Black Mothers as Educational Assets: Understanding the Educational Needs of African American Intellectually Gifted Children

• In Event: Disrupting Racial Tensions Within Inclusive Education Through Culturally Sensitive Tools

Abstract

Purpose
African American intellectually gifted children have been studied greatly in the past years with most research focusing on underrepresentation. Given the intersection of race, gender, and intellectual giftedness, a nuanced understanding of this population’s schooling experiences, and specific needs are needed to better support their educational outcomes. To better understand their decision-making process regarding the best school environment for their children, in-depth, open-ended interviews were conducted with African American mothers of intellectually gifted elementary school children from one school. Findings and future considerations are discussed.

Theoretical Framework
Person-Environment Fit Theory (P–E fit) postulates that “people have an innate need to fit their environments and to seek out environments that match their own characteristics'' (Van Vianen, 2018, p. 77). When a person and their environment are in opposition to one another, stress is added to both the person and the environment as both influence each other (Edwards, et al., 1998). Little research has examined this construct specifically among African American intellectually gifted students, a subpopulation which faces specific risk factors within a school environment (i.e., low expectations, racial microaggressions, underachievement, and more) which may have an impact on their academic performance, socio-emotional development, and mental health.

Methods
A qualitative case study provided an in-depth contextual study of African American mothers who enrolled their children in a school for gifted students.
Data Sources
Data sources consisted of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with all African American mothers’ (N=3) of Intellectually gifted children who attend a private school for gifted students.

Results
When reflecting on these studies using person-environment fit theory to examine the lives of African American students, along with studies examining characteristics of gifted learners in general, themes included access to local gifted education programs is not enough to guarantee appropriate services, the underlying need of racial identity congruence, intersectional Black and Giftedness congruence, and authentic and sustained feelings of school belongingness.

Significance
Given the current concern around equitable access to gifted education programs, the answer does not seem to be merely increasing testing to identify more African American intellectually gifted students and then move them to a gifted program. If these programs are predominately white, there are other ramifications to consider. For school systems to appropriately serve African American intellectually gifted children, they must work to discern how their specific, marginalized, intersectional identities present certain strengths that tend to be unrecognized, and even punished in traditional approaches to gifted education. Researchers and practitioners should engage directly and deeply with students and families to better understand their specific experiences, beyond underrepresentation, and work to create and sustain the most appropriate learning and social environments.

References

Edwards, J. R., Caplan, R. D., & Van Harrison, R. (1998). Person-environment fit theory. Theories of organizational stress, 28(1), 67-94.
Van Vianen, A. E. (2018). Person–environment fit: A review of its basic tenets. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 5, 75-101.

Author

• Keishana L. Barnes, University of Memphis