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The Learning Disabilities Association of Canada
Dec
9
Why don’t kids with learning disabilities get to do the cool stuff that gifted kids get to do?
Filed Under "At-risk" students, Special Education
Why don’t kids with learning disabilities or kids who are taking applied level classes get to do the cool stuff that kids who are identified as gifted get to do? That was the question one of my students, let’s call her Cindy, asked in class this past week. Cindy who has a learning disability and is taking mostly applied level classes and getting good marks ,by the way, was indignent because she had been told by a teacher that she could not be part of the Student Activity Council because that was for the gifted kids. She almost didn’t get to go to a conference she really wanted to go to either because someone thought that only the gifted kids should go to that conference. Fortunately for Cindy, another teacher got wind of this and advocated on her behalf so that Cindy and another student who is also taking applied level classes could attend the conference. In a similar vein, recently one of my colleagues was asked to select some students to be part of a really cool activity outside of class. My colleague chose some kids that would really enjoy the activity, and the kids and their parents were really excited about it all. Then, my colleague was told that the activity was only for gifted kids and those kids who were originally chosen couldn’t take take part in the activity. My colleague was left with the unpleasant task of telling the first group of kids that they couldn’t go.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that students who are identified as being gifted shouldn’t be able to participate in enrichment activities. I think all kids should have the opportunity to take part in enrichment activities. I’m arguing that excluding certain groups of students from certain activities just because they are identified as being part of a specific group like students with learning disabilities or students who are taking applied level classes needs to stop. Equity for all students is what I’m advocating. Students who are identified as having a learning disability, students who are identified as having behavioral difficulties, students who are identified as being gifted, students who are not receiving special education support, all students need to be treated equitably . It’s time to stop the discrimination that is fostered through linguistic bias, stereotyping, exclusion, imbalance and fragmentation. Changes in school policy, changes in instructional strategies, changes in curriculum content, changes in school and classroom management and changes in family and community involvement can foster equity for all students in and out of the classroom.
How are we going to do this? The first step is to recognize that equity doesn’t exist and that biases do and then the next step is to re-culture the school community so that all students and teachers will be treated more equitably. I’m pleased to say that, that is beginning to happen. I’ve been part of the first group of teachers at our school who as part of the Board’s Grades Six to Ten initiative has just completed the Tribes Learning Communities training and hope to help more people at our school see with new eyes . I’ve been told that the Tribes training is only the first step, and I am looking forward to learning about and helping people take the next steps.
What is a Tribes Learning Community. Before I answer that question by quoting a passage from their web site, I want to make it clear that I am not connected to the organization in anyway other than I’ve taken the Tribes training course and believe that it will help us achieve equity in schools, among other very important outcomes. A Tribes Learning Community is a new way of learning and being together.
Thousands of schools throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries have become Tribes Learning Communities, safe and caring environments in which kids can do well! After years of “fix-it” programs focused on reducing student violence, conflict, drug and alcohol use, absenteeism, poor achievement, etc., educators and parents now agree, creating a positive school or classroom environment is the most effective way to improve behavior and learning. The Tribes TLC® process is the way to do it.
Students achieve because they:
- feel included and appreciated by peers and teachers
- are respected for their different abilities, cultures, gender, interests and dreams ( that’s an outcome that I would really like to see given the demographics of my school)
- are actively involved in their own learning
- have positive expectations from others that they will succeed. ( this is another outcome that I would like to see given that I work with kids who often are not expected to succeed by others or themselves for that matter)
The clear purpose of the Tribes process is to assure the healthy development of every child so that each one has the knowledge, skills and resiliency to be successful in a rapidly changing world.
I encourage you to go to the site and explore it for yourself by clicking on the link I’ve provided.
Just an aside here, I want to say that I really like working at my school. It has an unusual mix of students and programs. There are about 1700 students enrolled in grades 7-12 . The school is home to one of the regional centres for the gifted and has about 450 students enrolled in the enhanced program and most of them are bussed to the school. It also has a high population of English Language Learners formerly known as English as a Second Language learners. But, since for some of the kids English is not a second language but a third or fourth one , English Language Learners is a more appropriate description. There are are about 60 languages besides English spoken in all. The school looks like a mini United Nations with students from different parts of the world sitting in classrooms, navigating through the halls and sharing the cafeteria during lunch. The school also has about 120 students who are identified as needing special education support and plenty more that need and get support but haven’t been formally identified, for one reason or another. A class for developmentally challenged students is also housed in the building and these kids are integrated into school life as well. It is a busy, busy place and I love it. But, that doesn’t mean that some things don’t need to be improved. I guess because I’ve spent over 22 years working with and advocating for students who need extra support of one sort or another I’m delighted to see the Board and school’s administration commit time and money to the new initiatives that will enable students to be successful in our rapidly changing world. Its actually a very exciting time to be teaching at our school.
