Exceptionality & Language (Chap. 5&6)
– What is exceptionality? What is Language?
– How will what you know about exceptionality and
language help you become a better person?
– How will the knowledge gained help you promote
social justice in your classroom or community?
– What’s the “big picture?”.. your opinion, reflection,
connection, etc. on exceptionality and language?
Exceptionality & Language
•Exceptionality refers to both the gifted and those
with disabilities
•25 million from different social groups are..
•Focus has been on disabled due to their unique
social & personal needs
–Hence a strong drive to identify & refer (referral or
get rid)
–Culture, class, gender, race, looks, personality,
speech patterns influence referral process
Gifted and Talented (Arends, 2009; Turnbull et al., 2006)
• Show above- average talents in:
– General intellect (Grasp of complex & abstract concepts)
– Specific academic ability (Mathematical, Scientific &
Writing)
– Creativity (Insightful, intuitive, curious, & flexible)
– Leadership (Advanced intra and interpersonal skills)
– Visual & performing arts (master physical and artistic
skills with ease)
• Thus, G&T children:
– Have extraordinary functioning abilities
– Are able to retain a lot of information
– Not focused on getting good grades
Gifted and Talented
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–
–
–
–
–
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Have flexible thought process
Have creative problem-solving skills
Have large vocabularies
Have extensive knowledge of a particular subject
Have excellent metacognitive abilities
Have high standards for performance
Are usually disorganized and messy
• Differentiated instruction is key:
– Unconditional acceptance of children as they are and
expecting them to become all they can be
Disabilities
Identification and Referral
•ADA signed into law in 1964 to end discrimination
against persons with disabilities
•PL 101-336 signed in 1990 provided specifics (p.
170)
•IDEA (Individual with disabilities education Act)
covers educational issues
•Insensitivity, apathy and prejudice has caused
injustice in identification and referral (p. 177)
Special education
• Children of color are overrepresented in special
education (1 in 3, p. 180) because:
– Poverty• Leads to problems such as poor pre-natal & birth care, preterm births due to stress, and poor post-natal care
– Lead Poisoning- impacts development (p. 183)
– Expectations• Educators have low expectations for children of different
racial, cultural heritage, class, language, etc.), hence the “get
rid of” attitude-
Special Education
– Over referral (p. 183)
• Mainly Black males from lower SES
• Referral by teachers, doctors & parents is 1st step
to special ed. placement
• Teachers are mainly female, white & middle class
• Cultural incongruity is suspect
• Racial bias– Children of color are likely to be placed in low
academic tracks– Why?.. Chideya p. 63)
– Placement of Blacks in programs for emotionally
disturbed is 50% higher than the general school
population (p. 184)
Special Education
– Assessment issues- tests are usually
culturally biased
– Test are informed by white-middle class
culture. Example:
• It costs 1:50 each way to ride a bus to work. The
weekly pass is $16.00. Which is better; paying
daily or a weekly pass?
– Language used is from white, & middle class
culture.
White-Middle-class culture
• On language (chapter 6): What is, & how does it affect
schooling?
• Language is:
– a socializing agent…p. 201 (p. 204 on circular talk)
– usage is culturally determined (p. 200, 203 & CD)
– neither good or bad (labels used to confer power & privilege- p.
204
– aids in identity development
– a medium of interaction with society- We’re judged by our words
(p. 201 & 43- color of teaching)
– Is diverse (4-5K) (dialects- regional & social) & accents
– affects (1st language) brain development- hence learning- p. 216
(see handout on cultural cognition)
– Influences school’s & academic success (p. 219)
Special Education
– Unexplained issues- especially within people
of color:
• Blacks vs. Latinos- skin color issue?- Chideya p.
47
• Gender (Black males vs. females)- socialization
issues?
– Angry Black Male syndrome
• A desire for homogeneity (norming) downplays obvious
human differences.
Educational Implications
• “People are ready to believe anything, as long
as it conforms to an already existing belief
systems; and to be suspicious of anything that
does not” ~The Monk and the Philosopher: A father and son
discuss the meaning of life by Revel & Riccard, 1999~
• Educators must therefore:
– know the needs of their exceptional children
– know the facts surrounding identification & referral
process
Know the facts
– Know the facts such as:
• Testing confers privileges to the privileged &
denies social mobility to unprivileged (Smith p. 80)
• Testing is a political, social event that serves the
interests of the powerful
• Stereotype vulnerability affects performance
negatively (Rassol, p. 214-15)
• Testing will not go away due to money involved
(Rasool p. 218).. Big business
Know the facts
• Each year 250 million standardized tests are
administered in the U.S. to compare children
with a “norm” (Rasool p. 38)
• Current testing is a gate keeping strategy (p.
