A Case Study of Gifted Education in an Australian Primary School: Teacher Attitudes, Professional Discourses and Gender
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A case study of gifted education in an Australian primary school: teacher attitudes, professional discourses and gender By Ingrid Galitis Diploma of Teaching Bachelor of Education Graduate Certificate of Education Master of Education Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Melbourne Graduate School of Education University of Melbourne February 2009 Abstract This thesis investigates the professional knowledge and views about gifted education held by teachers working in a suburban primary school in Melbourne, Australia. Examining discourses of giftedness and intelligence, it adopts a case study approach to explore teachers’ gendered understanding of these concepts four years after they undertook a program of professional development in gifted education during the late 1990s. The analysis of the case study is located in relation to historical as well as current policy and professional debates regarding the education of gifted children, and the context of broader contemporary educational reforms. During the 1990s, much educational reform in Australia, as elsewhere, was characterised by neo-liberal practices of devolution, and a greater emphasis on individual accountability that altered school management structures and directed curriculum practices towards a focus on outcomes-based education. The increasing scrutiny of teaching and learning became normalised as both teachers and students were regularly monitored and measured. Within the prevailing political and educational landscape, Victoria’s first gifted education policy was introduced in May 1995. The study examined how teachers negotiated educational reforms and policy initiatives during a time of significant change and translated them into their own professional common sense and working knowledge. A qualitative methodology is adopted, and the research design encompasses close analysis of teachers’ narratives and content analysis of school policies and programs as well as informal and formal documentation and reports. Examination of the case study material is informed by a feminist approach and concern with practices of gender differentiation and inequality in education; the analysis is also influenced by key poststructuralist concepts of “discourses”, “regimes of truth” and “normalisation” drawn from the work of the French philosopher Michel Foucault. 2 Three main lines of analysis are developed. First, I examine current meanings of, and discourses on, gifted education and their historical antecedents. I argue that gifted education practices emanate from modernist practices and that the constructs of intelligence and giftedness were enthusiastically adopted as technological tools to regulate and classify populations. I further argue that understanding these earlier views on intelligence and the “gifted child” remains important as these continue, often unwittingly, to infiltrate and shape teachers’ attitudes and knowledge, as well as the “regimes of truth” expressed in policy and professional discourses. Second, I propose that a deeply entrenched Australian egalitarian ethos has affected teachers’ views and practices, influencing how they navigate the field of gifted education, typically characterised as an elite form of educational provision. In some cases, this produces ambivalence about the value of gifted education, leading to educational practices that are at odds with gifted educational practices recommended by research. I argue that the program of gifted professional development did not alter deeply entrenched beliefs about gifted education, with teachers claiming personal experience and working knowledge as the crux to recognising and catering for difference. Third, I examine the socially gendered dimensions of these entrenched views and their impact on highly able girls. I argue that for teachers, the norm of the gifted child is gendered. Whilst girls can be bright or clever or smart, the idealised gifted child is more likely to be male. This thesis offers an in-depth examination of the micro-practices of one school as it strives for excellence. It contributes insights into the impact of “top- down” policy and professional development on teachers’ working knowledge and professional practice. This study shows that while the imposed educational policies and gifted education programs provided information for teachers, they did not alter teachers’ fundamental belief systems, professional knowledge or gender differentiating teaching practices. 3 Declaration This is to certify that (i) the thesis comprises only my original work towards the PhD except where indicated in the Preface, (ii) due acknowledgement has been made in the text to the material used, (iii) the thesis is less than 100, 000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices 4 Acknowledgements This thesis began whilst working full time, initially .5 at the case study site and .5 as a primary teacher seconded to lecture at the then Faculty of Education at Deakin University. Although writing a thesis and earning a PhD is an intensely personal and singular enterprise, it is not done in isolation, but with the very close collaboration of a principal supervisor plus the support of many. I acknowledge the assistance provided by the Australian Government Quality Outcomes Programme: Further Studies in Gifted and Talented Education grant received in December 2004 to support this thesis. I profoundly thank the staff and my former colleagues of Atlas Primary School. I was more than aware of encroaching upon precious “Planning & Preparation” time and being yet another entity within, and imposition upon, professional place and space. I appreciated their generous consent to become participants. I acknowledge the Principal, who not only supports, but exhorts staff to accept professional development challenges beyond the classroom and pursue differing educational pathways. Thank you to my former supervisors Annette and Noel Gough, who recognised a spark of capability that led to the commencement of this “Little Project”. I also acknowledge the research grounding I gained from my association with Deakin University. Thank you to Sally Pfeiffer, who although bemused by my well practised introductions to scenarios and questions, listened and typed so well. Thank you also to Chris Perry and Genevieve Ryan who graciously read draft chapters and provided valuable comment. To my Associate Supervisor, Julianne Moss, thank you for your erudite contributions and overseeing critical eye that viewed “Ingrid Behind the Blind” to its final denouement. To Julie McLeod, my most generous Principal Supervisor, confidante, colleague and critical friend; thank you for your professional and personal engagement in the production of this thesis. In addition to the support and direction along such a challenging research journey, you have guided me along pathways and around obstacles that I thought were impossible to negotiate. I am most fortunate to have worked so closely with you. To my family and friends who patiently sustained me during this research enterprise, my love and gratitude; but especially, to my husband, Jean-Jacques Pantebre, who made such an undertaking feasible. 5 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................. 2 Declaration ....................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... 5 Table of Contents ............................................................................................ 6 Abbreviations and acronyms ......................................................................... 8 Chapter One ..................................................................................................... 9 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 9 The personal................................................................................................. 12 The research context .................................................................................... 14 Thesis structure ............................................................................................ 17 Chapter Two ................................................................................................... 22 Reviewing research on intelligence, gifted education and the gifted child: debates, definitions and dilemmas ................................................... 22 Intelligence as a recognisable attribute ........................................................ 24 Development of the concept of intelligence................................................. 25 Measuring intelligence................................................................................. 30 Intelligence Quotient (IQ)............................................................................ 32 The eugenics movement............................................................................... 38 The concept of intelligence as multi-faceted ............................................... 41 Gifted education: signifiers and efficacy ..................................................... 45 Identifying gifted students in Australian schools......................................... 56 The recognition of gifted students in Australia............................................ 59 School