The Education Support of Gifted Children from Asian Communities - Essay Example

Asian American, Gifted Introduction Gifted children are endowed with abilities that are not normally found in children of their age group. Some of these abilities come as a special development of faculties far in advance of their ages. In certain cases gifted children also tend to suffer from Autism, or Dyslexia and other form of imbalance. They may thus have special skills in one area which is overshadowed by lack of development in another. Gifted children have special requirements in education, training and care. In the case of Asians who are now American citizens, the needs of the gifted children are complex as compared to the needs of native born American children. The issue is complex because Asian culture, language and communication are vastly different and even though the family is oriented well enough to adjust to the US environment, normal interactions in the case of gifted children from these countries differ. The method of identifying such children have to be revised and a unique method of assessing their potential closely linked to the culture and way of responding has to be evolved. Many factors, such as language, specific religious faith, cultural taboos and parental confusion will add to the problem of first identifying gifted children and then tailoring a program to suit them. The second objective would be to evolve a system that coaches and trains parents to help the children cope with the demands of the child and the education proposed to be given. This is a situation which requires multiple entity participation like the parents, the teachers and education experts who will eventually deal with the child, and the environment creators and facilitators who will support the programs intended for the children. While Native American children can cope with the available system, as they are born into it or otherwise accustomed to the information delivery system, their parents and educators are comfortable with dealing with them. In their case it is just advancing the child through a series of steps before time, like promoting to the next grade, skipping two semesters etc. In the case of Asian children, this can have negative ramifications because skipping a semester and advancing the child to another set of classes which he is suited for has an uprooting feeling. Feelings and Emotions One important thing to remember is that gifted children also have simple needs that have to be met just like other children of their age. Except for the fact that they are able to assimilate and transform information faster the biological social and psychological needs of these children are the same as those of their contemporaries not endowed with special skills. This is often overlooked. In the case of Asian children the needs vary largely from other communities. Asian children follow a typical lifestyle inherited from the community in their original homeland. Some requirements of their culture and psychological factors learned or given to them by the system they inherit from their parents may be at tangent to the prevalent atmosphere they find themselves in, especially if they are treated as ‘special’. Travails of Being Gifted The anguish of being treated in a different way has been clearly spelt out in various web blogs by gifted children. Karen Murphy a gifted child for example emphasizes his woes and feelings where the gifted child not only faced the animosity of the fellows at school, and speaks of boredom setting in with the average school affairs which they leap ahead in days and years. The problem often is coupled with the strain of coping up with an alien culture and language and communication problems in the case of Asian kids. The Education System and Support The major problem will be identifying the children who are gifted in the Asian community. To explore the possibility of identifying such children, we have to consider some of the methods current in the process followed in the educational institutions. Every school and educational institution in the United States is fully equipped with facilities and nation wide programs for identifying gifted children from all ethnic backgrounds and providing them with training suited to their needs. Some of the mentionable programs include the Accelerated and Enriched Gifted and Talented (G/T) instruction which is tailored to allow the pupil to move forward at an accelerated pace through the course as per the capability of the student. The major requirement is especially for Asians, the need to have a better understanding in the English language, which is provided for as a special stream in the ESOL program that is the English for Speakers of Other Languages. Added to that Honors courses suited for gifted children, and the magnet programs that attract talent are a part of the educational scenario today. Added to this is the facility offered to children with learning and other disabilities. Gifted or not, children are normally tested for skills in various ways and the procedure for identifying gifted children is common through out the country. For example the Visual Art Center Intensive instruction provides for those gifted in arts to pursue a career at the Albert Einstein High School, along with regular studies in the schools where they are enrolled. Similarly the High School Initiative the Northeast Consortium Summer School provides tests for Grades 1-12 the winner of which entitles the child to be enrolled at Edison as a special case. The Terra Nova Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) helps asses the reading and language skills. The Achievement Test (CAT) Maryland Functional Tests (MFT) and the Advanced Placement Examinations Students may take these exams to find their true capabilities. The Problem of the Tests The problem with Asian children in this respect is the unawareness of their parents in some cases as to these facilities, and secondly the language barriers which will require these children to first master the English language before attempting the tests. Words that are used in the tests have a generic reference to the US usage but may mean some other thing in the Asian context. This is especially so where languages that are totally different in construction form the tongue of the student. While rich in words, the context of the words used themselves may convey a different meaning thereby downgrading the actually gifted student and frustrating the very plan of the system that is created to help them. The Language Barrier The greatest barrier that is present with the children in common and especially the gifted children will be the language gap which can be addressed by the teachers and instructors being drawn from multi lingual background or from the Asiatic community.. A very simple example is pronunciation and spelling. In many Asiatic countries that were colonies of England British English is used. Therefore the spellings followed