04. Inclusive Education
Paper
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Gifted Education Using the Renzulli Learning System
Connie Phelps1, Michael Shaughnessy2, Martina Brazzolotto3, Joyce Miller4, Audrey Warrington1
1Emporia State University, United States of America; 2Eastern New Mexico University, United States of America; 3Talent Education Center, Italy; 4Texas A&M University-Commerce
Presenting Author: Shaughnessy, Michael
This international study investigated teacher perceptions toward systemic racism and online distance learning within the context of the COVID-19 as a dual pandemic. Teachers from three locations in Europe and the United States participated in 18 hours of virtual live professional learning lectures using a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) conceptual framework and Schoolwide Enrichment Model pedagogical model in Gifted Education. Given tragic events of systemic racism viewed globally during the pandemic combined with a sudden change from face-to-face traditional learning in buildings to online learning platforms, teachers faced challenges with instructional delivery but gained opportunities to address DEI issues in their virtual classrooms. Despite the pedagogical and societal hardships of COVID-19, teachers with little or no training or experience forged pathways in online distance education. The study provided professional learning as online Professional Learning Institutes to equip P-12 teachers with knowledge, skills, and dispositions to effectively create differentiated curricula based on DEI concepts.
Professional literature supported positive aspects of online teaching and DEI concepts during this dual pandemic. For example, socialization in online learning connects online teaching and learning and issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (Siemens, 2004). Teacher performance with technology and technology training impacted student learning (Lei & So, 2021). Teaching style, preparation, and feedback impacted student learning (Bolliger & Martindale, 2004). Teacher perceptions of online instruction effectiveness compared to face-to-face instruction showed no statistically significant difference (Lei & So, 2021). Freshmen and sophomore interviews found students completed third and fourth college years with “color-blind racism” ideology (Bonita-Silva, 2015).
The researchers asked participants to complete a nine-hour online course on the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM; Renzulli, 1986) as a self-paced Pre-Institute professional learning intervention. The SEM knowledge and skills proposed enrichment for all students and provided foundational methods and practical strategies. Participants practiced using the Renzulli Learning System (RLS) components during the Pre-Institute that included the Renzulli Profiler, Differentiation Engine, Project Wizard, Super Starter Templates, Project Showcase, and the Cebecci Test of Creativity.
Prior to the four-week Professional Learning Institutes, participants signed consent forms, The researchers adapted published surveys on DEI (Pohan & Aguilar, 2001) and online distance education (Çelen et al., 2013), and participants completed pretests to establish a baseline of teacher knowledge, skills, and dispositions toward the dual pandemic areas of DEI concepts and online distance education pedagogy.
The four-week Professional Learning Institutes consisted of nine hours of DEI concepts with three lecture hours during the first three weeks. Week 1 focused on SEM Type 1 enrichment designed to introduce learners to the diversity concepts. During Week 2, lectures addressed SEM Type II enrichment learning focused on real world skills and inclusion concepts. Week 3 addressed SEM Type III in-depth enrichment learning and equity concepts. The fourth week provided additional time to complete enrichment curriculum tasks posted in Google Classroom. Each of the three locations worked in separate online classrooms with the same tasks.
All live lectures included translation and captioning to support the international collaboration between a European country and the United States. At the end of each live lecture, participants asked questions in their own language with explanations translated for non-English speaking participants. Participants unable to attend lectures could view recorded lectures hosted on a dedicated YouTube channel. Following the four-week Professional Learning Institutes, participants completed the DEI and online distance education surveys.
The researchers asked two questions: (a) How does a virtual Enrichment Camp impact teacher perceptions of systemic racism during the dual pandemic, and (b) How does a virtual Enrichment Camp impact teacher perceptions of teaching during the dual pandemic? The online Professional Learning Institutes served as the virtual enrichment camps.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe quasi-experiment study used a pretest/posttest design with three iterations of four-week online Professional Learning Institutes. Each institute consisted of 18 lectures hours of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) conceptual learning and pedagogical training in the online Renzulli Learning System (RLS) based on the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (Renzulli, 1986; 2021). Thirty-five primary and secondary level teachers completed teacher perception surveys on diversity, equity, and inclusion (15 items) and online distance education (20 items) as pretests to establish a baseline of teachers perceptions toward DEI concepts and online distance education pedagogy. Researchers in three locations invited P-12 teachers from professional organizations and university courses related to Gifted Education to participate in the study. Participants could complete the Professional Learning Institute for university credit hours with additional assignments and supervised interactions with gifted children recorded through Zoom.
