Alabama Association for Gifted ChildrenSeptember 25, 2009

State Conference

Equity & Access: Understanding

Gifted Students from Diverse Backgrounds

Dr. Jaime A. Castellano

Principal, Consultant, Trainer

Ganado, Arizona

Linking Understanding throughCultural Competency

• A process of self-reflection, self-assessment, and a level of understanding of how we perceive others who are different from ourselves.

• This self-examination helps us gain a clearer understanding of our own experiences, boundaries, & challenges.

Do We Have the “Ganas” to Identify and Serve Culturally and Linguistically Diverse

Gifted Students?

“Ganas:” Desire-an expressed wish

Working with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Gifted Students

• Do YOU have the Ganas/Desire? Please answer “yes” or “no” to each of the self-awareness questions.

Cultural Competence: How Do You Rate?Please answer “yes” or “no”

to each of the self-awareness questions.

1. Have you thought about your own socioeconomic status, gender, racial, and ethnic identity and the various ways in which you are similar to, yet different from, the students and adults you work with?

Cultural Competence: How Do You Rate?Please answer “yes” or “no”

to each of the self-awareness questions.

2. Have you thought about how your own socioeconomic status, gender, race, and ethnic identity have influenced your desire to refer/nominate culturally and linguistically diverse students for a gifted education or advanced academic programming?

Cultural Competence: How Do You Rate?Please answer “yes” or “no”

to each of the self-awareness questions

3. Have you talked about how your cultural background influences your relationships with culturally and linguistically diverse students and/or your working relationships with adult colleagues who are of a different socioeconomic status, race, gender, or ethnicity?

Cultural Competence: How Do You Rate?Please answer “yes” or “no”

to each of the self-awareness questions

4. Have any people who are different from you with respect to socioeconomic status, race, gender, or ethnicity shared with you how they think these same factors influence how they interact with students who are culturally and/or linguistically diverse?

Cultural Competence: How Do You Rate?Please answer “yes” or “no”

to each of the self-awareness questions

5. Do you know how culturally and linguistically diverse gifted students perceive you?

Cultural Competence: How Do You Rate?Please answer “yes” or “no”

to each of the self-awareness questions

6. Do you think that your school or district’s most rigorous academic programs should reflect student demographics with respect to socioeconomic status, race, gender, and ethnicity?

Cultural Competence: How Do You Rate?Please answer “yes” or “no”

to each of the self-awareness questions

7. Are you willing to publicly advocate for the inclusion of students into your school or district’s gifted education program who are culturally and/or linguistically diverse (who have been historically underrepresented)?

Self-Awareness Score: Count one point for each “Yes” response

to the self-awareness questions.

6-7 Points: This score would put you in the cultural competence stage. That is, in part, seeing the difference, understanding the difference that difference makes, and working with others to change.

Self-Awareness Score: Count one point for each “Yes” response

to the self-awareness questions.

4-5 Points: You are on your way! Understanding and acknowledging your own biases and prejudices paves the way for greater cross-cultural communication and understanding. Sharing your insights with others is important.

Self-Awareness Score: Count one point for each “Yes” response

to the self-awareness questions.

0-3 Points: OK, we have some work to do. Personal reflection about your own experiences with diversity may be a good place to start. It may be easier to first talk with an expert whose background is similar to yours.

The Cultural Proficiency Continuum

…..is a tool for categorizing a range of responses to differences…..

…..is aligned with standards that move an organization or an individual toward culturally proficient interactions…..

…..includes six points that indicate unique ways of seeing and responding to differences.

Lindsey, Robins, and Terrell (2003)

Cultural DestructivenessCultural Destructiveness

See the difference, stomp it out. (The elimination of other people’s cultures.)

Cultural IncapacityCultural Incapacity

See the difference, make it wrong. (Belief in the superiority of one’s culture and behavior that dis-empowers another’s culture.)

Cultural BlindnessCultural Blindness

See the difference, act like you do not. (Acting as if the cultural differences you see do not matter, or not recognizing that there are differences among and between cultures.)

Cultural Pre-competenceCultural Pre-competence

See the difference, respond inadequately. (Awareness of the limitations of one’s skills or an organization’s practices when interacting with other cultural groups.)

Cultural CompetenceCultural Competence

See the difference; understand the difference that difference makes. (Interacting with other cultural groups using the five essential elements of cultural proficiency as the standard for individual behavior and school practices.)

The 5 Essential Elements The 5 Essential Elements of Cultural Proficiencyof Cultural Proficiency

1. Name the difference: assess culture

2. Claim the difference: value diversity

3. Reframe the difference: managing the dynamics of differences

4. Training about differences: adapt to diversity

5. Change: institutionalize cultural knowledge.

Cultural ProficiencyCultural Proficiency

See the difference and respond positively and affirmingly. (Interacting effectively in a variety of cultural environments.)

