The Certification Essays

The Certification Essays

An Educator’s Journey
Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Maureen Jensen

This document is created, constructed, and compiled
in an attempt to make sense of a messy, messy situation.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Part A: My Journey TOWARD Certification

● Chapter 1: Colorblind Privilege
● Chapter 2: On the Edge of a Revelation
● Chapter 3: Find the Words
● Chapter 4: Pulling Back the Velvet Curtain
● Chapter 5: A Social Construct
Part B: MY Journey THROUGH Certification
● Chapter 6: All Who Wander Are Not Lost
● Chapter 7: Vulnerability is the Greatest Measure of Courage
● Chapter 8: Systems Thinkers as Paradigm Shifters
● Chapter 9: Leadership is in the Eye of the Beholder
● Chapter 10: This I Believe. And I mean it.
Part C: My Journey AFTER Certification
● Chapter 11: The Destination: You can’t get there from here
Appendix
● Talent Development as Gifted Education: One Leader’s Perspective

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Introduction
There is freedom in creation.

April 25, 2019

Excuse me as I politely disregard the required structures of an institution.

A week or so ago I began writing the required “essay” for CRT certification and quite
frankly, it fell flat. The writing seemed arbitrary, forced, sterile. I was regurgitating what
I put in my presentation/portfolio. The piece lacked voice. The task was a chore. I put it
aside.

How could I capture the emotions of this journey in a standard essay? The form didn’t
match the purpose and it paralyzed me. The requirements felt conforming and confining.
So I waited.

At my son’s bus stop this week, something clicked. I reached into the backseat and ripped
a piece of notebook paper from an old legal pad. I dug for a pencil in my purse.
Precariously placed on the center console, I started sketching out the structure of this
document: The Certification Essays.

My story fell from the pencil with ease.

I respectfully beg the certification panel to accept my creative replacement to the
standard requirements for this certification process. Yes, the essays were written in great
haste but I assure you they were also written with great passion. In 24 hours, I wrote my
autobiography with a CRT lens. And yes, it looks “long” but it is just the formatting, I
promise.

This memoir (a term I use very loosely) will be more reflective than explanatory. I
believe I can explain my CRT/CRSL project in my presentation. I felt the rehashing of
my portfolio was unnecessary, redundant, and unhelpful. If however, you disagree with
my decision to change the format of this submission, I will revise as needed.

Let’s begin.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Part A

My Journey TOWARD
Certification

You’ll notice the footer throughout this document: Reflect. Develop. Promote.
Engage. These verbs align with the four characteristics in Muhammad
Kahlifa’s Culturally Responsive School Leadership rubric. I used the rubric
to provide a solid structure for my portfolio and a way to reflect upon my
work. I elevate the perspective and use the guidance of the verbs to provide
a theme for this compilation of essays.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Chapter 1
___________________________________________

Colorblind Privilege

I am an only child of two retired public school teachers. Reflecting on my childhood experience,
I recall Pizza Hut on Friday nights, ABBA sing-alongs, Eagles football, and summers “down the
shore.” If I think hard enough, I can vaguely remember my mom advocating, in general, for
equality (mostly in relation to women’s rights) but I don’t remember a single, family
conversation about race.

I think I went 31 years without have a substantive conversation regarding prejudice, bias, race or
racism. Why? Perhaps I grew up in the “colorblind is cool” era? I mean, even En Vogue
encouraged the children of the 90’s to “free your mind and the rest will follow; be colorblind
don’t be so shallow.”

What’s disturbing to me now, and perhaps indicative of my privileged upbringing, are the other
lyrics to that song that aren’t as memorable to me but much more important. I was 18 years old
when this song was released. I listened to it every day, but I never heard it.

I wear tight clothing and high heel shoes
It doesn't mean that I'm a prostitute
I like rap music wear hip hop clothes
That doesn't mean that I'm sellin' dope
Oh please forgive me, for having straight hair
It doesn't mean there's another blood in my heirs
I might date another race or color
Doesn't mean I don't like my strong black brothers
Why oh why must it be this way
Before you can read me you gotta learn how to see me

So I'm a sistah
Buy things with cash
That really doesn't mean that all my credit's bad, oooh
So why dispute me and waste my time
Because you really think the price is high for me
I can't look without being watched, no
You rang my buy before I made up my mind, ow!
Oh now attitude, why even bother
I can't change your mind, you can't change my colour

