Myth 18: It is Fair to Teach all Children the Same Way

Abstract

F rom their earliest years, human beings are familiar with the concept of fairness. Mothers who exhort their children to "play fair" demonstrate fairness themselves when dividing a family dessert into equal portions. At the restaurant, Sam's lunch must look identical to Joe's because they've ordered the same item. Employers apply the "equal pay for equal

Ethical Challenges in Inclusive Education: The Case of Gifted Students

“…It Is Fair to Teach All Children the Same Way One of the critical misconceptions regarding (gifted) education is that it is fair to teach all children the same way (Cooper, 2009). This misconception originates from the idea that fair is synonymous with equal, meaning equal treatment of people with the same description or roles.…”

“…This misconception originates from the idea that fair is synonymous with equal, meaning equal treatment of people with the same description or roles. However, the assumption that students in a classroom are homogeneous is not valid, as is evident to parents, students, and effective teachers (Cooper, 2009).…”

The Gifted Dimension of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers: Implications for Professional Learning.

“…However, despite the documented obligation to differentiate their teaching for the full range of learners, and specifically to personalise learning experiences for the diversity of gifted students, there remain barriers to achieving high quality teaching for gifted students in Australian schools. These barriers include a belief that gifted students will succeed without any special provisions (Cooper, 2009;Moon, 2009;Porter, 2008), the tendency to prioritise limited time and resources to address the needs of students achieving below minimum benchmarks or with identified disabilities (Jarvis & Henderson, 2012), and a lack of pre-service or in-service professional preparation (Fraser-Seeto, 2013;Munro, 2012;Taylor & Milton, 2006;Watters, Hudson & Hudson, 2013) which is associated with limited understanding of giftedness and self-efficacy for teaching gifted students, negative and stereotyped attitudes towards gifted students, and a preference for teaching 'average' students (e.g., Carrington & Bailey, 2000;Griffin, 2015;Lassig, 2009). …”

Education of Gifted Young Children: Contingency of Views on First-hand Experience and Conception of Giftedness

“…Differentiated instruction may be in the form of an educational environment that is appropriately challenging (Feldhusen, 1989;Moon, 2009) and grouping of gifted students with other highly able students for the subjects in which they excel so as to enhance their learning (Feldhusen, 1989;Kulik & Kulik, 1989). Cooper (2009) argues that curriculum for gifted students should be appropriately challenging, and should "be organized to include more elaborate, complex, and indepth study of major ideas, problems, and themes that integrate knowledge within and across systems of thought" (p. 278).…”