Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ed.D.
Organizational Unit
Morgridge College of Education, Teaching and Learning Sciences
First Advisor
Paul Michalec, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Patricia Gatto-Walden, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Markus Hunt, M.Ed.
Fourth Advisor
Norma Hafenstein, Ph.D.
Keywords
Gifted, Holistic development, Individualized learning, Empowerment, Implicit curriculum, Instructional dialogue, Emotional development, Creativity, Well-being, Advanced development, Educational criticism, Neuro-diversity
Abstract
There is systemic oppression of gifted children in many traditional school models resulting in disenfranchisement (Chu & Myers, 2015; Delisle, 2014). Yet, how can teachers be responsive to aspects of student development that they cannot see or do not understand? All students deserve instruction responsive to their unique strengths and needs, inclusive of gifted students. This study explores the aspirations and practices of a school designed to empower diverse gifted children. The selected school site is located in an urban area in the western United States and has been serving gifted students with a creative approach for more than 25 years. Currently the school enrolls approximately 250 kindergarten through eighth grade students. Eisner's educational criticism and connoisseurship research approach is utilized to grow understanding of the program's intricacies. Primary data sources include educator interviews, campus observations and artifacts. The study informs a program evaluation highlighting gaps and tensions between intentions and practices and success relative to the interpretive frame, Dabrowski’s theory of positive disintegration and social baseline theory. In the end, themes emerged from descriptions, interpretations and evaluation which facilitate recommendations for other schools and educators aiming to empower diverse gifted students.
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Recommended Citation
Bachtel, Kate A., "Seeing the Unseen: An Educational Criticism of a Gifted School" (2017). Teaching and Learning Sciences: Doctoral Research Projects. 7.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/tls_doctoral/7