CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS Network Newsletter Spring 2014 Message from the Εditor Danae Deligeorge - Are you ready to play a beyond adolescence (HOP). game? NAGC convention themes are keeping us aligned with our generation teaching us about multisensory learning - Well… Nope. for the multisensory age and era we currently live in - Oh come on… it’s (HOP). spring! And don’t forget, NAGC travels us worldwide… from - Still no. the religiosity of intellectually gifted Korean American - Oh, don’t be a couch college students and the driving force of academic potato! achievement to any place a gifted student may be (HOP). - Tehe... still no. That is why we proudly carry the torch of our - But… it will help you lose fat and it will get you ready progenitors as our father’s gifts (HOP), for summer! and we honor their memory like we did for Dr. James J. - Ok fine, what are we supposed to do? Gallagher (HOP). - We will look back on our learnings as well as our It’s all about spreading out our philosophy of gifted future achievements and whenever we spot a highlight, education and simply taking it beyond a stereotypical we will HOP! That’s all! college essay (HOP) (HOP) … and done! - ….? - Consider it as a gifted mind game… and… follow my - FUN?! 9 HOPS just for the introduction! lead. Let’s take NAGC for example. Your turn now… Start reading the Conceptual Foundations Spring 2014 Newsletter and HOP! So, looking back to all the NAGC Convention Themes of - st NAGC Conceptual Foundations highlights? Oh my.. the 21 Century Conference Presentations (HOP), that will be a fat burning marathon. It will definitely we are getting the bases on how to pay meaningful help with my summer beach body. attention to the child as a whole (HOP). We also learn to not waste or overlook adulthood potential- you know, creativity and giftedness continue My Philosophy of Gifted Message from Multisensory Learning The Whole Child: Are Education: Taking it We Paying Attention? the Chair Beyond the College Essay for a Multisensory Age Dan Peters Erin M. Miller Kimberly M. Berman Jolene Lawrence Baines, D. Reinhart Cynthia Rundquist Jean Peterson 2 6 13 16 For Dr. James J. Religiosity of Intellectually Wasted Adult Potential: NAGC Convention Gallagher- Erin M. Gifted Korean American How is Adult Creativity Themes: 21st Century 3 Overlooked? Creativity Miller College Students: Driving Conference Presentations Force of Academic and Giftedness Beyond Achievement? Adolescence My father’s gifts - Laurie J. Croft Shelagh Gallagher 4 Taekhil Jeong 10 Scott R. Furtwengler 18 15 Spring 2014 Message from the Chair Erin M. Miller Although I have been involved with the Conceptual Foundations Network is honored to be able to Foundations Network for over ten years, this is the provide this opportunity for teachers, first time that I am addressing you in the newsletter administrators, and scholars to benefit from the as Chair. I began my term in the fall as did our new knowledge and experiences that Dr. VanTassel- Chair-Elect, Jennifer Riedl Cross. Jennifer and I are Baska will share. both excited about the work that the Conceptual Foundations members will be doing this year. This We are particularly excited about the Signature winter we have completed the review and selection Session our network is sponsoring. In this session of the sessions to be offered at the upcoming entitled, Conceptual Foundations of Gifted conference in Baltimore during November 13-16, Education in 2014: Competing Models for 2014. We are looking forward to presenting a Providing an Appropriate Gifted Education, a diverse and thought-provoking slate of session in panel of scholars in gifted education will discuss our strand. various conceptual and service models. Panelists include: Joseph Renzulli, George Betts, Paula A highlight of the conference will be the Legacy Olszewski-Kubilius, Scott Peters, and Catherine Series taping honoring the life and work of Dr. Brighton. The session will be moderated by James Joyce VanTassel-Baska, the Jody and Layton Smith Borland. We look forward to a spirited Professor Emerita of Education at The College of conversation. William and Mary in Virginia. She is the founding director of the Center for Gifted Education and also This session is particularly important as each initiated and directed the Center for Talent panelist represents a very different view of what Development at Northwestern University. She has gifted education should be. Although there are been a consultant regarding gifted education in all certain areas of agreement, there are also 50 states and internationally. She is an experienced substantial conceptual and practical differences that practitioner; having served as the state director of we hope will be made clear in this session. gifted programs for Illinois, as a regional director in Researchers often