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UnitTen

TEXTS1&2

GROUPINGTHEGIFTED:PRO/CON

KennethMott/BrunoBettelheim

Objectives:tocomprehendthetextsindependentlywithpeercollaborations.

tofigureouttheadvantagesanddisadvantagesofgiftedgroupinginbothText1andText2.

todebateongroupingthegifted.

Sectionone

Pre-readingquestions:(15mins.)

1.Whatsortofpeopledoyouconsider‘gifted’?

2.WhatdoyouknowaboutIQandIQscores?

(SeeLib.Work)

3.Doyouthinkgiftedchildrenshouldbetreateddifferentlyfromchildrenatlarge?Giveyourreasons.i.e.DoyouagreewithKennethMottthatthe‘gifted’shouldbegrouped?

In-reading:

Step1.Answerthequestionsgivenbyindividualworkorpeercollaboration.

Readthispassagecarefullythistimeandanswerthefollowingquestionsbyfiguringoutthesentencesinthetextandinterpretingtheminyourownwordsinwrittenwork:(40mins.)

1)WhatdoesMottdefine‘thegifted’?Howishisdefinitiondifferentfromthecommonlyheldone?Doyouthinkthisisimportant?Inwhatwayisthisrelevanttohisargument?(comp.3-1,O&Ｄ1)(paras.1,2)

2)WhatdoesMottthinkofthewaytodealwiththegifted?(paras.3,4)

3)WhatopposingviewsdoesMottsingleoutforrefutation?Howdoeshedefendhisideas?(O&D2)(paras.5-13)

4)Arethereanyadvantagesanddisadvantagesofheterogeneousclassestalkedabout?Ifany,whatarethey?(paras.14,15)

6)Howdoestheexperimentinreadingprogramgoandwhat’stheresult?(paras.16,17,18,19)

7)HowdoesMottconcludehisargument?Doyouthinkthisisagoodwaytoconclude?Whyorwhynot?(O&D3)

(Thisisactuallythepreparationofthetextinclasssothattheteachercanseehowwellthestudentscandothejobindividuallyandindependently.)

Step2:Classdiscussiononthequestionsgivenabove.(25mins.)

1.Definitionofthe‘gifted’.

1.1.WhatdoesMottdefine‘thegifted’?(comp.3-1,O&Ｄ1)(paras.1,2)

AccordingtoMott,thegiftedarethosewhopossesssomequalityorinnateabilitywhichhasbeenrecognizedandidentifiedbyanynumberoftestingandobservationdevicesandwhomanifestinterestandsuccessineitherphysical,intellectual,orartisticpursuits.(Splitandparaphrasethesentence)(LW5-1,6-1)

(Splitting1:Inmyopinion,giftedchildrenusuallypossesssomespecialqualityorinnateabilitywhichhasbeenmadeknownandverifiedbymeansoftestingandobservationdevices.Moreover,giftedchildrenshowinterestandachievesuccessineitherphysical,intellectual,orartisticpursuits.)

Paraphrasing:Inmyopinion,giftedchildrenarechildrenwhoarespeciallyendowedwithnaturalabilitieswhichrankhighontestingscales.

Thesemightbechildrenwhoaregiftedathletesbutwhohaverealtroublemasteringacademicsubjectmatter,orstudentswhoarepoorathletesbutarehighlyintellectual‘quizkids’whoknockthetopoffallmeasuringdevices.(Splitthesentence)(LW5-2)

Splitting2:Thesechildrenmightbegiftedathletesbutratherpooracademically.Or,theymightbepoorathletesbutverystrongintellectually.

Giftedmaydescribepupilsofaverageintelligencewhohaveexceptionalabilityinartormusic,oritmayrefertothechildwithanIQof135whoexcelsineverything.

Somegifted,thoughtheyarenotspeciallyintelligent,havespecialabilityinartormusic;somehaveanIQscoreashighas135indicatingtheyareverysuperiorineverything.

(Thesplittingandparaphrasingexercisesaredoneonlywhenthestudentshavedifficultyinunderstandingthesesentencesdemonstratedintheiranswers.Orthekeystotheexercisescanbeusedbytheteacherinhissum-upofthestudents’answers.)

1.2.Howishisdefinitiondifferentfromthecommonlyheldone?

Thenotionofthegiftedisnormallyassociatedwithahighlevelofintelligence,butMott’sdefinitionemphasizesinterestandabilityaswellasintelligence.

