Grouping-the-Gifted;-Pro-新编英语教程5

1GroupingtheGifted:ProIregardgiftedchildrenasthosewhopossesssomequalityorinnateabilitywhichhasbeenrecognizedandidentifiedbyanynumberoftestingandobservationdevicesandwhomanifestinterestandsuccessineitherphysical,intellectual,orartisticpursuitsThesemightbechildrenwhoaregiftedathletesbutwhohaverealtroublemasteringacademicsubjectmatter,orstudentswhoarepoorathletesbutarehighlyintellectual“quizkids”whoknockthetopoffallmeasuringdevices.“Gifted”maydescribepupilsofaverageintelligencewhohaveexceptionalabilityinartormusic,oritmayrefertothechildwithanIQof135whoexcelsineverything.Howcanwedealwiththesegifted?Ifirmlybelievethatweshouldgroupthemasnearlyaspossibleaccordingtointerestandability(giftedness)andchallengethemwithatypeofprogramthatwillhelpthemtogrowtothefullestextentoftheirabilitiesandcapacities.Thisgroupingcouldtaketheformofspecialsubjectarrangementsintheelementarygrades,asituationinwhichaclassisheterogeneouslygroupedmostofthedaybutisdividedattimesintospecialinterestorabilityclassgroupsforspecialinstruction.Inhighschool,itmaytaketheformofgroupingstudentsinregularclassesaccordingtoanynumberofcriteriabutbasicallythoseofinterestandproficiency(orlackofproficiency)invarioussubjectareas.Oneofthebasicargumentsagainstgroupingthegiftedisthefearofcreatingacasteofintellectualsnobs.Similarly,someeducatorsfearthattheaverageandslowstudentswouldcometoregardthemselvesasinferior.Ifmydefinitionofthegiftedisaccepted,thenthesefearsaregroundless.Afterall,theschoolshavegroupedgiftedathletesforyears.Yethowmanyathletesregardthemselvesaspartofanelite?Dovarsityathleteslookdownuponotherpupilsasinferior?Thevastmajorityapparentlydonot.Consideralsotheamountof“giftedgrouping”inspeech,music,art,andjournalism.Schoolshavereadilygroupedthegiftedintheseareaswithoutany2apparentilleffect.Totheextentofmyobservation,encouraginggifteddebaters,musicians,artists,andwriterstodeveloptheirspecialtalentsdoesnotcreateenvyorfeelingsofinferiorityamonglesstalentedstudents.Ifeducatorssincerelydesiretopromoteindividualgrowthandself-respect,theyhavenogrounds,asfarasIcansee,tofearanykindofgrouping.Theteacher,notthemannerinwhichaclassisorganized,determinesstudents'attitudestowardindividualdifferences.Beforehecanhopetoinstilltheproperattitude,however,theteacherneedstomakeacriticalanalysisofhisownattitudestowardsuchdifferences.Ifagroupofgiftedornon-giftedstudentsformthewrongconceptaboutthemselves,thefaultprobablylieswiththeteachers,parents,oradministrators.Ihaveconfidencethatifteachersacceptandrespectindividualworth,thatiftheychallengeandsparkinterestsinyoungpeople,theindividualstudentwillmatureandgrowsuccessfullyalongthelinesofhisinterestsandabilities.Isay,letthosewithsimilar“gifts”associate,plan,andenjoybeingtogether.Manyeducatorsdisagreewiththeideaofgiftedgroupingbecausetheybelievethatitdoesnotaffectachievementsignificantly.Theycitepilotstudieswhichindicatethatnosignificantchangeinachievementresultswhenchildrenareseparatedintoslowandacceleratedclasses.Thefactis,however,thatinavastmajorityofpilotstudiesthechildrenhavebeengroupedonlyaccordingtoIQscores,whicharefarfromreliable,andtheconclusionshavebeenbasedonachievementscoreswhichmeasureonlymasteryoffactualdetail.Unfortunately,therearenoreliabledevicesformeasuringgrowthinsuchareasascreativity,attitudes,personaladjustment,latentinterestandtalent,andinnatecapacity.Myopinion,whichisbasedonmorethanadecadeintheclassroom,isthatlearningskyrocketswhenindividualsaregroupedaccordingtointerestandabilityandaremotivated,challenged,andinspiredbyatypeofschoolworkthatwillyieldsomemeasureofsuccesstothem.Heterogeneousclassroomsfrequentlyproducefrustrationinchildrenwhoare3persistentlyunabletodothesameworkthatmostoftheotherchildrendo.Frustrationisalsoproducedwhenbrightchildrenarenotproperlychallengedbytheirschoolwork,asistoooftenthecaseinheterogeneousclassrooms.Ihavelittlefearofgiftedstudents'beingpushedbeyondtheirendurance,forIhavefaithintheabilityofmostteacherstorecognizethelimitstowhichanystudentshouldbepushed.Ontheotherhand,Idon'tbelievegiftednessshouldbewastedawaysimplybecauseabrightortalentedstudentiscontenttoproceedatwhatis?forhim?asnail'spaceortostandatthetopofaclassofstudentswithlessability.SeveralschoolswithwhichIamfamiliarhaveexperimentedwithgroupingthegiftedinareadingprogram.(Theirregularprocedurehadbeentohavethreeorfourreadinggroupsinoneclassroomunderoneteacher.Theteacher'stimewasdividedamongseveralsmallgroups.)Theexperimentinvolvedputtingslowreadersfromdifferentclassroomsinoneclassroom,averagereadersfromdifferentclassroomsinanotherclass,andfastreadersinstillanotherclass.Eachclassroomstillhadoneteacher,buthenolongerhadtodividehistimeamongseveraldifferentgroups.Thecontrolgroupconsistedofaclassorganizedandtaughtundertheregularprocedurementionedabove.Aftertwoyears,theresearchersfoundgreateroverallprogressatallreadinglevelsintheexperimentalgroup.Infact,someslowreadersjoinedtheaverageonesandsomeaverageonesmoveduptothefastgroup.Inthiscase,specialabilitygroupingpaiddividendsallaround.Ibelievethesameresultscouldhavebeenachievedinscien