget for some airy fairy cause whose advocates couldn’t even agree on a definition or a focus? Let’s be honest; the only thing which cuts any ice with policymakers is the economic argument. If emphasising this argument results in the needs of gifted students being met, then maybe this is what we need to do.

The social/emotional needs: Many, if not most, advocates are concerned about the social and emotional needs of gifted students. They would feel more comfortable if gifted students were promoted in a holistic way as individuals rather than purely as an economic resource. However, the Manifesto clearly states:

• There should be integrated support for learners, educators and parents/carers, to maximise the benefits from synergy between these streams.
• Five areas of engagement should also be synergised: learning, professional development, advocacy, research and policy-making.

I believe that, if we can use the economic argument to get the policymakers to adopt our suggested model, recognition of the social and emotional needs of these students will follow naturally. Consider all the current research on gifted students. Does the vast bulk of it not cover these issues? We have enormous amounts of research to show that gifted students have different needs and to show the possible consequences of not meeting them. But policymakers, and indeed most educators, have not shown much interest. It doesn't do much to convince the general public either. We need a different argument to get the door open!

The Elitist Argument: This is an entirely personal point of view but one which I believe the Manifesto addresses nicely. The current situation means that, for the most part, the gifted kids with the best chance of doing well in every sense, are the ones whose parents have the money to gain access to gifted education programmes, where they are available, or to enrichment programmes and extracurricular activities. We need a system which recognises and meets the needs of all gifted students no matter what their background or the wherewithal of their parents. That would blow the elitist argument out of the water. Not to mention that when excellence and equity is promoted within the education system as a whole, all students, not just the gifted ones benefit.

Evidence: In order to have any credibility, all arguments must be evidence-based. There is no room for wishy washy stuff and hunches here. We need good research to back everything up. As Tim points out, that means it must be available, not stashed behind paywalls where it is of no use to anyone outside the chosen few.

The stumbling Block: One huge stumbling block to progress will be the gifted community itself. Tim says,

“we must move away determinedly from the disagreements, factions, cliques, petty rivalries, self-promotion and empire-building that characterise the community and work co-operatively together for the benefit of all gifted learners.”

That this is true can be seen very clearly in our tiny country where one individual on a mission to carve a personal profile managed to bring down our national organisation after thirty years of advocacy. Four years later, the politics of this still rumbles on subtly and, instead of all advocates working together, those of us striving to build a network of advocates and to bring about real change for gifted children in Ireland are constantly looking over our shoulders and watching what we say to whom. It is hard to bring people together while at the same time preventing vested interests and egos from undermining or hijacking our efforts in an attempt to self-promote. If a country as small as Ireland can’t get everyone pulling together, what hope do we have globally?  To succeed, this will require a lot of effort, determination and many spades!

Did you miss the last few #gtie chats of 2012?

In case you missed them, here is a collection of the last few #gtie chats of 2012. Contributors came from all round the globe and there are some great references included in these write-ups. If you aren't comfortable with Twitter, you can follow the chats live without anyone knowing. Better still, you can join in! Tweetchat makes both options easy.

• Gifted and Talented Policy Choices for Schools
• Dear Teacher, My Child is Gifted and I Wanted You to Know....
• Intensity as the Defining Characteristic of Giftedness
• Mythillogical: Belief Versus the Reality of Giftedness
• Twice Exceptional Students

These links no longer work, as one individual has assumed control of GT Network and has revoked access for previous editors and authors. The posts themselves can still be found by searching the site, but authorship is now attributed to the site owner rather than the original author, Catherine Riordan. 

Look What You're Missing!

I know many of you are a bit dismissive of Twitter or think you wouldn't be able to manage it, but we have had some very interesting chats about gifted issues at #gtie this term and we have more to come. You may like to read what you missed so far:

• Gifted Children and Tests
• Gifted Girls
• Giftedness as a Special Educational Need
• Gifted School Leavers: Deciding What To Do
• Gifted Education Research: Who to Read and Why
• Essential Websites On Giftedness

These links no longer work, as one individual has assumed control of GT Network and has  revoked access for previous editors and authors. The posts themselves can still be found by searching the site, but authorship is now attributed to the site owner rather than the original author, Catherine Riordan.

Gifted Children and Tests

This was written by Catherine Riordan. It appears without permission on another website, incorrectly attributed to another author.

Free Spirit Publishing

At #gtie last week we discussed Gifted Children and Tests. Not only did we have participants from Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Cork, we had our faithful supporters from the US; Toby from Oklahoma and Lisa from Pittsburgh. Amongst our number, there were parents of both primary and secondary school students, a homeschooler, teachers and an educational psychologist. So, a wide range of experience!

Here is a brief summary of what came up, with a few extra links:

The problems that gifted children may encounter in tests:

• Poor concentration, not finishing.
• Test anxiety: Gifted Children Scared of Tests
• Perfectionism: Helping Gifted Students Cope With Perfectionism
• I think there's a fear of being exposed as a fraud if they don't excel
• Big issue with current 'high stakes' tests is that they are mostly 'scribble down all the knowledge you can’ type tests rather than ‘apply the knowledge and solve problems’ type test.
• If kids find tests easy when young, they may never learn study skills. When things get harder later, self-doubt is introduced. They need challenge from the outset.