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Chapter 2
_________________________________________

On the Edge of a Revelation

In the fall of 2005, I was teaching the “smartest” eighth graders in Upper Moreland,
Pennsylvania. A year earlier, I was given the opportunity to write the curriculum for a new
course called Humanities. Basically, the course was a class for gifted students. In Humanities,
we conducted research, held debates, designed and carried out independent projects, interacted
with community members to solved real-life problems, etc.
I was proud of the curriculum and the work the students produced in the class. On a regular
basis, I would share success stories in the teachers’ lounge and repeatedly got responses like,
“Oh my students could never do that. We have to stick to the basics.” These comments did not
register with me at first. Although I can’t be sure, I bet I nodded in agreement with their deficit
thinking.
A year later, I asked my principal to open up another section of Humanities. I distinctly
remember his response, “Your class is about critical thinking and problem solving, we don’t
have enough gifted kids to fill another section.”
Something clicked. That weekend I applied to graduate school and told my principal I would not
be returning to the school the next fall.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Chapter 3
________________________________________

Finding the Words

I began my second graduate school journey in August 2006.

During my first month at the University of Virginia, I read Rethinking Gifted Education edited
by James Borland and I have never been the same.

Chapter 9 in Borland’s book was written by a then up-and-coming educational research named
Donna Ford. The title of the chapter: Desegregating Gifted Education: Seeking Equity for
Culturally Diverse Students.

Dr. Ford highlight five concerns about gifted education:

“First, compared with general education and special education, gifted education is the most
segregated of our educational programs – it is disproportionately White and middle-class.

Second, politics often intrude on efforts to increase the participation of minority students in
gifted education.

Third, because schools continue to define and identify giftedness, intelligence, and talent much
as they did the 20th century, school remain ill-prepared to face the demands that increased
cultural, linguistic, and economic diversity place on them.

Fourth, even though they are socially abhorrent, biological theories of giftedness and
intelligence persist. The very idea that genius is inherent rather than developmental supports
racists (and classist and sexists ideologies.

Fifth, the burden to effect change often falls on minority students and their families to assimilate,
to adapt, and to adopt mainstream norms.

Essentially, rather than looking internally, educators frequently look beyond schools for
changes and solution to educational inequities” (p. 144).

I typed Ford’s last statement in bold because until we own the fact the WE ARE the racist
structures, nothing will change.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Chapter 4
___________________________________________

Pulling Back the Velvet Curtain

For two years at UVA, I critically examined of the current research and practices in gifted
education; I uncovered more disappointments than triumphs. Positively, gifted education did
promote the recognition of individual differences, tout innovative assessment methods, commit
to rigorous instruction, stress metacognition, and employ real world problem solving. However,
the weaknesses of the field were deeply troubling. Gifted education often operated on a narrow
definition of giftedness, didn’t play in the sandbox with general education, used biased
identification tools, and focused on static programs for advanced learners rather than dynamic,
individualized services.
And perhaps most disturbing, I was beginning to see the racist genealogy of gifted education
policies and practices in the United States and how giftedness was an example of unearned white
privilege, that, unintentionally or not, maintained a social caste system in schools.
(I write these memories in past tense but the structural racism is still alive and well.)
At UVA, I began to wonder about my potential future influence on shifting these negative
characteristics and practices in gifted education. What impact could I have on dismantling gifted
education as a pedagogy of privilege or perhaps even more radical, dismantle gifted education
altogether.
I went to graduate school to study gifted education and now I believed the field should be
abolished. Talk about an existential crisis!

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Chapter 5
___________________________________________

A Social Construct

Donna Ford shed light on the structural inequities in my field and James Borland helped me find
words for my burgeoning ideas regarding abolition of the field. Of course, these ideas weren’t
original, but I was both relieved and excited to find an educator that was skeptical of gifted
education in its entirety.

With Borland’s indirect support, I was able to articulate that most people’s belief about
giftedness being innate or neurobiological in origin was false. Giftedness is social construct that
gained its existence and definition from people’s values, beliefs, and interactions.

Why was gifted education held is such high regard? What purpose was it serving?

Consider gifted education in relation to social reproduction theory (Spring, 1989). Society’s
inequities work to benefit the powerful. Society is structured to keep the powerful in power
(Katz, 1975). The system of education mirrors society’s stratification and serves to maintain the
status quo as well as society’s power structure. Many see gifted programs as a means to
perpetuate this injustice. Shapon Shevin (1994) writes, “Whether or not the intention of gifted
programs is to reproduce existing economic and racial hierarchies or to produce cultural capital
held by an elite group of students, there are in fact the consequences of such a system” (p. 192).

