Abstract
This chapter is comprised of the written recollections of four intellectually gifted adults, all of whom became teachers. None had any idea they would ultimately focus on gifted students. Because there is no significant research about who becomes a teacher of gifted students, the purpose of this chapter is to illustrate some of the precursors, critical events, and catalysts that may lead to becoming an educator and advocate for gifted children. The authors each in turn describe the influences of family and others significant to their own talent development and how their exposure to different social and cultural conditions impacted their views. The vignettes provide firsthand information about what motivated these teachers, both internally and externally, and what personal traits contributed to the ways they have advanced the field. All discovered their own giftedness while educating themselves on the needs of gifted students.
TopDeborah L. Ruf
I first realized I wanted to be a teacher when I was in second grade, because I loved my teacher. I wanted a career, but the women in my family were stay-at-home mothers, so my role models were teachers, secretaries, and nurses. I didn’t choose nursing or secretarial work because I envisioned being bossed around. Teaching looked like an independent, professional role, and I planned to marry and have children, so summers off would work well for my children’s schedule. Everyone around me approved!
Often, personal and career paths are not as simple as one might expect. As a child, I assumed my life was normal. In my late 30s, I sought counseling because I wanted to be a good mother to my three sons, and I wanted to get any issues solved so I could be. It took about a year before I could accept that my childhood had not been “ridiculously good” as I’d thought it was. Initially, I felt ashamed I “needed” counseling when I felt I’d been so blessed in my life, but it was there I discovered many of my viewpoints and expectations were counter-productive to my being the mother – or person – I wanted to be.
My two younger brothers and I were raised by parents who had some terrible things happen to them as children. Their overall similarities, as well as the similarities of having been hurt, drew them together and created an environment that didn’t always work well for us kids. My mother had a condition now known as borderline personality disorder. For the children of a parent with this condition, it’s somewhat like living with a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde – we never knew when Mom would blow up, scream at us, or subject the three of us to hours-long rants, which occurred about three times a week our entire childhoods. I eventually described it as “the slot machine effect” –intermittent reinforcement. When my mother was good, she was very, very good, and I am very grateful for the good times.
Mom was smart and wise, ahead of her time in many areas, and she imbued in us an openness and acceptance of others. Race, social status, and sexual orientation didn’t make people any better or worse, more or less worthy than we. For example, I learned through her that many problematic behaviors have a back-story. I remember a conversation around “the facts of life” during which she said, “There is no such thing as ‘a bad girl.’ There are girls who haven’t been given enough information.” Such insights into behavior left me with an expectation that all human beings are essentially good. Imagine learning these important lessons early, as a youngster. I am still grateful for her wisdom. I wish so much, though, that she’d had self-worth and a temper she could control.
Dad, too, was very smart, and he was a “good guy” to have around because he was pleasant and didn’t yell. However, he was not very involved with us and ran no interference when our mother treated us harshly. Our family was financially well off, and we moved from a city with schools that “fit” me to a distant suburb, nearer the yacht club. I didn’t fit my new school and was very lonely until my soulmate, Pam, moved into our district during fifth grade. Except for the satisfaction my friendship with Pam brought me, I wasn’t happy and didn’t know why. When we don’t know why we’re unhappy, we may create our own explanations for why we don’t feel like we belong.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Gifted Teacher Training: In the context of this chapter, gifted teacher training refers to any formal or informal experiences that contribute to a person’s being qualified to work with and teach gifted students. The authors believe that there are certain specific requirements that qualify individuals to act as gifted teachers and that should be part of the formal training process. Among those topics that must be covered are those pertaining to the characteristics of gifted learners, including and not limited to the variability among the gifted population, the social and emotional needs of this population, and the many possible ways that gifted students will learn best. As with any other student population, gifted learners are first and foremost human beings, and any training should include attention to the whole child, and not only the accelerated academic goals and expectations for them.
Gifted Teachers: In the context of this chapter, the term gifted teachers refers to those professionals who are the teachers of identified intellectually gifted students.
Gifted Teacher Preparation: In the context of this chapter, the term gifted teacher preparation references both incidental (the gifted teacher background referenced above) and institutional preparation and/or training (university, graduate, and state or school district required coursework and supervision) that preceded the individual teacher’s serving as a “gifted teacher.” The choice to highlight incidental training, as we do in this chapter, is to point out that most of the people now serve in the schools as Gifted Teachers were trained by people who did not receive specific institutional training in gifted education or in how to be a gifted teacher.
Gifted Teacher Background: In the context of this chapter, the term gifted teacher background refers to the life experiences that each individual teacher brings to his or her role of “gifted teacher.” This includes their own regional, familial, and educational experiences as well as the ages at which—and reasons for which—they chose to become gifted teachers.