Then we moved on to the types of tests done:

• I favour the International Baccalaureate over others like the Leaving Certificate  because of the Continuous Assessment component and the real world experience.
• I wish we could base tests on real-world issues and problems. Use take-home format and give time to reflect.
• More standardised testing is a concern. Once the minimum standard reached, the box is ticked, "everyone" is happy and gifted kids left unstretched.
• Parents should watch for this in school in Ireland now - more standardised testing coming down the line. (In primary and secondary. NCCA report on standardised testing at second level)
• I hope this won't mean more teaching-to-the-test, but my hopes aren't too high!
• It will because as ever, standardised tests will be used to judge teachers, not the students sitting them- Cracked!! (Standardised Testing and Its Victims)
• Testing is black and white answers that give a final number; assessment is more subtle but has more subjectivity in it.
• Testing versus assessment

How do we help children cope with the expectation of tests?

• In my children's primary schools neither they, nor we, were told in advance when the standarised tests would be, no hype.
• True, I think they didn't want the mammies getting hyper more than the kids though!
• I think it depends on the child. DD1 needs reminding to prepare. DD2 needs to be told 'it's only a test'. (DD means dear/darling daughter)
• A shift of focus from praising children for being clever to praising their effort and hard work.
• Definitely praise is a must - self esteem can be a problem but how to stress a test is important,  to do his best, without making him feel pressured?
• Praising effort and results while not praising the individual is pretty tough but can be done with good results.
• Helping children cope with studies

Now we moved on to more philosphical matters!

• Information on Assessment for Learning (AfL) from the UK.
• Common Core Standards from the US.
• Common Core has an interesting by-line-'preparing America's STUDENTS for college and career' rather than PEOPLE for living.
• A kid is so much more than his/her exam results.
• They are important but if we make exams a zero-sum game - it just freaks kids out.
• Testing can tell a kid they have failed - not why. We need to help them understand why: Kids Fail Less When They Know Failure Is Part Of Learning, Study Finds
• All of these standardized tests reduce students (and now/in future) teachers and schools to a number. NOT humanitarian.
• Some kids have talents that aren't measured by exams but may become central to later life success. Need to see big picture.
• Exactly, who says we have to measure it all at 15 or 18 anyway? We can't possibly, nor should we want to.
• It's very wrong that we tell kids they are failures at the age of 18 just because they didn't do well in a state exam.
• Taylor's Multiple-Talent Model

Finally: Education should make a child feel competent; testing can undermine that.

When It Comes To Advocacy, Every Little Helps!

In Ireland, we have very little by way of support or recognition for gifted children. In 2009, even our national advocacy body, the IAGC, fell apart. So, in 2011, Karen, Peter Lydon and I decided to try again using a different approach. Karen and I had already set up a local support group (GAS) and we felt that expanding this model into a network of similar groups would be a way forward, so we established Gifted and Talented Network Ireland. We use this blog as a means of spreading the word and providing a source of information relevant to Irish teachers and parents. Most of the material produced on giftedness comes from countries where the field is far more advanced that in Ireland, but sometimes it can seem a little "foreign" to us and our system. (And, quite frankly, extremely depressing at times when we see what can be done!)

Now, I am not someone who usually does things by half-measures. I felt under enormous pressure to hold regular support group meetings, write regular blogposts and turn up at every Twitter chat. It became all-consuming and I felt guilty when I failed to reach my self-imposed standards of perfection. I also began to feel frustrated by the lack of similar enthusiasm from others when people didn't turn up to meetings or chats. Then, earlier this year, I had an epiphany:

I have two teenaged children, a medical career and my personal sanity to attend to. I cannot be a professional or full-time advocate. It has taken me a long time, but I have finally realised that I don't have to be. I have made a difference and I will continue to plug away, but if I miss a few Twitter chats or don't post on my blog for weeks on end, I am not a failure and I don't need to beat myself up about it. This realisation has been such a release! But, it also strikes me that many people are probably like me and hesitate to take the first step because they feel they won't be able to do the job properly. With the perfectionist tendencies that many of us have, putting ourselves out there as advocates can be a little daunting.

So, my message for International Week of the Gifted 2012, is relax and go for it. It doesn't matter how much you do or how often. Whatever little you do, it will be more than is being done without you. Once you take that first step, others will join you and together we really can make a difference. As a certain well-known chain says: Every Little Helps! 

The Junior Cert Reform Glass is Half-Full!

The current Junior Certificate was introduced in 1989 with the first exams in 1992. It replaced the Intermediate Certificate and was heralded as being a much more modern qualification. In the interim it has become a content-heavy “Leaving Cert Lite” with parents, students and teachers alike extolling its virtues as being “good practise for the points race”. Reform is therefore welcome and overdue if we are to address issues of curriculum overload, rote-learning and outdated ways of assessment in our education system.