Is it necessary or even desirable to institutionalize a process called “identification?” Jack Birth
(1984) posed that question in his controversial article published in Gifted Child Quarterly. He
asked this tough question and made a strong argument that identification, in most cases, is
nothing more than verification. Verification for the recommending teacher, the she can “spot”
gifts. Verification for the parent s that they are successful nurturers as well as quality gene
providers. Verification for the child, that he is indeed, “special”. Celine Armenta (1999) agrees,
“The aim of identification is decrypting the effects of biology and environment while the aim of
education is helping students write the scripts of their own lives” (p. 385).

Education might do well to relinquish the “identify and place” gifted model and adopt the
“assess and educate” model. With rich, meaningful curriculum and instruction, in addition to
quality assessments that are congruent with that instruction students and teachers can nurture
talents in all students.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Part B
My Journey THROUGH

Certification

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Chapter 6
______________________________________________

All Who Wander Are Not Lost

J. R. R. Tolkien wrote a poem for this fantasy novel titled The Lord of the Rings, which
included the lines:

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;

Fast forward just under a decade, and I find myself in a potential position of influence. I am the
Facilitator of Gifted Services for Albemarle County Public Schools in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The field of gifted education has been nothing but talk regarding inequities in its practice. The
machine is working for the benefit of the powerful and it seems nearly impossible to stop.

At this time in my life, the Tolkien poem is extremely relevant. Gifted education, no let’s correct
that, gifted identification seems to be the gold everyone wants access to, but from my perspective
it doesn’t glitter and it was never gold. I am frustrated and lonely.

In the spring of 2016, I stop feeling sorry for myself. I wish I could remember if there was a
particular event that prompted me to put on my waders and trudge through the molasses – but I
can’t recall. Nevertheless, for some reason, I set my mind to influencing. Not pontificating, not
demanding, but doing the hard work of an influencer. With different stakeholders I talked, I
pushed, I asked. I put data in front of skeptics. I provided research, anecdotes, and safe spaces. I
took small steps, sometimes asking for permission, other times begging for forgiveness. I was
not loud. I was not fast. I celebrated small victories.

I tried to accomplish all the other aspects of my job while continually stirring the pot of gifted
education. Being cognizant of the temperature of the pot was very important. Too cold and you
lose momentum, too hot and you lose momentum.

In the 2018-2019 school year the GRTs entered into a formal partnership with the Office of
Community Engagement and my CRT Certification journey began.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Chapter 7
_______________________________________________

Vulnerability is the Greatest Measure of Courage

The difficult thing is that vulnerability is the first thing I look for in you and the last
thing I’m willing to show you. In you, it’s courage and daring. In me, it’s
weakness." - Brene Brown

This year, I have been intentional about how I lead – not just the action but the affect as well.

There is a perceived relationship between leadership and success. In politics these days, whoever
yells loudest is the "leader." In sports, it’s the winning team or coach. In business, it’s the richest
person. In entertainment, it’s the most famous movie star. We have come to associate success
and leadership with material accumulation or specific goal achievement.

Way back in the dark ages, you know, 1993, Robert Terry wrote a book titled Authentic
Learning: Courage in Action. He wrote, “We scrutinize leaders; we ignore leadership. We
confuse those in positions of leadership with the process and content of leadership.” This
particular quote had quite an impact on me and began reflecting my leadership through two very
separate lenses: 1) Who am I? How do I make others feel? And 2) How effective is my plan,
process, and product?

We’ve all been led by a leader who nails one of those characteristics but not the other. It’s easy
to conjure up the comments: “I mean, he’s a nice guy, and I like him a lot but I am not sure what
his vision is.” Or “She’s so organized and detailed, but I’m scared to talk to her.”

As I read through Robert Terry’s work and began reading the research of Brene Brown, I knew I
needed to work on my vulnerability. Critically examining that aspect of my interactions with
others was going to make me a better leader.

So this year I practiced slowing down, opening up, and tuning in to the emotions of others.

Vulnerability is showing up and engaging without control of the outcome. As a leader, it is no use
erecting barricades around you while hoping at the same time others will see the good within. The wall
you construct prevents your true nature from being known to others.