will also be that of Britain. Worlds like color – is spelt colour, labor as labour for example and the test that use these words in the American way are likely to confuse the child. Added to that the pronunciation of English words differ from community to community. In languages that have more syllables that stress the R, ‘Farmer’ is pronounced as ‘Faarrmerr’. Thus when the instructor speaks American English even familiar words appear to be Greek and Latin. Problems of Educators Though the system provides the facilities for the identification and nurturing of gifted children, in the case of Asian children, this may not be as effective as desired. This is because the children are not imbibed with the American way of life, but rather are insisted to adhere to the original family and cultural values of the country of origin. It is not possible to completely abandon the cultural values of the Asian system especially in the generations of new immigrants. There are clear conflicts where American way of life is juxtaposed with the Asian way of life creating conflict. In the case of the gifted child, added to the pressure and the apathy to the education delivered which may be too slow or incomprehensible to the child based on his or her upbringing, further pressure is imposed by the education system which wants the child to pick up the American way and peer pressure which dictates the values and thought patterns of the child follow the unique system of the inherited Asian culture. This difference can hardly be understood by the educators unless they interact and take pains to under stand the Asian culture, back ground and expectations of the community which will largely differ from the American model. The educators run the risk of seeing these children in particular role, either as gifted children or as normal or sub normal based on the values and their interactions with the children and their previous experience. Educators run the risk of deductive reasoning that may provide them with erroneous conclusions like “All Asian kids are gifted” based on some encounters with exceptional kids, or “All Asian kids are average” based on the results of interaction and test results of children who may other wise be gifted but suffer from language and communication barriers or special requirements as in the case of Dyslexia or Autism. The risk if the educator being misled while analyzing the potential of a child from an Asian background is a hundred times more than with the same error being committed with an American child of native origin. Personal bias could also be a factor that either admiringly treats average children as gifted thereby making them miserable, or condemning the gifted one as ordinary thereby making them bored with the schooling and alienating them from the class which results in further loneliness and isolation which is already a problem with these children in normal schools. Teachers of Gifted Asian Children Where the teachers are from the American community and have students from the Asian community, there could be problems of interpretation of behaviour. Fro example the teacher may be used to normal children playing and socializing in a very free manner while cultural restrictions that come with the psyche of the Asian student may make him or her slightly shy and timid. The interaction and aloof ness may be interpreted as abnormal behaviour. The teacher and educator thus first must be trained to interpret understand and assimilate the cultural background, customs and inhibitions of particular Asiatic communities that the students hail from and must also be trained to see the behaviour and learning pace of the student and educational problems and behaviour problems in the light of the cultural background. The educator ought to be encouraged to interact with the parents of the child, since in the Asiatic communities parents decide and encourage the stands and ambitions of their ward. Education is seen as an extension of the family activity and parents demonstrate the value of education using a carrot and stick policy. Parent Orientation The families of Asians place the family above all else and the roles expected from each member is scripted into the culture. The expectation on children and the value the family places on education and career is different from those placed by native Americans. While pressures mount on the children to excel in education, most parents are helpless in educating them or are not aware of the American model of education. In the case of gifted children who are truly above their average class level, they have to cope with the cultural difference in school, and the barriers in the delivery of education discussed above, and also face a different pressure at home with the parents and peers daunting, and cajoling them to exceed themselves making success in education the most fundamental requisite of their recognition by the family and community. This double opposite ended pressure actually wrecks the mind and makes the most gifted child underachieve. It is suggested that more parent teacher meets, Special instructions and seminars for parents appraising them about their children and their true potential be conducted in schools with special attention to the gifted children. Conclusion The gifted children from Asian communities have to be identified keeping in mind the language and cultural barriers which means modifying the current test patterns, educating teachers and picking qualified instructors from the community to form a bridge between the child and other entities. It also means that the parents and concerned relatives be trained and made to understand the requirements, along with deep and committed interaction between educators, parents and the child. See Also: Gifted Children, Asian Americans, Ethnic problems in education, English Language Further reading: Barkan, E. R. (1992). Asian Pacific Islander immigration to the United States. A model of new global patterns. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Coker, D. M. (1988). The Asian students in the classroom. Education and Society, 1(3), 19-20. Hall, E. T. (1977). Beyond culture Garden City, NY: Anchor Press. Huang, Gary (1993) Beyond Culture: Communicating with Asian American Children and Families. Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education New York NY. ERIC Identifier: ED366673 Publication Date: 1993-12-00 Ima, K., & Rumbaut, R. G. (1989). Southeast Asian refugees in American schools: A comparison of fluent English-proficient and limited-English proficient students. Topics in Language Disorders, 9(3), 54-77. Kim, Y. Y. (1985). Intercultural personhood: An integration of Eastern and Western perspectives. In L. A. Samovar & R. E. Porter (Eds.), Intercultural communication: A reader, (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. Matsuda, M. (1989). Working with Asian parents: Some communication strategies. Topics in Language Disorders, 9(3), 45-53. Read More