Is there a gifted-child pedagogy?

There are direct and indirect answers to the question: "Is there a gifted-child pedagogy?". A direct response to the question would specifically support an affirmative or negative answer. An indirect response to the question is one that acknowledges the plausibility of either a yes or no answer. The direct answer to the question concerning a specially designed pedagogy for gifted students is NO. Although there is sufficient evidence to confirm that there are pedagogical strategies conducive to enhancing the characteristics of giftedness and the expectations held for gifted learners, there is no evidence that this pedagogy was designed only for gifted students.

Through the years, educators of the gifted have attempted to define and defend the field of gifted education and the concept of differentiation by claiming both a specific content knowledge and a pedagogical content knowledge unique to the gifted and gifted education. A review of the literature indicates that pedagogical practices such as Socratic Dialogue, Inquiry Training, and Creative Problem Solving are essential to teaching gifted students. However, the idea that these pedagogical strategies are appropriate for gifted students does not imply that they were developed specifically for the gifted. The difference between pedagogy that is aligned appropriately with the needs, interests, and abilities of the gifted is vastly different from a set of instructional strategies designed just for implementation with gifted students. Thus, basic to answering the question, "Is there a gifted-child pedagogy?" is the answer to this question, "What is the origin and purpose of each pedagogical practice?"

The position that there is not a gifted-child pedagogy is predicated on the fact that there is no pedagogy solely developed for any one type of learner. Instead, there is a repertoire of instructional practices from which teachers select the pedagogical strategies most appropriate for the diversity of learners. Effective teachers are perceived as those who know how to make the triadic relationship between content or subject matter, pedagogy or teaching strategies, and the student population. To this end, teachers must sift through the repertoires of pedagogical practices to align those that are most relevant to the lesson and the learners. Many theoreticians endorse the concept that the selection of appropriate pedagogical practices is a signature of a competent and "gifted" teacher.

The alignment of appropriate pedagogy to gifted students relies on teacher decision making affected by environmental context and philosophy. It is not dependent on the simple identification of a set of pedagogical practices labeled "for the gifted." The teacher's philosophical disposition can determine gifted-child pedagogy. For example, the repertoire of teaching strategies includes direct instruction, which is didactic and teacher-dependent, and child- or student-centered inquiry training. Educators of the gifted need to determine when and why such strategies are appropriate. Sometimes teachers ignore the benefits of a teacher-directed pedagogy because they believe gifted students will be limited or thwarted by such a pedagogical choice. In reality, gifted students require experiences in every type of pedagogical practice ranging from those that are teacher directed to those that are student centered.

The belief that a distinctive gifted-child pedagogy exists can lead to poor teaching and student underachievement. The mismatch between content and pedagogy is such an example. A teacher returning from a professional development activity on Socratic Dialogue is enthusiastic to practice this strategy. During the introductory lesson regarding Colonial America the teacher employs the Socratic Dialogue technique and is dismayed by the lack of interactive discussion the students engage in during the lesson. Unfortunately, the objective of the lesson was incongruous to the implementation of a Socratic Dialogue. The students had insufficient knowledge to discuss the subject in the context of a Socratic Dialogue. Often the disappointment the teacher experiences in the use of an instructional strategy is an indictment of pedagogy rather than a consequence of teacher knowledge and decision making.

Determining the appropriate pedagogy for gifted students depends on many factors such as the nature of the content or subject matter, attributes and needs of the student population, and context. The latter concept is crucial. Certain pedagogical practices reinforce certain context. A teacher who wants gifted students to learn in an independent and self-directed environment must select pedagogical practices that foster independence of thought and action. Pedagogical practices require a physical and affective structure to support them.

Perhaps the most significant argument favoring a gifted-child pedagogy is the belief that gifted students have innate strategies that facilitate their learning. Gifted students might have their own pedagogical repertoire. Many educators of the gifted would concur that gifted students have developed their own learning pathways and that they have been successful traversing these pedagogical paths. However, there is still a need to introduce gifted students to formal and discipline-specific pedagogy that reinforces and extends the pedagogy they have acquired naturally.

The argument for or against a gifted-child pedagogy can be approached from direct or indirect and from theoretical or philosophical perspectives. It is probably unlikely to achieve a definitive response to the issue of a gifted-child pedagogy. What is important is to understand that pedagogy is a response to who we teach and what we are teaching.

Sandra N. Kaplan is a clinical professor, Teacher Education, Division of Learning and Instruction, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California. She has been president of the California Association for the Gifted, the National Association for Gifted Children, and is currently on the Executive Committee, World Council for the Gifted. She is one of the authors of the NAGC Service Publication: Parallel Curriculum. E-mail: [e-mail].