A true leader starts from a place of vulnerability, and to be vulnerable is to be courageous and
authentic. In fact, Dr. Brené Brown famously said “... vulnerability is our most accurate
measurement of courage.”

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Chapter 8
-------------------------------------------------------------

Systems Thinkers as Paradigm Shifters

I think we’ve romanticized Margaret Mead’s famous quote: “Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world.” Sorry Margaret, but I’m not sold on that idea.
From my limited perspective, to shift a paradigm in education you need a whole lot more than a few
dedicated people. You need a clear vision, followers, and a deep understanding of all of the working
parts within your institution. It’s not just about understanding how the working parts fit together; it’s
influencing them to move together.

While struggling to work within the system, I stumbled on Heidi De Wolf’s 10 Common Characteristics
of Systems Leaders and I have used it as a reflection tool when I started to grip too tightly to my ideas.

-------------------------------------------

1. Insatiable curiosity & courageousness to prove themselves wrong - As eternal students, they challenge their
knowledge by reading - not only that what is relevant - but also that what compliments as well as totally contradicts
their thinking.
2. Happy not to know the answer - Though often well-read, systems thinkers appear to remain humble about their
knowledge and open to other people's perspectives. They embrace the mindset that the world is too complex to
know the full truth, understand that any truth is contextual and use this as a powerful motivator to collaborate with
others.
3. Intuitive Pattern/Trend Spotter - Rather than step in, they tend to step back in order to observe the interactions
between people, resources and environments. Standing back gives them a better overview of the whole, and an
opportunity to spot positive as well as negative patterns and trends that impact on the whole system.
4. Cross-Pollinator/Connector/Weaver - I have not yet met a Systems Thinker who has not used the phrase
'joining the dots'. As well as looking for patterns and trends, they are often the creators of new patterns by
connecting people, knowledge, resources and ideas. Their presence alone appears to help create environments where
people with diverse perspectives work better together.
5. Working at the Edges - As individuals who enjoy 'joining the dots', Systems Thinkers prefer to work in the space
between people, teams or organizations. Working on the edges is where their work begins and ends.
6. Attracted to ambiguity & the Power of 'And' - Ambiguity is like a magnet to a Systems Thinker. They have the
ability to hold two opposing and even conflicting ideas in their mind and will rarely decide on one or the other
without having fully identified the right question, fully understood the context or the extend of the problem.
7. Turn Uncertainty into Opportunities - While uncertainty has a paralyzing or reeling effect on most people,
uncertainty holds little or no fear for a Systems Thinker. Like ambiguity, Systems Thinkers see uncertainty not as a
restraint but as a challenge, and even an opportunity for thinking and re-inventing.
8. Flow & Flexibility are a Systems Thinker's middle names - All the possibilities brought to mind triggered by
uncertainty provides an opportunity to respond to lots of different demands and contexts, without the need to panic
about being caught by the unexpected.
9. Pioneer - Systems Thinkers are often pioneers of new ideas & models.
10. Reluctance to lead - Systems Thinkers do not consider themselves as different from anyone else and are not
attracted to the limelight. They do not value status, as they believe everyone should have equal influence and should
lead from where they are. As such they would rather support others in reaching their fullest potential than step up
themselves.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Chapter 9
__________________________________________

Leadership is in the Eye of the Beholder

CRSL Personal Lesson #42: Ask your followers what they expect of you.
CRSL Personal Lesson #43: Be aware of your leadership style and how it aligns with what your
team is expecting.
This year, I tried to be in tune with the room. Are we connecting? What I think I’ve come to
learn is that when a group is out-of-sync with their leader, it rarely has anything to do with
personality conflicts or a lack of communication. The underlying issue is that you have different
implicit ideas about how a leader should behave, communicate, and interact. These ideas may be
based on deeply held personal beliefs about what effective leadership actually is.

Not everyone has the same image of how a leader should behave. To some people, a leader is
someone who takes charge with a top down approach, while others think of a leader as a
facilitator who believes in shared leadership.

If the leader of a group believes that a leader should take charge, while members of the group
believe that a leader is a facilitator, the team members will likely conflict about how the group is
progressing. Similarly, if the leader believes his or her role is to be a facilitator, and the
members are expecting a more take-charge approach, disagreement and conflict is likely to
emerge as well.

