Presentation: Gifted Ed

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Research Question

“How have the goals and methods of gifted education changed since the 1930s? What do these goals and methods say about the intended purpose of gifted education?”

Thesis

Gifted education is linked to the country at large, morphing to meet the demands that the country places on the student, in an effort to produce good future American citizens.

World Wars I and II

Goal:

·         Politicians and educators look to gifted education to prepare the minds of students who had already shown the potential of becoming leaders capable of securing the safety and global dominance of the United States.

Methods:

·         Emphasis on global issues and leadership skills

·         Attention on human rights

Sputnik, 1957

Goal:

·         Educate students to be globally competitive.

Methods:

·         Emphasis on testing and an altered definition of gifted

·         Increased learning in the fields of math and science

Curriculum Comparison

·         1956 vs. 1959

One thought on “Presentation: Gifted Ed”

  1. Richelle, I urge you to dig deeper with your thesis. Your presentation explains how the rise of gifted education was tied to the US-USSR Cold War, which is very important, but much more specific than creating “good future American citizens” as 19th-century Common School advocates like Horace Mann and others envisioned. If the gifted education movement was driven in part by economic and political factors, then make that more central to your thesis.

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