Unencumber the Dream
I don’t ever want you to forget that there are millions of God’s children who will not and cannot get a good education, and I don’t want you feeling that you are better than they are. For you will never be what you ought to be until they are what they ought to be.--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to his children
Dr. King believed in education's power to lift people in body and spirit and in the rising tide that lifts all boats. His words ring particularly true in the education of the gifted and talented, where we must remember that our job is to help every child capable of advanced learning, regardless of what they look like or where they live. As it is, too many children with advanced abilities remain encumbered by inadequate access, diminished expectations, and cultural norms that limit their opportunity to fulfill their desire to pursue and create knowledge. How can we lift those burdens?
This question framed the conversation last May at the NAGC colloquium The Dream Unencumbered, where the NAGC Board of Directors hosted a group of individuals invested in the lives of culturally, linguistically, or economically diverse (CLED) students but outside of gifted education. We wanted to hear different perspectives on the problem of inequity in gifted education and to broaden our network of advocates. Thanks to the efforts of colloquium co-chair Dr. Tarek Grantham and equity leader Dr. Joy Lawson Davis, the colloquium was the first NAGC gathering held on the campus of an HBCU, Morgan State University, where Martin D. Jenkins served as president.
You can see a list of some of the organizations represented and a summary of Key Findings and Recommendations in this brief report; I encourage you to read it and share it with others. Some themes that emerged in the conversation are familiar; others are rarely discussed. In a day of frank and sometimes surprising dialogue, even old issues took on a new tone, especially when we drilled down into children's daily experiences in schools.
The students who participated that day provided us with stirring reminders that unencumbering begins at the level of the child, the level many of you occupy. As they discussed their lives at school, the students didn’t talk about the books they could or couldn’t read—although I’m sure they had opinions—they talked about their teachers. They expressed frustration at teachers who didn’t fully see them and deep gratitude for teachers who did, who helped them imagine a future self that elevated their vision. They wanted us to remember the role of relationships in teaching and the influence a teacher wields when she stops a child in the hall and says, “I think you should take Honors Algebra,” “I love the way you put ideas together—you have a lot to offer,” or “Have you considered a career in journalism?” These students proved the truth of W.E.B. DuBois’ claim, “Children learn more from what you are than what you teach.”
The most important point of consensus at the colloquium was that conversation alone is not enough. The NAGC board has already taken its first steps following the event. We've appointed Dr. Darryl Peterkin to the Board of Directors, and we've had follow-up conversations with colloquium attendees from the American Federation of Teachers and National Head Start Association to discuss how we can collaborate. Over the coming year, we will continue pursuing new ideas and relationships to help unencumber the dream at the national level.
Gifted education will never be what it should be until all gifted students are who they should be. You and I will never be what we ought to be until they are what they ought to be. This is true whether you see the goal of gifted education as individual fulfillment, social justice, economic prosperity, or international competitiveness because gifted education contributes to all those aims. But conversation alone is not enough. We can all help through actions large and small, so my question for my colleagues on the NAGC Board of Directors, for you, and for myself is: "What next?" What can we each do to unencumber the dream for gifted students of color and gifted students in poverty this year? Next month? Today?
