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Integrating multicultural and gifted education: a curricular framework
Theory Into Practice, Spring, 2005 by Donna Y. Ford, James L. Moore, III, Deborah A. Harmon
Tags: curriculum, education, Ford Motor Co., teacher
Furthermore, the African American students' comments revealed their displeasure with and disinterest in traditional education and gifted education offered in their schools. The previous statement implied that the student believed that his education fell short in terms of cultural relevance, significance, and meaning. In addition, the students' comments revealed that they desired an education that was multicultural and that they sought self-affirmation, self-understanding, and self-empowerment from the curricula. Ford (1995) concluded that: (a) the gifted Black students sampled were not being educated to live in a racially and culturally diverse society (and neither were their White classmates); (b) the curricula did not enhance their racial and cultural identities; and (c) for some gifted African American students, school courses lacked relevance and meaning, thus, they were disinterested and unengaged. These negative attitudes toward this color-blind or culture-blind curricula may explain, in part, why African American students are represented disproportionately among underachievers, low achievers, and dropouts (Ford, 1996; Harmon, 2002). The lack of educational relevance can decrease students' motivation and interest in school. This disinterest in school cannot be negated, ignored, and minimized by teachers, school counselors, and administrators. What follows is a framework for integrating multicultural education and gifted education. We integrate the best from what both fields have to offer.
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A Multicultural Gifted Education Framework
The framework described herein was created by Ford and Harris (1999). They relied extensively on the models of Banks (1993) and Bloom (1956). Ford and Harris (1999) intersected or connected what have, heretofore, been parallel curricula models in education. Bloom's (1956) Taxonomy comprised six levels of thinking. This classification is often dichotomized as "low level" (e.g., knowledge, comprehension, and application) to "high level" (e.g., analysis, synthesis, and evaluation; see Table 1). The lowest levels are exemplified by rote learning and limited transference of learning. Students are taught facts, asked to recall information, and then asked to apply what they have learned in a limited fashion (e.g., make a timeline). These levels tend to be teacher directed, leaving little room for students' initiative and imagination; much of this level is convergent thinking. At the higher levels, students are required to explore, examine, critique, and combine what they have learned. This more child-centered approach encourages students to hypothesize or predict and be creative in their efforts and with their products, more indicative of divergent thinking (1) Teachers who hold high expectations of students of color, who believe that students of color are gifted, and who want to challenge students of color, endeavor to teach at the highest levels. Thus, many teachers in gifted education and in high-achieving classrooms utilize Bloom's Taxonomy or some other model that focuses on higher level thinking skills and problem solving (Colangelo & Davis, 1997; Davis & Rimm, 1997).
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