In his classic summary regarding evaluation of curriculum for gifted students at the secondary level, Harry Passow wrote that the goal of curriculum development and selection should be to enable students to “acquire the knowledge, skills, insights, attitudes, and motivations which will enable them to . . . deal competently with themselves, their fellow men, and the world about them as human beings, citizens, parents, and participants in the ‘good life,’” and “[t]o provide the self-understanding, inner consistency, and ethical standards to see their own uniqueness in terms of responsibility to society.” In keeping with this philosophy, Sage middle school students study one of the most troubling chapters in United States history, the American eugenics movement, the false science of Social Darwinism. Unfortunately, many people feel squeamish even talking about gifted education because they associate it with ideas about Social Darwinism, and as noted below, there is a connection. Yet that is also why it is important for our kids to learn about this difficult and painful history; it is one more way to help them understand their responsibilities to society.
Using some of the cast of characters in the early gifted education movement as a hook, middle school students at Sage learn that Julian Stanley, founder of the Center for Talented Youth, characterized Francis Galton as the grandfather of the gifted education movement (Davis and Rimm 2004, 6). However, it was Galton who applied the word “eugenics” to the effort to “improve the race” (Facing History and Ourselves 2002). Naturally, students feel conflicting emotions when discussing Francis Galton. They are, thankfully, repulsed by the very concept of eugenics. However, our students have also been labeled gifted and have certainly benefited from their targeted education. The dissonance students may encounter when they think about Galton presents the educator with opportunity to move toward Passow’s goals in processing these feelings with students. Students become invested in their study of the American eugenics movement because they have a connection to the history. It also presents the occasion to remind students that human beings are complicated; we have positive and negative personality traits, behaviors, and for some, legacies.
At Sage we make many of our curriculum decisions so as to focus on what it means to be humane, decent, wise people, a philosophy in keeping with our mission and core values and a best practice in gifted education. In addressing the need for affective education and character development as components of sound programming for the gifted, James Delisle wrote, “[i]f educators and parents are to benefit the children in their care most fully, an emphasis on this emotional aspect of learning and on the interdependence we all share is a prerequisite to self-appreciation, personal growth, and the development of empathy and character” (Delisle, 2001)*.
Delisle also posits that, “world and national history are vehicles to traveling the route to self-discovery” (Delisle, 2001). Study of the American eugenics movement can help meet Passow’s goal to guide students toward self-understanding and to challenge them to develop the ethical standards needed to become responsible members of society, our primary goal at Sage.
*Delisle, J. (2002). “Affective education and character development: Understanding self and serving others through instructional adaptations.” In F. Karnes & S. Bean (Eds.), Methods and Materials for Teaching the Gifted (pp.471-494). Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