Therefore, it is critical to understand what your implicit construct of leadership is, and which
construct of leadership others bring with them to the organization. Understanding your own
construct of leadership can help you appreciate the diverse perceptions of your colleagues and
co-workers. It will also allow you to meet your colleagues where they are, which is a critical
component of every leader’s job.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Chapter 10
____________________________________________________

This I Believe. And I mean it.

● I believe the concept of the gifted child in American education is a social construct of
questionable validity.

● I believe that when people talk about “giftedness” they are actually talking about the
interactions between working memory, visual-spatial processing, fluid reasoning,
quantitative reasoning, verbal comprehension, and the environment - or a student’s
outstanding differences in one or more of these areas in compared to his peers.

● I believe that there are individual differences in elementary and secondary students'
school performance that derive from the deep and complex interactions of ability,
motivation, culture, social and sociopolitical forces, and other factors that have important
educational implications.

● I believe that in the current context gifted education is often being used as an antidote to
poor Tier 1 (classroom) instruction.

● I believe that most programming for gifted students is good for all students. Moreover,
the existence of the differential programming is causing inequities.

● In the next breath, I believe there are many students in our schools who are not
academically challenged.

● I believe that all educators, including those with “gifted” in their title must have the
ability to use the cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of culturally and
linguistically diverse learners as conduits for teaching them more effectively

● I believe in rigorous, concept-based, differentiated curriculum and instruction for all
learners.

● I believe that the standard curriculum provides everybody a pair of shoes, a differentiated
(culturally responsive) curriculum provides every student with a pair of shoes that fit.

● I believe in gifted education without gifted children.

(Jensen, 2019)

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Part C
My Journey AFTER

Certification

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Chapter 11
__________________________________________________

The Destination: You can’t get there from here

Apparently in Maine they have a saying, “you can’t get there from here” (spoken in a Maine accent), said
when giving directions as an observation of the impossibility of traveling a direct route between certain
places. It seems to have something to do with lakes and the organization of roads in the vast rural areas of
the state.

I didn’t travel a direct route in my CRSL journey, and I will continue to zig and zag with the worthy goal
of moving forward.

You can’t get there from here. This phrase resonates with me, and it probably resonates with anyone
pursuing a deep understanding of culturally responsive leadership. There is no “there.” There is not
“end.” However, I pledge to myself to follow these simple (ok, not-so-simple) rules:

1. Stay present.
Distractions inhibit the building of relationships.

2. Be vulnerable.
Your heart is a bigger asset than your brain.

3. Practice reflection
Call up a coach. Make a weekly appointment to slow down and look back in order to move
forward.

4. Ask questions
People can read the tone and purpose of your questioning. Be curious not convinced.

5. Move with Intention
Know your vision and know your system.

6. Welcome dissonance
Learning emerges from discomfort

7. Listen to kids
You can’t improve policies and practices without hearing from your clients.

8. Forgive yourself
You will make mistakes; it’s how you bounce back that truly matters

(Jensen, 2019)

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Appendix

This appendix represents a portion of my first attempt at the required CRSL essay. I think it is
valuable and important, but it didn’t fit my hacked structure for this writing piece. I’ve included
it so that the audience can see where I’ve landed as far as structures and services within gifted
education.

Talent Development as Gifted Education: One Leader’s Perspective

I would like to start this section of this document by establishing a common definition of equity
so that when we proceed with more difficult concepts to consider and synthesize, we are working
on the same foundation of equity.

As written by the National Equity Project, “Educational equity means that each child receives
what he or she needs to develop to his or her full academic and social potential.”

Working towards equity involves:

● Ensuring equally high outcomes for all participants in our educational system; removing
the predictability of success or failures that currently correlates with any social or cultural
factor

● Interrupting inequitable practices, examining biases, and creating inclusive multicultural
school environments for adults and children

● Discovering and cultivating the unique gifts, talents and interests that every human
possesses.”

This definition and accompanying indicators will salient foundational elements as we think about
the current state and desired state regarding gifted education both nationally and in the locality.

Equity in gifted education is complex issue needing consistent and in depth exploration. Often
those talking about gifted education and making decisions about its future have a shallow
understanding of the history of the field and often work solely on personal values, experiences
and assumptions. It is acknowledged that detangling personal values and assumptions from
knowledge and action is not how humans move through the world. In fact, when values and
structures collide, conflict and change emerge. However, it is imperative for leaders in gifted
education to have the desire and capacity to see the many layers and nuances in the field.

