Page 5 - NAGC21 Program at-a-glance

Pre-Convention Workshops

Registration Rate: $169 per event

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2021

8:30am – 2:00pm
Culturally Responsive Practice
PRESENTERS: Matthew Fugate, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Houston Downtown
Wendy Behrens, Gifted & Talented Education Specialist, Minnesota Department of Education
Cecelia Boswell, Ph.D., Consultant, Austin Creek Educational Systems
Joy Lawson Davis, Ed.D., Educator, Author, Scholar in Gifted

Culturally Responsive Practice, two series of breakout sessions will address a variety of populations and themes related
to Race Ethnicity, and Culture, as well as iGender, Sex, and Sense of Self. Throughout these interactive breakout
sessions, experts in the lived experiences of the populations that they represent will guide participant as they grow to a
better understanding of the diversity of students in their classrooms and ways in which they can regularly incorporate
their assets (e.g., strengths; cultures; traditions and norms) into their own learning environment. The end goal is to
increase the visibility, identification, and ultimately understanding of these student populations.

The path to cultural competency is a journey; one that none of us can truly complete. We can only hope to continue to
grow and develop in order to best meet the needs of our diverse gifted student populations. Through the General
Session and Breakout Sessions, it is our hope that we empower participants on their own journey of self-discovery
related to their implicit biases and how these can affect the teaching and learning in their classrooms, and certainly in
their schools. Included in both the General and Breakout Sessions will be opportunities for participants to reflect on
themselves and their own beliefs and understandings, as well as their classroom practices.

8:30am – 2:00pm
Identifying and Serving Gifted Students in Rural Areas
PRESENTERS: Jeb Puryear Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Montana
Amy Azano, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Virginia Tech

Rural education environments provide unique challenges and opportunities for gifted education practitioners. This
workshop aims to provide a grounding in the existing research on the topic beginning with an examination of how
rural environments are defined. Additionally, participants will consider the scope of differences both between rural
and non-school schools, but also within the category itself. Key practices in gifted identification and programming
will be refreshed and made more meaningful using the lens of rural education. This will include an extended
discussion of how place-based education practices can be utilized in rural gifted education settings both for
identification and service purposes.

This session will use a combination of presentation and facilitated small-group discussion to have participants
collaboratively reflect on their own past practices with a mind toward future opportunities. The workshop will
conclude with a panel discussion including researchers and practitioners sharing their experiences implementing
gifted education programs and interventions in rural environments. The overarching goal is to provide participants
examples of meaningful, tested strategies that could potentially be implemented in the context of their own schools
while, at the same time, imparting a mindfulness of diversity of rural schools which should inform decision-making.

QUESTIONS? Please contact Adriane Wiles for registration at adriane@nagc.org