Many of the proposals in our submission to the NCCA review have found a place in the final plan and we are pleasantly surprised at some of the elements proposed. From a “gifted” perspective there is much to be applauded and welcomed. Children learn in so many different ways and this document recognises that all children should get the opportunity to show what they can do within the exam system and outside of it. Of particular interest are the short courses which give students welcome scope to follow their talents and strengths. Many children already take part in activities both in and outside school from sports to music to computers to theatre. Lots of them shine in this their chosen environment. It is a very positive thing that their commitment to participation in a wide range of activities can be recognised and rewarded.

The new system may have much to commend it, but it also raises many questions. How will teachers respond? Will they think it will merely increases their workload? How will they feel about assessing their own students, long a hot-button issue for the teachers unions? Will some subjects fade into obscurity if they are not examination subjects? What implication does the new Junior Cycle have for Transition Year? What will happen to the Leaving Cert if students are examined differently for Junior Cert? Will it have the desired effect on Literacy and Numeracy, and the infamous Pisa study? And the biggest one of all; is this merely a dumbing down, no child gets ahead, minimum achievement proposition?

The jury is out for now, it will probably take a few years to see the results, but I believe that good schools have nothing to fear from the changes. It will finally show parents what the “league tables” don’t. Schools have been telling us for years that a fairer way to judge the education provided by individual schools would be to consider all activities, sports, co-curricular, learning support measures and exemplary school leadership in addition to academics. This is an opportunity to show us exactly that. It will tell us which schools have strong effective leadership. It will separate good teachers from poor ones. It will show us how good school management produces real results. It will showcase innovative, inclusive and imaginative schools. It will identify those schools which genuinely support all types of learners, including those with difficulties and those who are boxed in by the current exam system.

There was a recent article in The Irish Times about a school in County Limerick which in the space of a few years turned itself around from being on the brink of closure to being one of the most desired schools in the locality. It did this through innovative leadership and a strong vision of what they wanted to achieve. This school should be the inspiration for all schools and teachers who look on this new Junior Cert as a negative development. Coláiste Chiaráin was at rock-bottom and used the same resources available to every other school to create a learning environment second to none. They didn’t see the glass as half-empty, they looked to fill it to the brim. I’m guessing they won’t see the new Junior Cert as anything other than an opportunity. I hope other schools can do likewise.

The responses so far have been mixed, but a central theme has been funding. Some teachers of my acquaintance want to know where the money for their training will come from. They say that without huge investment this will never work. I am starting to wonder if that's a prediction or a threat. We have had enough negativity in Ireland in the last few years. It is time to change the way we view the challenges ahead. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, looking for flaws in every new development with our typical Irish Peig Sayers-like keening why don’t we seek out the positives and make them work? The can-do approach which is the hallmark of the most admired entrepreneurs and innovators in Ireland and throughout the world should be to the forefront of our minds as we head into this new Junior Cycle. Enough complaining, let's get on with ensuring that our children have a first-class learning experience. My glass is half-full, how is yours looking?

Introduction to Twitter. Part 3

Twitter Chats

Have you ever tried to take part in a twitter chat and been completely lost? If it's a lively one, it can move very fast. By the time you have written what you want to say, the conversation has moved on. In your panic, you forget to add the hashtag and your tweet doesn't even show up. Every time you look up there are 101 new tweets waiting for you to refresh the page...you know what I mean? Well, there is a solution.....Tweetchat. (There are a couple of solutions, but this is the one I like.)

The way a chat works is that everyone adds a particular hashtag to their tweets. Then when you do a search for that tag, every tweet containing it will come up in your stream. Most of them have a specified day and time when people sign in together and chat live. There are loads of chats on twitter, but if you want to explore gifted issues, the two to look for are #gtchat at 5pm and midnight GMT on Fridays and #gtie at 9pm GMT on Sundays.

Tweetchat, described below, has been a lifesaver for many a twitter chatter but it looks like it's about to disappear due to changes with Twitter. For the moment, it is working intermittently. if anyone knows of a good substitute, let us know!

Step 1: Go to tweetchat.com and click "sign in":

Step 3: Allow tweetchat to access your account:

Fill in your username and twitter password and click "Allow".

Step 3: Find your chat.

Enter the name of the chat you are looking for in the box at the top and click "Go". I have entered gtie this time.

Step 4: Get set, go.

1. This chat refreshes itself automatically, but is set to do so every 10 seconds. If you click on "refresh speed" you can slide this down to 5 seconds. (if you ever find yourself at a particularly lively chat and have trouble keeping up, just increase the refresh speed!)

2. If you click on this symbol opposite a tweet, it sets you up to reply to that person by making their name appear in the box at the top for you. 

3. Clicking this symbol opposite a tweet will retweet it by making the text appear in the box at the top, all ready to go.

One other big advantage to tweetchat is that it automatically adds the hashtag to the end of each tweet. So you just need to write your message and click "Update". 

With all these things done for you, you can now sit back and enjoy chatting!