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10 Responses to “Why don’t kids with learning disabilities get to do the cool stuff that gifted kids get to do?”
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I wrote about the labeling of students here: http://www.needleworkspictures.com/ocr/blog/?p=75
as it bothers me too. I often see technology withheld from students who are not identified as gifted and it drives me crazy. I think we certainly need to be challenging gifted students who are sitting through our classes bored. However every student is gifted in different ways (and bored at different times) and we need to be challenging everybody. I think the gifted label often has a lot more to do with status than actual instruction and sometimes does more harm than good to students’ educations.
Mathew,
Thanks to the link. I agree with you when you suggest that the gifted label has to do with status.
It is no longer OK to say at-risk kids, but it’s still OK to say gifted kids. One label is desirable: the other isn’t.
as a fac of ed student in ontario who experienced some let downs after the self-contained gifted years were over, I have realized that what we had as gifted students can help all students. Today, my experiences are shared with all of my students.
Rb
Borg,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I think that your students will benefit from your insights and the experiences you had in the classroom as a student yourself.
I am curious- how is gifted defined in your area? Just to point out the silliness of labels in my district up here in Canada- when I taught in the system my job entailed administering a gifted program and also a learning disabilities program. I had to do assessments, and at that time the cut off was the 98th %ile using standardized testing. (I hated doing this assessment). Imagine telling parents that their child who tested at the 96th is not gifted!
The very next year they changed the criteria to 95th %ile. In essence, the next year the same child is suddenly gifted. Wow- how’d that happen? A few years later they removed criteria altogether and told the special ed team to meet with teachers and to make their own subjective decision…
My own daughter was in the gifted program when she was 12-14 years old. At 15 she begged me to leave out any mention of her being gifted in my conversations with her teachers. She said the program was a waste of time, made her stand out from her peers, and that her after school activities were more than enough enrichment.
Also, I find that many students with learning disabilities are also gifted- as Matthew mentioned- there are different forms of intelligence and giftedness. I think good teaching should enrich all students!
Kathy,
I agree with you and Matthew.The classroom needs to be enriched for all students. About the whole gifted thing, at our high school here in Peel, students who are identified as gifted are in classes with their gifted peers for 1/2 the time and in regular classes the other 1/2 of the time. Some kids love the program, some hate it. It all depends on the kids. As for identifying kids who are eligible for our gifted program, the criteria changes and I’m glad that I don’t do the testing any more. The identification process is very narrow and doesn’t take all kinds of other intelligences like interpersonal, intrapersonal, etc into consideration. Many of the kids identified as having LDs are gifted in those areas. The gifted-LD students has anextra challenge.Many have a difficult time because of the conflicting labels “winner/loser” as the kids put it.
I just want to mention that the pressure for gifted identification is so great that some parents go to outside agencies for testing so they can get the score they need for their children to get into the enriched program.
Elona,
The pressure you mention is sad on so many levels. The “gifted” program has the potential to remove dynamic and inspiring learners from their peers where they could enrich that learning environment for the betterment of all students.
It also can relieve teachers from the responsibility of enriching their own instruction- it becomes the gifted teacher’s job. That certainly happens in the field of learning disabilities. We have to work really hard to keep the teacher in the mindset that the “special” students are hers too, and that she is responsible for teaching them skills as well. (I’m not saying this is easy- and certainly as a special ed teacher I saw my role as one of support to help these teachers do that).
I wonder if parents have a clear sense of how their children’s lives would be better because of the enrichment, or if it’s the social status they imagine would come with that label that they are really after. (and status for whom? The parent or child?)
I wonder too how many of these private assessments go on without the understanding or desire on the part of the learner? And what if the they don’t hit the mark? What sort of reaction do these children get from their parents?
It sounds a little like what is happening in Japan and China right now where the pressure to to get top marks is causing children to suffer terrible stress. School for 8 and 9 hours a day with classes on Saturday for senior students!
Kathy,
It’s interesting to note that some teachers prefer not to teach the gifted classes because of all the IEP paper work, and the extra enrichment activities that need to happen. Yes, if you can believe it some teachers do not like teaching the special ed classes either.
We have a lot of Chinese ELL kids at our school and they are absolutely amazed at the difference between the two systems. The stress on these kids is terrible. They are expected to get top marks yet they still haven’t mastered English. Most specialize in math and sciences, not surprisingly. I’ve even had kids bow to me- a nice change from what I sometimes get from my other students. In other countries teachers are given respect just because they are teachers. Here every shred is earned.
I’m interesting to know more about disability peoplesort of activity
NACIM,
I’d be delighted to help you, but I’m not sure what you want. Could you please give me more details.Thanks.