Special populations in
Gifted Education
Gifted students across the United States represent every aspect of life. As educators, it is important that we remember to accept and respect diversity. Understanding that a student's background is part of who they are and how they learn is important when teaching. Gifted students are culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse. More than 40 years has passed and special populations of diverse students are still being underrepresented with their needs not being met.
our school
Monroe Township serves 7,000 students in grades
Pre-K to High School. 52% of the students attending are minorities, with a majority being Asian Americans. When discussing Asian Americans, it is important to note that this includes diverse subgroups that have specific ethnicities, languages, religions, cultural practices, and values. The subgroups are based on their location in Asia and are as follows: East (China, Japan, Korea), Southeast (Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines), and South Asia (India and Pakistan). In Monroe, we have a very large South Asian population of students.
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(Castellano & Frazier, 2011)
What does this mean?
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Asian American students deal with pressure from their families and society to fit into the stereotype of being high achieving and the “model minority” (VanTassel-Baska, 2009).
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Students who are identified as gifted may have expectations to be a role model and leader for other students and their entire cultural groups (Clark, 2013).
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Families are supportive of their child’s achievements and put a lot of importance on memorization and drills to achieve high test scores (Clark, 2013).
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As research has shown, Asian American students are overrepresented in gifted programs, and this, along with the model minority stereotype, can hurt students from receiving the appropriate services they require (Castellano & Frazier, 2011; Clark, 2013).
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Because of this pressure from society and family, mental health problems for Asian American youths is on the rise, with 30% of girls in 5th through 12th grade reported having depressive symptoms (VanTassel-Baska, 2009).
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It is important to note that while this group has high achievement on standardized tests and in education attainment, they are share the same poverty rates as the total population (Castellano & Frazier, 2011).
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Asian Americans are a diverse group who experience discrimination and racism. They view education as a way to achieve the American dream through hard work, not just innate abilities (Castellano & Frazier, 2011).
Learning
opportunities
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Give opportunities to learn in teams and small groups
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Give opportunities to use intuition in learning
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Provide visual learning experiences
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Encourage expression of feelings, verbally and in writing
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Include creative expression in learning experience
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(Clark, 2013)
Articles
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