Confronting Dogmatism in Gifted Education

This title looks at the dogmatism that limits the perspectives of professionals, policymakers, and other stakeholders in gifted education. In a field where concepts and definitions surrounding high ability have been contested for many years, there is increasing interest in clarifying these notions today. This book offers such clarity, searching outside of the predominant conceptual frameworks that dominate thinking about giftedness and talent, and examining ways in which this conceptual fog stunts and warps the development of gifted minds and limits the effectiveness of curriculum development and instruction. The book directly addresses the connection between dogmatism and high ability, exploring ways in which otherwise bright individuals can make unintelligent decisions.

Each contributor in this edited collection connects educational theory with teaching practice, examining the impact of policies such as No Child Left Behind. The chapters also explore the ways in which economic, cultural, and academic contexts affect both the gifted mind and education of the highly able in America and the rest of the world, while making recommendations for positive changes that can be enacted within gifted education in the future.

Don Ambrose is professor of graduate education at Rider University, editor of the Roeper Review, and past chair of the Conceptual Foundations Division of the National Association for Gifted Children. He serves on the editorial boards of most of the major journals in the field of gifted education, and for several book series. He has published several books and numerous journal articles and book chapters.

Robert J. Sternberg is Provost and Senior Vice President of Oklahoma State University, past Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology at Tufts University, and past Director of Graduate Studies at Yale University. He is also Honorary Professor of Psychology at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. He is a former president of the American Psychological Association and the Eastern Psychological Association. He has won the E. Paul Torrance and Distinguished Scholar Awards from the National Association for Gifted Children. His 1000+ publications include over 70 books.

Bharath Sriraman is Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematical Sciences and also on the Faculty and Advisory Board of Central/SW Asian Studies at The University of Montana, where he occasionally offers courses on Indo-Iranian and Turkic studies and languages. He has published over 240+ journal articles, commentaries, book chapters, edited books and reviews in his areas of interest., and presented over 110 papers at international conferences, symposia and invited colloquiua.

Section 1. CLEARING AWAY CONCEPTUAL FOG IN THINKING ABOUT GIFTEDNESS AND TALENT Ch 1. Considering the Effects of Dogmatism on Giftedness and Talent Development Don Ambrose, Robert J. Sternberg, & Bharath Sriraman Ch 2. You Can’t Teach an Old Dogmatist New Tricks: Dogmatism and Gifted Education James Borland Ch 3. Dogmatism and Definitions of Giftedness, and Talent LeoNora M. Cohen Ch 4. The Nature-Nurture Debate Regarding High Potential: Beyond Dichotomous Thinking David Yun Dai Ch 5. Overcorrecting: Spinning Out and Missing Many Jean Peterson Ch 6. Dogmatism, Policy, and Gifted Students James J. Gallagher Ch 7. Equity Issues and Multiculturalism in the Under-Representation of Black Students in Gifted Education: Dogmatism at its Worst Donna Y. Ford Section 2. SHORTSIGHTED, NARROWMINDED INDIVIDUALS AND DOGMATISM-SATURATED CONTEXTS: THE WARPING OF BRIGHT MINDS Ch 8. The Not-So-Invisible Hand of Economics and Its Impact on Conceptions and Manifestations of High Ability Don Ambrose Ch 9. Dogmatism and the Knowledge Industry: More Accurately Assessing the Work of Gifted Scholars Bharath Sriraman Ch 10. Motivated Dogmatism and the High Ability Student Jennifer Riedl Cross & Tracy L. Cross Ch 11. Facing Influences From Dogmatic Contexts with Consciousness Work Diane Montgomery Ch 12. Dogmatic Influences Suppressing Discovery and Development of Giftedness and Talent in the Arabian Gulf and Middle Eastern Region Taisir Subhi Yamin & Don Ambrose Section 3. COMBATTING NARROW-MINDED, SHORTSIGHTED CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, AND RESEARCH Ch 13. Curriculum and Dogmatism in Gifted Education Joyce VanTassel-Baska Ch 14. Paralysis from Analysis: Arguing for a Break from Traditional High School English Kathleen M. Pierce & Laurie R. Kash Ch 15. Loosening Dogmatism by Using Disciplined Inquiry Laurence J. Coleman, Margie Spino, & Charles Rop Section 4. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS: PATTERNS IN THE ANALYSES OF DOGMATISM AND GIFTEDNESS Ch 16. Dogmatism and Giftedness: Major Themes Robert J. Sternberg