Cultural Diversity within the Gifted Population

Being gifted and a member of a culture different from the majority includes additional
challenges that may also need to be addressed. (Kendrick, 2015)
Group Website: http://giftedendorsement.weebly.com/
Culturally Diverse: Coming from different cultures, socioeconomic, racial and
ethnic groups.
Student Case Study : Hello my name is Diego, I am in sixth grade. I moved her
from Chile two years ago. I have a few difficulties in school. I am a smart student,
but sometimes I don't understand my teacher. If only she would speak in Spanish I know I would get
it. Since I struggle with English it takes me longer to complete my work and I miss the deadline. I
wish my teacher knew that I work better if I were in a group. I don't do well on test, but I wish I
could find a creative way to show what I know. In Chile I was the smartest kid in my class and even
got special assignments. I wish my teacher understood me.

Untraditional Characteristics of Culturally Diverse Gifted Students

CHARACTERISTICS
May evidence mastery of skill or concept but
have little regard for deadlines or seem to have
no since of urgency in completing an
assignment.
Demonstrate limited mastery on individual
assignments, but high levels of mastery when
working in small or large groups.
May demonstrate creative thinking and
concepts, but perform poorly on traditional
assessments for intelligence due to lack of
familiarity with culturally specific language
and vocabulary.
May have difficulty with rules and question
authority while still demonstrating high
academic ability.

SOURCE
Ford, D.Y., Moore, J.Y., III., & Milner, R.H. (2005).
Beyond cultureblindness: A model of
culture with implications for gifted
education. Roeper Review, 27(2), 97-103.
Ford, D.Y., Moore, J.Y., III., & Milner, R.H. (2005).
Beyond cultureblindness: A model of culture
with implications for gifted education. Roeper
Review, 27(2), 97-103.
Ford, D.Y., Grantham, T.C. (2003). Providing access for
culturally diverse gifted students: From deficit
to dynamic thinking. Theory Into Practice,
42(3), 217-225.
Henfield, M.S., Moore, J.L., III., & Wood, C. (2008).
Inside and outside gifted education programming:
Hidden challenges for African American students. 74(4),
433-450.

Giftedness may not be strictly academic, but

may include art and music.
May display high levels of ability on nonverbal Ford, D.Y. (2010). Culturally responsive classrooms:
reasoning assessments and extensive
Affirming culturally different gifted students.
vocabulary in native language.
Gifted Child Today, (33), 1, 50-53.
Evidence much higher performance than peers
from same cultural and socio-economic
background

Kerr, B., Colangelo, N., Maxey, J., & Christensen, P.

(1992). Characteristics of academically gifted
minority students. Journal of Counseling and
Development, 70, 606-609.

Special Needs of
Culturally Diverse
Gifted Learners

How Needs Can Be Addressed

Underrepresented in
gifted (bias in testing)

Use of a nonverbal test to identified culturally diverse learners

Standardized test measure familiarity with American culture and English proficiency, not intelligence (Ford 2003).

Different native
language

Use culturally familiar vocabulary and concepts

Poverty

Teachers need to be more friendly, open minded to help motivate students. Seek out resources for student use.

Minority in gifted
program, want to be
socially accepted by
peers

Create activities in which gifted and non-gifted students are involved with one another, this helps them to interact with their
peers as to not feel excluded.

Lack of teacher
understanding their
culture and belief

Become more culturally competent

(a) engage in critical self-examination that explores their attitudes and perceptions concerning cultural diversity, and examine
the influences of these attitudes and perceptions on minority students' achievement and educational opportunities; (b) acquire
accurate information about various cultural groups; (c) learn how to infuse multicultural perspectives and materials into
curriculum and instruction to maximize the academic, cognitive, social-emotional, and cultural development of students;
(d)learn ways of advocating and negotiating for diverse students; and (e) build partnerships with diverse families,
communities, and organizations.

Suggested Best Practices in Curriculum for High Ability English Language

Learners
Use Strengths
Curriculum

Use creative and problem-solving strengths

Aim instruction and language development at students' ability level, both linguistically and conceptually
Use content-rich curriculum that increases challenge and interest
Use instructional examples relevant to students' culture and experience
Build on students' prior knowledge
Develop oral and written language
Include leadership training as an important part of the curriculum

Community

Use community members and parents as mentors and resources

Affective Component

Promote students' self-esteem through valuing them, their strengths, languages, cultures, and experiences
Emphasize counseling services as a central part of the program

Instructional Sequencing Sequence information, presenting information and skills in developmental order
Cluster information. It enables students to determine connections among ideas and skills
Encourage student use of prior concepts and skills in the acquisition of new concepts and skills by paralleling information
Teach backwards: students learn from unknown and abstractinductive learning
Udall (1989); Kaplan (1999); Granada (2002); Kogan (2002)

References:
De Wet, C. F. (2005). The challenge of bilingual and limited english proficient students. The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.
Retrieved July 16, 2015 from http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/newsletter/winter05/winter053.html
Ford, D.Y., Grantham, T.C. (2003). Providing access for culturally diverse gifted students: From deficit to dynamic thinking. Theory Into Practice, 42(3), 217-225.