talk about jingle-jangle fallacies. the Chicago area, as coordinator of gifted programs The jingle fallacy is the assumption that two for the Toledo, Ohio public school system, and as a different things are the same because they have the teacher of gifted high school students in English and same name. For example, two different scales each Latin. She is past president of the National labeled as “measures of achievement.” The jangle Association for Gifted Children (NAGC). Dr. fallacy is the assumption that two things are VanTassel-Baska has received numerous awards for different just because they have a different name. her work with gifted education and has published 28 For example, a measure of emotional intelligence books and over 550 journal articles, book chapters, that overlaps almost completely with a measure of and scholarly reports. In 2011, she received the personality. Jingle-jangle fallacies often occur as Mensa Award for Lifetime Achievement in research we discuss gifted education and it is the hope of the and service to gifted education. The Conceptual CF network leadership that we can clarify some of these issues in this session. 2 Spring 2014 For Dr. James J. Gallagher Erin M. Miller In January the fields of gifted and special education lost our venerable gentleman scholar, Dr. James J. Gallagher. He was the senior scientist emeritus at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at UNC-Chapel-Hill and the hearts and minds of his colleagues worldwide. I had the benefit of working with Abbey Cash on the Legacy Series program featuring Dr. Gallagher. For younger researchers, such as myself, it is often daunting to contemplate the achievements of the scholars we honor. While I was a baby, James Gallagher was revolutionizing public education for physically and learning disabled students through the creation of the Individual Education Program or IEP. His advocacy for gifted students has been just as great. I often found myself wanting to drag NAGC conference goers into his presence and shout, “Don’t you see, this is James Gallagher, listen to him!!” This reminds me of one of my favorite stories shared by Dr. Gallagher during the taping of his Legacy Series interview. When he was a young professor he found out that Jean Piaget would be traveling though the US. Dr. Gallagher invited Piaget to give a talk and was delighted when he accepted. However, as the time drew near it became evident that the room would be embarrassing empty. Dr. Gallagher then shared how he had to go up and down the street convincing people to attend, including a young mother who just happened to walk by pushing a baby in a carriage. The point of the story is that you cannot assume what is important to you will be important to others. You have to make your case and work hard to communicate your ideals and convictions to others. My other favorite piece of advice from Dr. Gallagher is his often expressed observation that you cannot advocate for gifted students if you do not have a seat at the table where decisions are being made. This is true for both advocacy on a national level, but also for advocacy in our own backyards. How many scholars in gifted education teach at colleges and universities that do not have courses for preservice teachers in gifted education? How many NAGC members live in districts with weak services? How many trained PhD students choose to work outside the field of gifted education because there is no space at the table of academe for their specialty? Advocacy is difficult. In reaction to hearing of the passing of Dr. Gallagher, Ron Haskins, as senior fellow at the Brookings Institute quoted English poet Andrew Marvell, “So much can one man do who doth both know and act.” James Gallagher’s legacy is to inspire us to pursue knowledge and action with grace and stamina. 3 Spring 2014 My father’s gifts Shelagh Gallagher, Ph.D. Reprinted here, as written for the Fall 2009 Conceptual Foundations Newsletter Anyone meeting James Gallagher today would see, quite frankly, a middle class white guy in a suit. He really doesn’t look like a tireless advocate of children on education’s fringe—the handicapped, the poor, the gifted. Except for the streak of radicalism that comes with being Irish, there’s not much that explains his unceasing advocacy, his commitment to students who lack the needed resources to stretch their own horizons. At least, he doesn’t look like that from the outside. My vantage point is a bit different. As both daughter and colleague I see that my father’s career is not only natural, it’s practically inevitable. Understanding where the man came from clarifies both the source of his devotion and provides a broader sense of the gifts he has bestowed. A Brief History of Jim. James John Gallagher was born in 1926 into a family with strong Irish roots, just two generations away from the Old Sod.