The RLS professional learning coordinator delivered Zoom lectures on SEM Types I, II, and III enrichment using the RLS platform to demonstrate DEI concepts. University professors with expertise in Gifted Education and Graduate Assistants presented lectures on DEI concepts with specific exemplars related to SEM Types I, II, and III enrichment learning. Participants complete The Profiler in the RLS to determine strengths, interests and preferred learning and expression styles. The RLS then generated matched enrichment activities with participant Profile results categorized as Virtual Field Trips and How-to Books as examples of Type I enrichment to introduce diversity concepts. Enrichment categories included Critical Thinking and Creativity Training as Type II real world skills and Independent Study and Contests and Competitions to demonstrate Type III in-depth learning. A graduate research assistant tracked participant progress and posted announcements through Google Classroom.
Participants used the RLS to create individualized enrichment activities based on their RLS Profiler results. Some participants worked with P-12 students to enhance their learning experience with RLS pedagogy and DEI concepts. Both English-speaking and non-English participants attended live lectures as a group during two week days and one Saturday. Research from each location hosted separate Google Classrooms to manage projects and post announcements. After the four-week intervention, participants completed the DEI and online distance education surveys as posttests to provide a comparison with their pretest responses. Participants used codes to preserve anonymity and confidentiality. Participants who completed the intervention lectures and both surveys received signed completion certificates. Participants also received professional learning certificates upon completion of the SEM training during the Pre-Institute phase of the study.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe researchers combined pretest and posttest perception survey data from the three institutes for group analysis. Demographics of the 35 teachers measured experience teaching, geographic location, and gender. Online Distance Education survey statements clustered together as 10 positive and 10 negative statements. Examples of pretest/posttest that changed from negative to positive perceptions included, "Lessons cannot be offered through distance education" DEI item and "Instructors in distance education are inadequate in terms of knowledge and skills." DEI survey pretest/posttest statements of agreement that changed to fewer who agreed included, "Many women in society continue to live in poverty because males still dominate the major social systems in America," and "People with physical limitations are less effective as leaders than people without disabilities."
The study found teacher perceptions changed in a favorable direction on 14 of 15 DEI survey statements with lower ratings on the mixed racial parenting item (item #1). Similarly, teacher perceptions toward online distance education shifted in a favorable direction on 19 of 20 survey statements from the pretest to the posttest with a lower rating on distance education as an instructional delivery system in the future (item #12). These results indicated the online Professional Learning Institute intervention changed participant perceptions toward online distance education pedagogy and DEI concepts in a favorable direction.
Recommendations from the study include follow-up on pretest/posttest results through structured interviews with attention to outlier DEI item #1 and online distance education item #12. Controlled sample size in different locations could provide comparisons between groups. Increased posttest results in all locations would strengthen study results. Further analysis of self-reported online teaching proficiency responses could provide insight on pretest/posttest results. Online Professional Learning Institutes with low or no cost to participants as in this study can target specific content, skills, and dispositions deemed needed during crises.
ReferencesBolliger, D., & Martindale, T. (2004). Key factors for determining student satisfaction in online courses. International Journal on e-learning, 3, 61-67.https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/2226/
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2015). The structure of racism in color-blind, “Post-Racial” America. American Behavioral Scientist. 59(11), 1358-1376. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764215586826
Çelen, F. K., Çelik, A, Seferoğlu, S. S. (2013). Analysis of teachers’ approaches to distance education. Procedia Socia and Behavioral Sciences, 82, 388-392.
Lei, S. I., & So, A. S. I. (2021). Online Teaching and Learning Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic – A Comparison of Teacher and Student Perceptions,Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education,33(3),148-162. https://doi.org/10.1080/10963758.2021.1907196
Pohan, C., & Aguilar, T. E. (2001, March). Measuring educators’ beliefs about diversity in personal and professional contexts. American Educational Research Journal, 38(1), 159-182. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312038001159
Renzulli, J. S. (1986). The three-ring conception of giftedness: A developmental model for creative productivity. In R.J. Sternberg, J. E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp. 53-92). Cambridge University Press.
Renzulli, J. (2021). Scale Renzulli. Scale per l'identificazione delle caratteristiche comportamentali degli studenti plusdotati. Trad. It. Sorrentino, P., Pinnelli, S. Erickson.
Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2, 1-7. https://bit.ly/3zj2GO9
04. Inclusive Education
Paper
"More to Gain? A Study of Norwegian Teachers' Perspectives on Gifted Education"
Gila Hammer Furnes, Gunnvi Sæle Jokstad
NLA University College, Norway
Presenting Author: Furnes, Gila Hammer;
Jokstad, Gunnvi Sæle
The education act in Norway states that education should be inclusive and that all students receive a high-quality education that meets their individual needs. Furthermore, education should enable students to develop their abilities and talents. However, the responsibility falls on the individual schools and municipalities regarding gifted education, resulting in considerable discrepancies in practices and praxis between schools. The governmental report NOU 2016:14 (2016) "More to Gain. Children with higher learning potential" reveals that there is a lack of Norwegian research that focuses on gifted children and that teachers lack the competence to identify and facilitate education for gifted students. Therefore, according to the report, teachers do not promote sufficiently adapted education. The report recommends that more research in the Norwegian context be conducted to generate knowledge concerning gifted education. This study investigates teachers' perspectives on gifted students and gifted education. The study examines how teachers describe teacher education concerning gifted students and their competence and practices with gifted education.
Theoretical framework: In Norway, little research has been published on gifted students since the 1970s, and the lack of research seems to have had implications on teachers' and schools' practices and praxis. Research shows that gifted education has had a relatively low priority among researchers in Norway, although it is slowly increasing in recent years (Furnes & Jokstad, 2023; Lenvik et al., 2021). Studies show that a lack of research seems to impact gifted students' opportunities for equal education (Idsøe, 2014; Idsøe & Skogen, 2011; Nissen et al., 2011; Smedsrud, 2018; Straube, 2003). Moreover, gifted students are more likely to feel socially isolated, have low self-efficacy, and struggle with their self-identity resulting in a higher risk of school dropout.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe study investigates Norwegian teachers' utterances concerning their competencies, practices, and praxis in gifted education. A mixed methods (Creswell, 2007; Johnson et al., 2007) digital survey is mailed to schools and published in teachers' groups on social media, targeting teachers in primary schools. The quantitative results will be analysed through SPSS, and the qualitative results will be explored through a Bakhtin-inspired dialogic analysis informed ( Bakhtin & Holquist, 1981). The study examines the voicedness in teachers' utterances and the layers between them. This article is based on findings from the digital survey.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsSome of our preliminary findings: The survey will be concluded before the schools take summer leave, in June 2023. So far 85 teachers have answered the survey. Teachers in the study report that teacher education did not focus on gifted education and are uncertain about how to cater to these students. Furthermore, approximately 80 percent report little or no knowledge of the governmental report NOU 2016:14 (2016) "More to Gain. Children with higher learning potential". Roughly 25 percent report that they have been trained to cater to gifted students, and around 13 percent state that their schools have guidelines concerning gifted education. The qualitative results show so far that there is a broad understanding among teachers in the study that gifted students are perceived as a challenge but not a priority. Only a few teachers in the study perceive gifted students as a valuable resource, while the majority seem to have a problem-oriented view of this student group.
ReferencesBakhtin, M., & Holquist, M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: four essays. University of Texas Press.
Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: choosing among five approaches. Sage.
Furnes, G. H., & Jokstad, G. S. (2023). Evnerike barn – begreps- og verdimangfold til besvær? Fagbokforlaget.
Idsøe, E. C. (2014). Elever med akademisk talent i skolen. Cappelen Damm akademisk.
Idsøe, E. C., & Skogen, K. (2011). Våre evnerike barn: en utfordring for skolen. Høyskoleforl.
Johnson, R. B., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Turner, L. A. (2007). Toward a definition of mixed methods research. Journal of mixed methods research, 1(2), 112-133.
Lenvik, A. K., Hesjedal, E., & Jones, L. Ø. (2021). “We Want to Be Educated!” A Thematic Analysis of Gifted Students’ Views on Education in Norway.
Nissen, P., Kyed, O., & Baltzer, K. (2011). Talent i skolen: identifikation, undervisning og udvikling. Dafolo.
NOU 2016:14. (2016). Mer å hente. Bedre læring for elever med stort læringspotensial. Retrieved from https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/15542e6ffc5f4159ac5e47b91db91bc0/no/pdfs/nou201620160014000dddpdfs.pdf
Smedsrud, J. (2018). Forsering og akselerasjon for evnerike elever-Det dårligste av de beste alternativene. Psykologi i kommunen, 53(3), 5-9.
Straube, E. (2003). Enhetsskolens glemte barn: en studie om tilrettelegging av undervisning for evnerike elever i grunnskolen.
