Signature Session: “Let It Go?” What to Do if the Word "Gifted" Is Not an Option

Friday, November 10, 2023

9:15 AM – 10:15 AM East Coast USA Time

Location: Coronado H

Matthew Makel, PhD (he/him/his)

Professor
University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Frank C. Worrell

Distinguished Professor
University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Education, California
Ann Robinson (she/her/hers)

Founding Director, Mahony Center for Gifted Education
University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Arkansas
Sneha Shah-Coltrane

Director, Advanced Learning and Gifted Education
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, North Carolina
Antonia (Toni) Szymanski

Associate Professor
School of Teacher Education, Western Kentucky University, KY

There has been a decades-long discussion about what the term gifted means and whether it brings more benefits than baggage. In this interactive session, panelists debate and discuss alternative framings. What are the costs and benefits to using the language that we use? Are there alternatives that might win new friends and resources? What are the costs in using them? Our goal is to help centralize conversations so that the field can have its best perspective to help the children referred to as gifted develop and reach their potential. Attendees will have opportunities to vote, question panelists, and weigh in on where schools can go when the word giftedness is not an option.