Institute for Educational Leadership (2005)

• Educational leaders who are not culturally competent cannot be fully effective.

• Culturally competent leaders work to understand their own biases as well as patterns of discrimination.

• Culturally competent leaders need to understand their own cultural history and contemporary status, as well as that of their students and their communities.

Understanding Cultural, Ethnic, and Linguistic Diversity & its Impact on Gifted Education

Shift in demographics• This shift provides an opportunity for

schools and districts to extend a wide identification net designed to include students who have been underrepresented in programs for the gifted.

Understanding Cultural, Ethnic, and Linguistic Diversity & its Impact on Gifted Education

Testing for Intelligence• It can be argued that the area where the

cultural and linguistic diversity of students has impacted gifted education the greatest is in the testing for intelligence.

Understanding Cultural, Ethnic, and Linguistic Diversity & its Impact on Gifted Education

Multiple Intelligences• Teaching and assessing through a multiple

intelligence framework invites creativity, divergent thinking, and an opportunity for reflection and self-awareness.

Understanding Cultural, Ethnic, and Linguistic Diversity & its Impact on Gifted Education

Professional Development• Training in the area of cultural

competency increases the likelihood for making educational and instructional decisions on what is best for the students, fosters a climate of respect and validation, and turns the diversity of students into a strength.

Understanding Cultural, Ethnic, and Linguistic Diversity & its Impact on Gifted Education

Global World-Wide Perspective• Offering students multiple perspectives

through different lenses and voices strengthens the resolve of our most able students to make a difference in the world in which they live.

Understanding Cultural, Ethnic, and Linguistic Diversity & its Impact on Gifted Education

Recruitment and Retention of Diverse Teachers• Investing in diversity capitalizes on the

human resources of the organization.• The connection between a diverse teaching

staff as a way to validation of the school community is also important.

Understanding Cultural, Ethnic, and Linguistic Diversity & its Impact on Gifted Education

Jacob K. Javitz Gifted Education Grant Program• One of the direct benefits of this program is

the degree to which schools and districts begin a dialogue by examining ideas about unity, diversity, and pluralism, and how they affect us as individuals, as members of a community, and as citizens of the United States.

Understanding Cultural, Ethnic, and Linguistic Diversity & its Impact on Gifted Education

Culturally Responsive Teaching• CRT means capitalizing on the strengths the

students bring to the classroom. • It means engaging them intellectually by

focusing on issues that are important to them and making use of their expertise, perspectives, and skills.

Understanding Cultural, Ethnic, and Linguistic Diversity & its Impact on Gifted Education

Culturally Responsive Teaching• CRT means involving students emotionally,

exposing them to information and data that speak to their affect and questions the status quo.

• It also means that students are engaged socially by allowing them opportunities for getting to know one another.

Standards for Working with Gifted & Advanced Learners

Standards-based lessons can create

rich and challenging learning experiences

for all students.

Standard #1: Instruction is Developmental and Flexible

• A one-size fits all approach to education is not effective.

• A student cannot and should not be expected to know and do the exact same things, in the exact same way, as his/her peers.

• Provide students with opportunities to work on a range of concepts and skills according to individual abilities, readiness levels, needs, and interests.

Standard #2: Instruction and Assessment Options

• Portfolios

• Interviews

• Observations

• Questionnaires

• Self-Evaluations

• Learning Logs

• Anecdotal Records

Standard #3:Equitable Access to Meaningful Content

• A set of curricular standards, benchmarks, and expectations gives parents, teachers, and administrators a common language for talking about student progress.

Standard #4:It Takes a Barrio/Village/Hood/Community

• Teachers need assistance from all stakeholders in the school & community.

• Teachers should share information about effective instructional practices in ways that students can understand.

• Students are more likely to hit instructional targets when they can see and understand them.

Standard #5:Effective Practices Lead to Reform

• More relevant and effective professional developmental opportunities.

• A more focused emphasis on the teaching and learning process.

• Collaboration, sharing, networking.

Curriculum Options/Best Practices

• Forge & strengthen the connection students see between their school, local community, and global society.

• Draw from the local community’s cultural heritage and local resources (e.g., oral histories).

• Accommodate the abilities and potential of students.

Curriculum Options/Best Practices

• Emphasize the values and processes of the democratic way of life. Ask…..– What questions or concerns do you have about

yourself?– What questions or concerns do you have about

the world?

Curriculum Options/Best Practices

• Integrate self-interest and the common good.

• Value diversity• Ask powerful questions.• Make learning “real” and relevant• Align instruction to rigorous standards• Focus on the affective dimension of

learning

Choose Your Neighbor

A doctor and nurse

A preacher and his wife

A rock band

A single mother of 5 children

A retired police officer