A reflective conversation with James H Borland

Abstract

James H Borland, PhD is Professor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. In this reflective conversation, he reflects on his experiences in an urban environment and the current challenges in gifted education. He argues for ongoing diagnosis of learners’ needs without the necessity for labeling some students “gifted” and others “not gifted”. He also suggests that “gifted” is a relative term dependent on culture and socioeconomic background. The biggest challenge, he suggests, is that educators want a neat, simple definition and measurement of “giftedness”, whereas the concept of “giftedness” is extremely complex and multifaceted.