Date of Award

6-2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ed.D.

Organizational Unit

Morgridge College of Education, Teaching and Learning Sciences

First Advisor

Norma Hafenstein, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Paul Michalec, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Blanche Kapushion, Ph.D.

Keywords

Gifted, Culturally linguistically diverse, Critical race theory, Culturally responsive, Educator perceptions, Case study

Abstract

The purpose of this case study was to explore educators’ perceptions of characteristics, needs, and practices relating to gifted culturally linguistically diverse learners. The research questions guiding the study included the following: What are educators’ perceptions of the characteristics, needs, and practices related to gifted culturally linguistically diverse learners? How do educators describe gifted culturally linguistically diverse learners? How do educators describe their understanding of culturally responsive teaching as it relates to diverse gifted learners? What are school-based practices for gifted culturally linguistically diverse learners that support or hinder learning?

This study focused on an elementary school within Colorado. Seventeen educators (administrators and teachers) voluntarily participated in the study. One 30 minute semi-structured interview as well as one 60 minute classroom observation was conducted at the research site. The classroom observation tool was developed using culturally responsive pedagogical tenets (Gay, 2014) as well as gifted multicultural competencies (Ford and Trotman, 2001). Artifacts were also collected. Using the frameworks of Critical Race Theory and Constructivism as a guide, data was analyzed and coded to determine emerging themes.

Results showed educators had positive perceptions of gifted culturally linguistically diverse learners; however, the practices related to gifted culturally linguistically diverse learners were inconsistent and showed differences between espoused theory and actual practice (Fullan, 2006; Argyris, 2000). The author proposes a new theoretical framework, GiftedCrit™ to examine gifted education. Lastly, a conceptual model is proposed highlighting the intersection of culturally responsive pedagogy and multicultural gifted competencies through which to view gifted classrooms.

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
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.

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