Professional Development Program on Gifted
Education for Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education
The Center for Gifted Education was commissioned by Gyeonggi
Provincial Office of Education, Korea to provide professional
development and school visitations for a group of 40-80 teachers
ranging from elementary level teachers to middle school teachers.
The exchanged opportunity was spawned by a major initiative in
gifted education that has been launched in Korea in order to
enhance creative problem solving ability of the gifted in
mathematics and science.
The following major emphases will characterize the preparation
and planning for this unique professional development
experience.
Content
The content outline for the Institute will focus on 5 major
components. The initial overview of the institute curriculum as
well as national and NY State’s status of gifted education will be
provided by Dr. Seokhee Cho, Director of the Center for Gifted
Education. The purpose of this session in the first strand is to
set the context for understanding how gifted education is carried
out in the U.S. and NY. A second emphasis of the institute will be
on Schoolwide Enrichment. The third emphasis will be on gifted
education in relation to students’ learning styles. The fourth
emphasis will be on the differentiated curriculum model in teaching
math and science. The fifth emphasis will be on interdisciplinary
programs for nurturing creativity of the gifted in math and
science. In addition, NY teachers will introduce what they practice
in their own classes for nurturing creative problem solving for
their gifted students
Process
Institute presenters will structure each presentation in to 45
minutes segments, beginning with a power point presentation and
punctuated by a hands-on activity. Participants will present their
work conducted in small groups to the whole group for feedback and
comments. Presenters will provide critiques as appropriate. In the
evenings, teams will meet to develop curriculum plans based on the
ideas presented that day.
School Visitations
The Korean teachers will visit some of the premiere schools in New
York that provide strong math and science programs to gifted
learners in order to observe what they learned through
presentations in the classroom. The sites can include Bronx High
School of Science and Stuyvesant High School of Math and Science.
Additionally, elementary schools teachers will visit 5 elementary
schools in New York City while the middle schools teachers will
visit 5 middle schools in New York City. These visits will provide
Korean teachers with important insights into American urban
schools’ classroom routines and strategies used to work effectively
with gifted learners. They will be asked to reflect on what ideas
could be transferred into their school districts in Korea as well
as to consider the application of strategies practiced in workshop
settings.