Kendrick, T. (2015, May 1). Talking Circles: Social/Emotional Impacts on G/T From Culturally Diverse Backgrounds. Retrieved July 16, 2015, from http://sengifted.org/ar
hives/articles/talking-circ les-socialemotional-impacts-on-gt-from-culturally-diverse-backgrounds

Discussion Questions
1.) Culturally diverse students consider gifted programs to be avenues to opportunities that they
would not have had otherwise. These include exposure to a breadth of information and ideas they
would not have encountered outside of a gifted program, a chance to work with peers of similar
abilities, and increased likelihood that they will be considered for preferred colleges and universities
based on academic scholarships (Henfield, Moore, & Wood, 2008). These associations are often
made by the parents of these students as well (Ford, 2004).
Discuss how you might adjust your instruction to assist these gifted students in a predominantly on
level classroom. Further, as and education policy maker, how would you explain to these parents
and students that eliminating gifted programs would be in their best interest given the benefits they
attach to being a part of a gifted class? Please be prepared to share your conclusions.
2.) Teachers are encountering increasing numbers of culturally diverse students in their
classrooms, yet few teachers come from culturally diverse backgrounds (Ford, Moore, &
Milner, 2005). In their study of how the cultural background of students related to teachers
recommendation of minority students to gifted programs, Elhoweris, Mutua, Alsheikh, and
Hollowway (2005) discovered that the cultural background of most teachers still varies greatly
from those of the students they teach, and that students ethnicity does make a difference in teachers
referral decisions. (p. 31). However, Baldwin (2002) and Freeman (2005) suggest that teachers
observations and subjective analysis are important in the process of helping culturally diverse students
access gifted classes.
Based on this information, discuss whether or not teachers are qualified to determine who is truly gifted
among culturally diverse students. Be prepared to share and explain your conclusion. Also, determine
what criteria you would use to determine whether a student from a culturally diverse background was
gifted.

3.) Teachers must make culturally responsive decisions in order to better identify gifted students
from diverse cultural backgrounds. Preconceptions about students abilities, failure to ensure that
concepts are represented through images and other non verbal mediums, failure to expose students
to literature and history relating to their cultural background, and lack of cooperation and
communication with the parents of culturally diverse students who define giftedness differently
contribute to a failure to identify culturally diverse, gifted students (Baldwin 2002; Ford, 2010; Ford
& Grantham, 2003).
As a teacher, which of these do you feel to be most important in helping to identify gifted students
from culturally diverse backgrounds? How could you come to better understand how the parents of
your culturally diverse students define giftedness and academic success?
4.) Ford, Scott, Moore, and Amos (2013) indicate several teacher behaviors that are offensive to
students from culturally diverse backgrounds, and cause them to experience feelings of isolation in
gifted classes. Among these is taking a colorblind approach to instruction, espousing a belief that
the only race is the human race, or that all races are the same. Additionally harmful is the stated
belief that any student should be able to succeed in a gifted program provided they have a strong
work ethic, regardless of their cultural background.

On the surface, these statements and beliefs may seem benign. Consider them more carefully and
discuss how they could be interpreted as negative and offensive by students from diverse cultural
backgrounds. Be ready to share your responses.
5.) Gifted students from culturally diverse backgrounds, particularly African Americans, are often
accused of abandoning their culture and acting white by peers from their same racial and cultural
background who are not participating in gifted classes (Ford, 2010; Henfield, Moore, & Woods,
2008; Henfield, Washington, & Owens, 2010). Henfield, Washington and Owens (2010) indicated
that acting white related to interest in school and high levels of academic success, while acting
black was described in terms of appearance, appreciation for specific music and clothing styles, and
displaying little interest in school. This has a profound effect on African-Americans decisions to
pursue or continue to participate in gifted courses.
a.) As a teacher, what role, if any, should you play in dispelling the notion that gifted
students from culturally diverse backgrounds have abandoned their culture? How
would you make these students feel less isolated in a class where they are
underrepresented?

b.) Assume the role of an education policy maker. What curricular changes could you make to
ensure that academic interest and high achievement are not considered characteristics of a
particular racial or cultural background, but are acceptable and attainable for all racial and
cultural backgrounds?
6.) Language is described as a barrier for recommendation for gifted services for many students.
Even though local education agencies and universities offer classes for these students outside of
schools, many live in poverty and are unable to arrange for transportation and materials cost for
these programs, making access to gifted services all but impossible outside of the school they attend
(Szymanski & Shaff, 2013).
How are students who demonstrate exceptional ability, but are limited in terms of language skills
served in your school? How would these students be served if the gifted programs in their local
schools, the most realistic option for many, are eliminated?