1.3.Doyouthinkthisisimportant?Inwhatwayisthisrelevanttohisargument?

Mottbeginshisessaybymakingclearwhathemeansbythegifted.Thisisdefinitelyimportant.Mott’sargumentistoalargeextentbasedonthedefinitionofthegifted.WhethergroupingthegiftedcanyieldpositiveresultshasMuchtodowithwhatthegiftedistakentomean.Notethe1stsentenceofpara.6.

2.WhatdoesMottthinkofthewaytodealwiththegifted?(paras.3,4)

Ifirmlybelievethatweshouldgroupthemasnearlyaspossibleaccordingtointerestandability(giftedness)andchallengethemwithatypeofprogramthatwillhelpthemtogrowtothefullestextentoftheirabilitiesandcapacities.(paraphrase)(LW6-2)

Iamoftheopinionthatchildrenshouldbegroupedaccordingtotheirinterestandabilityandbesubjecttoaformoftrainingthatwilldeveloptheirabilitiesandcapacitiestotheutmost.

i.e.togroupthegiftedaccordingtotheirinterestandabilityandofferthemrelevantprogramsinordertomaximizetheirpotential.

Thisgroupingcantaketheformofspecialsubjectarrangementsintheelementarygrades,asituationinwhichaclassisheterogeneouslygroupedmostofthedaybutisdividedattimesintospecialinterestorabilityclassgroupsforspecialinstruction.(split:LW5-3)

Thegroupingcouldtaketheformofspecialsubjectarrangementsintheelementarygrades.Accordingtothisplan,aclassisheterogeneouslygroupedmostoftheday,butisdividedattimesintospecialinterestorabilityclassgroupsforspecialinstruction.

i.e.Intheelementarygrades,thegiftedcanjoinheterogeneousclassesmostofthetime,butattendsometimestheclasstomeettheirspecialinterestorabilitybyspecialinstruction.

Inhighschool,itmaytaketheformofgroupingstudentsinregularclassesaccordingtoanynumberofcriteriabutbasicallythoseofinterestandproficiency(orlackofproficiency)invarioussubjectareas.

Inhighschool,thegiftedmaybegrouped(intoregularclasses)accordingtotheirinterestortalent/proficiency.

Sectiontwo

Step2:Classdiscussiononthequestionsgivenabove.(30mins.)

3.WhatopposingviewsdoesMottsingleoutforrefutation?Howdoeshedefendhisideas?(O&D2)(paras.5,6,7,&10,11)

3.1.Twoopposingviewsaresingledoutforrefutation.

a.Groupingthegiftedwillcreateacasteofintellectualsnobs,whiletheaverageandslowstudentswouldcometoregardthemselvesasinferior.

b.Giftedgroupingdoesnotaffectachievementsignificantly.Nosignificantchangeinachievementresultswhenchildrenareseparatedintoslowandacceleratedclasses.

3.1.1.Howdoyouunderstandtheexpression‘acasteofintellectualsnobs’?(comp.3-3)

acaste-anyofthehereditaryHindusocialclassesofaformerlysegregatedsystemofIndia

snob-onewhodespisesthoseconsideredinferiortohimintermsofsocialstatus,income,etc.

acasteofintellectualsnobs-agroupofstudentswhoconsiderthemselvessuperiortoothersbecauseoftheiroutstandingabilityandachievement,andspecialtreatmenttheyreceivefromtheteachers

3.2.Mottdefendshis1stviewpointbyapplyingthemethodofusinganalogytoconvince,e.g.,giftedgroupinginspeech,music,etc.

Thereexisttheschoolsforgiftedathletes,gifteddebaters,musicians,artists,andwritersformanyyears,andthereislittlesignsthatthesegiftedregardthemselvesassuperioranddespiseothers,neithersignsthatthelesstalentedstudentsintheseareasfeelinferior.Thiskindofschooldoesn’tshowanyapparentilleffect.(paras.6,7)

Accordingtotheauthor,ifanysuchfeelingarouses,itistheteacher,theparents,oradministratorsthatshouldberesponsiblefor.(paras.8,9)

3.2.1ParaphraseTheteacher,notthemannerinwhichaclassisorganized,determinesstudents’attitudestowardindividualdifferences(LW6-3).

Itistheteacher,ratherthanthewaythattheclassesareformed,thatinfluencesthestudentsinhowtheylookatdifferencesinabilityamongthemselves.