A Case for Talent Development
Over the last decade, there seems to be growing interest in examining conceptions of giftedness,
identification, and purpose of gifted education. In a particularly significant monograph,
Subotnik, Olzewski-­‐Kubilius, and Worrell proposed, “outstanding achievement or eminence

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

ought to be the chief goal of gifted education” (2011, p. 3). The thoughts in this monograph
represent an evolution in education toward a more equitable and economically defensible
foundation. The authors recommend following the lead of other widely accepted talent
development models such as sports and music where early support and encouragement of talent,
as well as psychosocial coaching, is widely accepted (Subotnik, Olszewski-­‐Kubilius, &
Worrell, 2011).

By taking this perspective, gifted education can diminish the calls of elitism. A well-­‐rounded
approach to talent development also creates a higher likelihood of gifted children attaining
eminence in their field of interest during adulthood (Subotnik, Olszewski-­‐Kubilius, & Worrell,
2011). The economic imperative behind this approach is that talent development of future
creative producers and innovators is financially prudent because of the potential return on
investment through gifted individuals’ eventual creation of new inventions, technology, medical
advances, and solutions to society’s most troublesome problems.

Ziegler and Phillipson (2012) agree that the purpose of gifted education is to develop excellence
in students. Their work extends this initial idea to a recommendation of a paradigm shift for
gifted education—moving from a mechanistic view based on the components of giftedness to a
systemic view that calls for an interaction between the individual needs of talented students and
the learning environments they inhabit (Ziegler & Phillipson, 2012). Their proposal in some
ways removes the identification and equity dilemmas that have diminished support for gifted
education.

Because the model focuses on providing initial enrichment opportunities to many students,
standard gifted identification processes are not a part of this system. The model requires cycles
of learning opportunities followed by evaluation of talent development to assess need for more
specialized learning pathways. This continues throughout the student’s educational experience.
In many ways, this model is similar to Renzulli’s Schoolwide Enrichment Model (2010).

Indeed Ziegler and Phillipson recommend using existing gifted program models with
modifications to create a richer learning experience for talented students. The key change is the
ongoing monitoring of specific learning needs of each child and the resulting adjustments in the
learning pathway provided to encourage continued development of the child’s talents (Ziegler &
Phillipson, 2012).

While provocative and potentially influential, Ziegler and Phillipson’s work and current Talent
Development Frameworks do not address potential inequities that could still exist, even with a
broader inclusive systems and practices. There is still the possibility of talent development
services meeting the learning needs of high ability students not being offered in fair and
consistent manner in school divisions, thus perpetuating inequity. Also needing to be addressed

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

is the massive need for professional development necessary for classroom teachers to be partners
with gifted teachers in creating a wide-scale talent development model.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

References

Armenta, C. (1999). A shift to identity: A journey to integrity in gifted education. Journal for the
Education of the Gifted, 22, 384-401.

Birch, J.W. (1984). Is any identification procedure necessary? Gifted Child Quarterly, 28, 157-
161.

Brown, B. (2012). Daring greatly: How the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live,
love, parent, and lead. New York: Gotham Books.

Ford, D. (203) Desegregating Gifted Education: Seeking Equity for Culturally Diverse Students.
In Rethinking Gifted Education, ed. by James H. Borland. Teachers College Press, 2003

Renzulli, J. S., & Renzulli, S. R. (2010). The Schoolwide Enrichment Model: A Focus on
Student Strengths and Interests. Gifted Education International, 26(2–3), 140–156

Shapon-Shevin, M. (1994). Playing favorites: Gifted education and the disruption of community.
Albany: State University of New York Press.

Spring, J. (1989). The sorting machine revisited: National educational policy since 1945. New
York: Longman

Subotnik, R. F., Olszewski-Kubilius, P., & Worrell, F. C. (2011). Rethinking giftedness and
gifted education: A proposed direction forward based on psychological science.
Psychological / Science in the Public Interest, 12(1), 3-54.

Tao, T., & Shi, J. (2012). A systemic approach: The ultimate choice for gifted education. High
Ability Studies, 23(1), 113-114.

Terry, Robert W. & Books24x7, Inc. (1993). Authentic leadership: courage in action. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers

Ziegler, A., & Phillipson, S. (2012): Towards a systemic theory of gifted education, High Ability
Studies, 23:1, 3-30

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.

Reflect. Develop. Promote. Engage.