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Abstract
Much is written at the elementary school level concerning bullying and the socioemotional needs of gifted and talented (GT) students; however, in the last 10 years, little qualitative research exists concerning the early adolescent GT age group. In the social environment of classroom life, early and current research indicates that many of these students experience neurotic perfectionism, overexciteabilities (OEs), developmental asynchrony, and bullying. The formation of autonomous classes (GT-only classes) has afforded some hope concerning the amelioration of such problems; nevertheless, in this study, detailed evidence of classroom bullying in the form of social ostracism and teasing has been found with this GT age group. If left unchecked, psychological autopsies have shown these students suffering emotional difficulties and even committing suicide as a result of school and classroom torment. With such potential for classroom bullying problems, few studies address what veteran teachers of early adolescent GT students do to keep students psychologically safe. Within the social milieu of classroom life, and in comparison to research standards, this study explores three efficacious teacher perspectives and practices.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A special thanks to Scott L. Hunsaker, PhD, and Sherry Marx, PhD, for prepublication suggestions and close readings of the article.
Notes
1. The names of people, the junior high school, and the school district are pseudonyms.
2. Title I is federal legislation that provides funds to schools impacted by high levels of poverty within their student populations.
3. Code for K. Teague, personal communications, March 11, 2015. All quotes in this section, other than reflective journal quotes (KTJ), are from K. Teague’s interview transcripts.
4. Code for A. Adams, personal communications, March 12, 2015. All quotes in this section, other than reflective journal quotes (ATJ), are from A. Adams’s interview transcripts.
5. Code for K. Smith, personal communications, March 12, 2015. All quotes in this section, other than reflective journal quotes (KSJ), are from K. Smith’s interview transcripts.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
William T. Allen
William T. Allen Jr. is an experienced middle school educator who specializes in early adolescent gifted and talented (GT) education. Specifically, his focus is on the prevention of socioemotional problems (bullying) along with the maximization of learning in GT development contexts. Underlying his bullying prevention focus is a positive psychology curriculum and instruction emphasis with educational guidelines and subject-matter methods that support rather than hinder GT student advancement. He is currently a social studies teacher in Salt Lake City, Utah, working on a doctoral degree at the School of Teacher Education and Leadership at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. E-mail: [email protected]