Inclusive Education-Good for all?
November 22, 2004
During my extensive research on the subject of inclusive education, I found many articles published that argued inclusive education may not meet the needs of bright students. One article in particular entitled “Inclusive Education-Good for all? A Parent Perspective” by Debra Chinchilla really caught my attention.
Throughout the article Chinchilla highlights many of the trials and tribulations her gifted son encountered in the regular school system. While enrolled in a French Immersion Kindergarten, this child was immediately coded as gifted. By the end of kindergarten, his French skills were at a grade 3 level. However, his teachers gave him more of the same work to keep him busy; not differentiated curriculum. The time he did spend in a special pull-out scenario was ineffective as he was expected to pursue his interests in French, but did not have the vocabulary background to be successful. As time went on, he came to view himself as smarter than all his classmates. This attitude and self-portrayal caused an evaporation of his willingness to work. He preferred to do nothing at all except read so the teachers let him disappear to the library for hours on end.
Of course his parents were appalled at the obvious lack of instruction. However, when they confronted the teachers, they were told it was their fault, and that they shouldn’t have introduced him to reading, math, and science at such an early age. Determined no to let their son’s negative attitude about school persist, and significantly worried about the lack of instruction, the parents decided to enroll their son in an academic challenge program. This proved to be a difficult transition. He was no longer the smartest in the class, and had to work to achieve academic success. Lots of whining and complaining was the result. However, over time the attitude of this particular student changed from a bored, unwilling worker to a child who works when he needs to achieve an objective, and occasionally works really hard just for fun.
Obviously for the writer of this article the answer to the question “Can a gifted student’s educational needs be met in mixed ability groups” is obviously no. Her reasons are as follows:
1) It is especially hard for a young child to stay motivated, when all of his/her classmates have no interest in what he or she is doing, or if they are interested they remain observers unable to contribute anything new. This results in loneliness and isolation in a mixed-ability classroom for any gifted student.
2) As well, some of the bright kids may be asked to peer-tutor, putting another barrier in between the gifted students and the rest of the class. This easily results in nicknames like “teacher’s pet”.
The author of this article concludes her argument against inclusion by stating there is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals (Chinchilla, 1993).
Even though I do agree with this last statement, I do not agree that a gifted child must be placed in a challenged program to ensure they are intellectually stimulated. Clearly the teachers who had this gifted boy in their class were inexperienced in dealing with the gifted, and were not ready to admit their weaknesses. Gifted students can (and should) be fully integrated into the regular classroom. This is because the emotional and social growth of gifted children lags behind their intellectual capacity. Hanging out with age-appropriate peers will satisfy this deficit quite well. Teachers just have to educate themselves about gifted and talented students in general, get to know the gifted children in their classes well enough to cater to their interests while addressing some challenges, and acquire resources and a support group that can be consulted in times of need. After all, it’s not easy keeping a gifted student interested
During my extensive research on the subject of inclusive education, I found many articles published that argued inclusive education may not meet the needs of bright students. One article in particular entitled “Inclusive Education-Good for all? A Parent Perspective” by Debra Chinchilla really caught my attention.
Throughout the article Chinchilla highlights many of the trials and tribulations her gifted son encountered in the regular school system. While enrolled in a French Immersion Kindergarten, this child was immediately coded as gifted. By the end of kindergarten, his French skills were at a grade 3 level. However, his teachers gave him more of the same work to keep him busy; not differentiated curriculum. The time he did spend in a special pull-out scenario was ineffective as he was expected to pursue his interests in French, but did not have the vocabulary background to be successful. As time went on, he came to view himself as smarter than all his classmates. This attitude and self-portrayal caused an evaporation of his willingness to work. He preferred to do nothing at all except read so the teachers let him disappear to the library for hours on end.
Of course his parents were appalled at the obvious lack of instruction. However, when they confronted the teachers, they were told it was their fault, and that they shouldn’t have introduced him to reading, math, and science at such an early age. Determined no to let their son’s negative attitude about school persist, and significantly worried about the lack of instruction, the parents decided to enroll their son in an academic challenge program. This proved to be a difficult transition. He was no longer the smartest in the class, and had to work to achieve academic success. Lots of whining and complaining was the result. However, over time the attitude of this particular student changed from a bored, unwilling worker to a child who works when he needs to achieve an objective, and occasionally works really hard just for fun.
Obviously for the writer of this article the answer to the question “Can a gifted student’s educational needs be met in mixed ability groups” is obviously no. Her reasons are as follows:
1) It is especially hard for a young child to stay motivated, when all of his/her classmates have no interest in what he or she is doing, or if they are interested they remain observers unable to contribute anything new. This results in loneliness and isolation in a mixed-ability classroom for any gifted student.
2) As well, some of the bright kids may be asked to peer-tutor, putting another barrier in between the gifted students and the rest of the class. This easily results in nicknames like “teacher’s pet”.
The author of this article concludes her argument against inclusion by stating there is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals (Chinchilla, 1993).
Even though I do agree with this last statement, I do not agree that a gifted child must be placed in a challenged program to ensure they are intellectually stimulated. Clearly the teachers who had this gifted boy in their class were inexperienced in dealing with the gifted, and were not ready to admit their weaknesses. Gifted students can (and should) be fully integrated into the regular classroom. This is because the emotional and social growth of gifted children lags behind their intellectual capacity. Hanging out with age-appropriate peers will satisfy this deficit quite well. Teachers just have to educate themselves about gifted and talented students in general, get to know the gifted children in their classes well enough to cater to their interests while addressing some challenges, and acquire resources and a support group that can be consulted in times of need. After all, it’s not easy keeping a gifted student interested
posted by Chantelle @ 1:27 PM
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