36).
• Current testing is a tool of “shame” – Smith
2004- Consider the following vignette:
Humiliation (Lessie Smith’s Testimony)
• I always thought I would be a teacher like my mother.
Since Middle School I have volunteered in my mother’s
classroom and the classrooms of other teachers. I really
loved helping the children. Now, I know I will never be a
teacher. I have failed the CLAST (Florida teacher exam)
exam three times. You know, it never occurred to me
that I was not smart enough to be a teacher. I have cried
a lot about what all this means. And, you know, I am
embarrassed about failing the CLAST – like I said, three
times now I am ashamed. I can hardly face my mother. I
don’t tell anyone else though. It’s time to move on. I’m an
English major now. I had to change my major from
education to English my junior year.
Testimony, Lessie Smith, African American student (name changed)
Focus Group, October 16, 2002
Know the facts
• Authentic assessment/s provide valid data about what children know
or need to know because:
– They are holistic- big picture
– Children collaborate and cooperate
– Worthwhile
– Multiple audience (learners, parents, administrators,
community, etc.)
– Eliminate racist and sexist elements inherent in modern
testing
– Cultural influences on learning is considered
Know the facts
• Becoming culturally responsive is
essential because such educators use
words and labels that:
– Value people
– Promote self-concept
– Inspire people
– Empowering (Smith p. 58)
– That are well thought-out (Smith P. 59)
Know the Facts
• Culturally responsive educators are:
– Good teachers- believe in democracy and justice
(Obiakor p. 97).
– Prepare for, & address possible challenges such as:
• Personal
• Institutional
• Societal
• Epistemology/knowledge/ways of knowing
Know the facts
• Culturally responsive educators:
– Appreciates the notion that culture influences
learning, thus provide “culturally matched L.E.” (case
25 on p. 121)
– “The question is not necessarily how to create the
perfect “culturally matched” learning institution for
each ethnic group, but rather how to recognize when
there is a problem for a particular child and how to
seek its cause in the most broadly conceived fashion.
Knowledge about culture is but one tool that
educators may make use of when devising solutions
for a school’s difficulty in educating diverse children
“Lisa Delpit, Other People’s Children” (Smith 1998- p.
43)
Know the facts
• Culturally responsive educators:
– Strive for congruity between teacher’s and
learners’ culture = Cultural synchronization (Smith,
p.53)
– Contextualize learning (influence of cultural
ecology; patterns and behavior) p.145
– Eradicate the mismatch between home & school
culture
– Use “cultural capital”…student’s cultures & strength
to build bridges for school success (p.52)
Know the facts
• Culturally responsive educators:
– Have in-depth knowledge of home culture and “high
culture”- empirical presentation of a groups’ cultural
identity
– Affirm capital culture as integral and valued tool in the
school environment
– Are artists who view students and learning differently
(p.54 - 56)
– Use effective teaching strategies
• Teamwork vs. didactic- teacher talk & seatwork (p.60)
• Cross-age peer teaching & role modeling
– Use inclusive non-stereotypic primary resources
Know the facts
– Culturally responsive educators:
• Involve the community
• Teach learners to think critically about issues
of social justice and privilege
• Bring multiple voices/view points/positions in
the discourse
• Teach children critical thinking skills (justice)
• Use multiple standpoints/positions- dominant
and non-dominant (Smith, 1998; Rasool & Curtis, 2000;
Gay 2001).
Know the facts
• Culturally responsive educators:
– Care
• “Children do not care how much you know until
they know how much you care”
– Love
• Teaching all children well is very simple… Really, it
takes loving them all.
– Meet their student’s needs
Religion & Age (Chap. 7&9)
• What is Religion? What is age?
– What do you already know about Religion &
age?
– How has these chapters helped become a
better person?
– How will the knowledge gained help you
promote social justice in your classroom or
community?
– What’s the “big picture?”.. your opinion,
reflection, connection, etc. on exceptionality
and language?