04. Inclusive Education
Paper
The Development of Efficacy for Inclusive Practice: Initial Teacher Education to Early Career Teacher
Jacqueline Specht1, Evan Chalres1, Klajdi Puka2
1Western University, Canada; 2Government of Canada
Presenting Author: Specht, Jacqueline
To implement inclusive practices effectively, teachers need the right combination of knowledge, skills, and educational foundation. They must also believe in their own abilities and have confidence that they can bring about the changes that they wish to see in the classroom. In other words, they must have a strong sense of self-efficacy for teaching within inclusive classrooms. Teachers who have a strong sense of self-efficacy in their teaching abilities provide lessons of higher instructional quality (Miesera et al., 2019), pay more attention to the needs of individual students (Colson et al., 2017), are more flexible in their instruction and are more likely to involve students in decision making processes (Goddard & Evans, 2018). Due to the numerous benefits of a high level of self-efficacy, it is paramount that by the end of teacher education programs, pre-service teachers feel ready and confident to enter the workforce. However, it is equally as important that levels of self-efficacy remain stable into the first years of the teaching career. Once firmly established, self-efficacy beliefs are thought to be relatively unchanging (Bandura, 1997). A teacher who has a solid cognitive representation of their abilities is unlikely to have that concept changed, even when presented with evidence to the contrary.
Research has increasingly focused on identifying the factors that contribute to high levels of self-efficacy for inclusive teaching practice. Results of studies that have included gender as a variable when examining pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy have been relatively mixed, with the different findings being largely attributed to cultural factors (e.g., Specht & Metsala, 2018; Shaukat et al., 2019) Those teaching in elementary grades have higher levels of self-efficacy for teaching within inclusive classrooms when compared to their contemporaries who are preparing to teach secondary grades (Sharma et al., 2015). Teachers who have more experiences with diverse populations, either professional or personal, tend to have higher levels of self-efficacy for teaching within inclusive classrooms than pre-service teachers who have fewer experiences (Peebles & Mendaglio, 2014; Specht & Metsala, 2018). Although the literature surrounding the factors that contribute to self-efficacy for teaching is relatively rich, research into the predictive capabilities of these factors is scarce. For example, Specht and Metsala (2018) found that for pre-service teachers preparing to teach elementary grades, significant predictors of higher self-efficacy were gender, having friends with diverse learning needs, the amount of experience that they had teaching students with diverse learning needs, and if they had more student-centred patterns of educational beliefs. For those preparing to teach secondary grades, significant predictors were gender, the amount of diverse teaching experience, their beliefs regarding the stability of academic ability, and their beliefs toward the use of extrinsic rewards to motivate learning.
Additionally, only a handful of studies have investigated the longitudinal development of self-efficacy for the inclusive practice of teachers into their first years of in-service teaching. George et .al., 2018 examined efficacy for inclusive practice in year 1 and 5 of teaching and found a significant increase; Mintz, 2019 found stability from leaving preservice to the first year of teaching.
The current study adds to our understanding of the development of self-efficacy from the beginning of initial teacher education through to the first 2 years of teaching by asking the following questions:
1. What is the trajectory for self-efficacy for teaching within inclusive classrooms from the pre-service period into in-service teaching?
2. What quantitative factors influence the trajectory for self-efficacy?
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedParticipants
Participants in this study were a sample of 378 (301 women; 77 men) pre-service teachers from 11 faculties of education across Canada, followed from the beginning of their pre-service period into their second year of teaching. Two-hundred and twenty-six were preparing to teach elementary while the other 152 planned to teach in secondary school.
Measures
Participants provided information on their gender, level of personal and professional experience ranging from none to extensive experience, and number of weeks on practicum prior to their first class on inclusive education. They completed two questionnaires. The Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practice questionnaire (TEIP; see Sharma et al., 2012), assessed their feelings of: Efficacy in Collaboration, which measures the participants’ self-perceptions of working with parents and colleagues in the schools; Efficacy in Managing Behaviour, referring to sense of competence in dealing with disruptive behaviours in the classroom; and Efficacy to Use Inclusive Instruction, which refers to the use of teaching strategies consistent with the inclusion of all learners. Each scale has been found to have high internal reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.85, 0.85, and 0.93, respectively (Sharma et al., 2012). The Beliefs About Learning and Teaching Questionnaire (BLTQ, see Glenn, 2018) measured beliefs related to: Student-Centred Instruction, with high scores representing beliefs that students’ needs and the learning process are the focus of teachers’ instruction-based decisions; Teacher-Controlled Instruction, for which high scores indicate beliefs that a teacher’s focus is on transmitting information; Entity- Increment, with high scores1 indicating beliefs that students’ learning ability is a fixed rather than a malleable trait that is relatively impervious to good instruction; and Attaining Standards, for which high scores represent beliefs that external rewards, such as high grades, are primary motivators for students. A perspective consistent with a positive outlook on inclusion would include high scores on the Student-Centred scale, and low scores on and Entity-Increment, Teacher Controlled, and Attaining Standards scales. Cronbach’s alpha for the four scales are: .66, .73, .64, and .70, respectively (Glenn, 2018).