3.2.2ParaphraseIhaveconfidencethatifteachersacceptandrespectindividualworth,thatiftheychallengeandsparkinterestsinyoungpeople,theindividualstudentwillmatureandgrowsuccessfullyalongthelinesofhisinterestsandabilities.(LW6-4)

Iamconfidentthatifteachersareawareofindividualdifferencesandmotivateyoungpeopleindifferentways,thestudentswilldevelopthroughcultivatingtheirowninterestsandabilities.

3.3.Mottdefendshis2ndviewpointbyapplyingthemethodoffindingfaultwiththeopponents’supportingevidence,e.g.,groupingpupilsaccordingtotheirIQscores,whicharefarfromreliable.

Thereasonthatnoapparentachievementresultswhenthegiftedaregroupedisthattheirattainmentcan’tbemeasuredbyIQscoresbecausetheyarespeciallyinterestedortalentedintheseareasasmusic,sports,arts,etc.Theirgrowthincreativity,attitudes,personaladjustment,latentinterestandtalent,andinnatecapacitycanhardlybereliablymeasured.Yet,theirlearningskyrockets,whichisobservedfromtheauthor’spersonalteachingexperiences.

Giftedgroupingresultsintherapidincreaseofknowledgeofthegiftedbecausetheyaremotivated,challenged,andinspiredbyatypeofschoolworkthatmeetstheirparticularneeds.

3.4.Pointingouterroneousnotionsheldbytheopposingparty,e.g.,thetraditionallyhelddefinitionofthegifted.

3.5.Arguingfromfirst-handexperience.

Thelasttwomethodsarenotincludedintheseparagraphs.

4.Arethereanyadvantagesanddisadvantagesofheterogeneousclassestalkedabout?Ifany,whatarethey?(paras.14,15)

Disadvantages:Heterogeneousclassroomsfrequentlyproducefrustrationnotonlyinthegiftedbecausetheyarenotproperlychallengedbytheirschoolwork,butalsointhenon-giftedastheyareunabletodothesameworkthatmostoftheotherchildrendo.

Thegiftedarelikelytogetcontenttoproceedatasnail’spaceandtobeatopstudentinaclasswithlessabilitysothattheirgiftednessiswastedaway.

5.Howdoestheexperimentinreadingprogramgoandwhat’stheresult?(paras.16,17,18,19)

Twogroups:experimentalgpandcontrol/regular-proceduregp.

EG:aslow-readerclass,anaverage-readerclass,afast-readerclasswith3differentteachersineachclass

CG:oneclasswithoneteacherwhohastodivideshistimeamongdifferentgroupsofreadersatdifferentreadinglevels.

Result:After2years,EGachievesgreateroverallprogressthantheCG.Andwithinthegroup,individualsachieveupwardmobilityinreadingproficiency.

6.HowdoesMottconcludehisargument?Doyouthinkthisisagoodwaytoconclude?Whyorwhynot?(O&D3)

Mottconcludesbycitingtheresultofasuccessfulexperimentingroupingpupilsaccordingtotheirdifferentreadingability.

Thisdoesnotseemtobeastrong,supportivewaytoendtheargument.Intheexperimenthecites,thegroupingisdoneaccordingtothepupils’ability,whichisveryclosetothecriterionofintelligenceusedtraditionallytodistinguishbetweenthegiftedandthenon-gifted.Thismakestheendingsoundverymuchlikeacompromise.

Post-reading:

1.Individualwork:Skimandscanthistextandfinishthecomp.1,2.(5mins.)

2.Checktheanswerstocomp.1,2inclassandseethecorrectrateofcomprehension.(5mins.)

TEXT2

GROUPINGTHEGIFTED:CON

BrunoBettelheim

1.Groupwork:ScanthetextandidentifyallthedisadvantagesofgiftedgroupingmentionedbyBruno.Exchangeopinionsandmakethedisadvantagesascompleteaspossible.(15mins.)

3.Classdiscussion:Listthedisadvantagesontheblackboardandprovidenecessaryexplanations.

(15mins.)(comp.1)

1)Agiftedstudentwhoisboredbyhisstudiesisananxiouschild.Puttinghiminaspecialclassdoesnothelphimasahumanbeing.

2)Agiftedchilddoesnotlearnonlywhenpressedbythecurriculum.Whenpla