Teaching Dispositions in action: Talking the walk

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Teaching Dispositions in actionTalking the walk

• Marcia Dvorak, Ph.D., mjdvorak_at_ku.edu
• Reva Friedman-Nimz
• University of Kansas

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• Great teachers make a profound difference in the
  lives of children.
• National Council on Teacher Quality, Walsh and
  Tracy, 2003
• It does not appear to be true that any good
  teacher can effectively teach gifted children.
  In fact, good teachers who are unprepared to
  teach gifted students may not only be ineffective
  with them but may also become primary
  contributors to the development of
  underachievement behavior and negative attitudes
• Whitmore, 1980, p. 400

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The Journey Begins

• Dispositions in gifted education
• A dive into the literature
• List, after list, after list yes, a laundry
  list (Renzulli)
• Resulted in approximately 140 separate
  qualities/characteristics/competencies
• Knowledge and skills
• How can we organize into meaningful categories?

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Research Questions

• What patterns of knowledge, skills, and
  dispositions characterize the actions and
  thoughts of gifted education teachers?
• Are these patterns different for teachers with
  reputational expertise?

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Task 1 Critical Analysis of Pertinent Literature

• 18 major references
• 55.5 of the references cited intellectual
  abilities of the teacher
• 45 spoke to the environment (safe, warm,
  permissive atmosphere learner-centered)

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Frequencies within the Literature Review

• 30--Knowledgeable/Subject matter knowledge
• 25--Flexible/open
• 20--Flexibility with curriculum
• 20--Creativity/imaginative
• 15--Problem solving
• 15--Lifelong learner/intellectual growth

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Frequencies(continued)

• 15--Enthusiastic
• 15--Prefer to teach G/T student
• 10--Sense of humor
• 10--Skills involving questioning
• 5--Skills for working with G/T students
• 5--Capacity for change

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Task 2 Evaluating the Perceived Importance of
Identified Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions

• Superior intelligence

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Survey Results

• Knowledge
• Skills
• Dispositions

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Examining Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositionsin
Actions and Thoughts

• Costa and Kallick, Habits of Mind
• Connecting Habits and dispositions
• (Costa A. Kallick, B. 2001. Habits of Mind
  A Developmental Series. Book 1 Discovering and
  Exploring Habits of Mind. Alexandria, VA ASCD.)

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Habits of Mind

• Persisting Managing Impulsivity Listening
• Thinking Flexibly Metacognition
• Striving for Accuracy and Precision Questioning
  Applying Past Knowledge to New Situations
• Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and
  Precision Gathering Data through All Senses
• Creating, Imagining, and Innovating
• Responding with Wonderment and Awe
• Taking Responsible Risks Finding Humor
• Thinking Interdependently
• Remaining Open to Continuous Learning

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Habits of Mind

• Explained the literature
• Fit to both state and federal standards

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Prior Research Methods and Results

• Surveys, checklists/opinions, training,
  creativity in teachers, secondary sources
• Qualitative
• Colemans (1991) practitioner perspective and the
  invisible world
• Story (1985)
• Gentry and Hu The Gifted Teacher (2006)

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The Qualitative Process

• Qualitative process
• Grand tour questions
• Categories
• Critical incidents
• Definition of reputational expertise
• Displaying qualities congruent with the
  literature and the Habits

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Findings

• Habits that defined G/T teachers with
  reputational expertise
• Lifelong learning
• Articulate beliefs well and with confidence
• Wonderment and awe
• Policy

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Implications

• The Laundry List Can it be reduced?
• Explicitly teach
• Specialization implications
• Freehill, (1974) Hansford, (1985) Newland
  (1962) Torrence and Myers (1973)
• Heath (1997)

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Displaying Reputational Expertise
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Next

• General education
• Using emerging categories
• Laundry List (Knowledge, Skills, Dispositions)
• Real life connections

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Thank you

• My sincere thanks is extended to Dr. Reva
• Friedman-Nimz and Dr. Earle Knowlton who aided me
  in this quest as well as all the other professors
  on my doctoral committee who played a significant
  part in its completion.
• Dr. Marcia Dvorak, University of Kansas
• mjdvorak_at_ku.edu