Procedure
Participants completed the measures at four points in time approximately one year apart: before participants took their first course on inclusive education, toward the end of their time in their faculties of education, and into their first, and second year of in-service teaching.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe trajectories of inclusive instruction, managing behaviour, and collaboration over time were jointly estimated using multigroup latent class growth models. This approach aims to identify unique subgroups of participants that share similar trajectories across multiple outcomes. A probability of belonging to each group is assigned to each participant, and the participant is assigned to a group based on the highest probability value (Nagin et al. 2018).
Trajectories of Self-efficacy
The three domains of self-efficacy were best modeled using two groups. The first group qualitatively labelled “low-increasing”, was composed of 43% of the sample who had relatively low scores on each self-efficacy domain in Year 1 and showed significant, though modest improvements over time; the mean improvement per year ranged from 0.05 (for Collaboration) to 0.08 (Managing Behavior). The second group, qualitatively labelled “high-stable”, was composed of 57% of the sample, who had relatively high scores on each self-efficacy domain in Year 1 that remained stable over time; notably, scores of Inclusive Instruction and Managing Behavior showed a quadratic trajectory, showing some improvement in Year 2 and 3 but similar scores in Year 1 and 4.
Characteristics Associated with Each Trajectory
Characteristics in Year 1 of participants in each trajectory group were compared using unadjusted and adjusted modified Poisson regression; adjusted models controlled for the demographic, experience, and BLTQ scores. People with high efficacy trajectories were more likely to plan to teach in the elementary panel, had extensive experience with people with disabilities, and a belief that ability is malleable and student need should be the focus of teacher instruction. Results will be discussed with reference to early teacher education.
ReferencesBandura, A. (1997) Self-Efficacy: The exercise of control. W.H. Freeman and Company, New York.
Colson, T., Sparks, K., Berridge, G., Frimming, R., & Willis, C. (2017). Pre-service teachers and self-efficacy: A study in contrast. Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education, 8(2), 66–76. https://doi.org/10.1515/dcse-2017-0016
George, S. V., Richardson, P. W., & Watt, H. M. G. (2018). Early career teachers’ self-efficacy: A longitudinal study from Australia. Australian Journal of Education, 62(2), 217-233.
Glenn, C. V. (2018). The measurement of teacher’s beliefs about ability: Development of the Beliefs About Learning and Teaching Questionnaire. Exceptionality Education International, 28, 51-66.
Goddard, C., & Evans, D. (2018). Primary pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion across the training years. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 43(6), 122–142. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2018v43n6.8
Mintz, J. (2019). A comparative study of the impact of enhanced input on inclusion at pre-service and induction phases on the self-efficacy of beginning teachers to work effectively with children with special educational needs. British Educational Research Journal, 45(2), 254-274.
Miesera, S., DeVries, J. M., Jungjohann, J., & Gebhardt, M. (2019). Correlation between attitudes, concerns, self-efficacy and teaching intentions in inclusive education evidence from German pre-service teachers using international scales. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 19(2), 103–114. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-3802.12432
Nagin, D., Jones, B., Passos, V., & Tremblay, R. (2018). Group based multi-trajectory modeling. Statistical Methods in Medical Research, 27(7), 2015-2023.
Peebles, J. L., & Mendaglio, S. (2014). The impact of direct experience on preservice teachers self-efficacy for teaching in inclusive classrooms. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 18(12), 1321–1336. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2014.899635
Sharma, U., Loreman, T., & Forlin, C. (2012). Measuring teacher efficacy to implement inclusive practices. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 12(1), 12–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-3802.2011.01200.x
Sharma, U., & Sokal, L. (2015). The impact of a teacher education course on pre-service
teachers' beliefs about inclusion: an international comparison. Journal of Research in
Special Educational Needs, 15(4), 276-284.
Shaukat, S., Vishnumolakala, V. R., & Al Bustami, G. (2019). The impact of teachers’ characteristics on their self-efficacy and job satisfaction: a perspective from teachers engaging students with disabilities. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 19(1), 68-76.
Specht, J., & Metsala, J. (2018). Predictors of teacher efficacy for inclusive practice in pre-service teachers. Exceptionality Education International, 28(3), 67-82
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