Funded by the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Education Act, the Mustard Seed Project's major goal T91maoivti1ts was to train teachers to differentiate curricula for gifted students in the general education classroom. This study addressed the changes in classroom practices and the factors that influenced these changes. Changes were measured using the Classroom Instructional Practices Scale Johnsen, 1992). The sample included 1 urban and 5 rural sites, 8 principals, 74 teachers, mentor teachers, and 18 community representatives. Throughout the two years of implementation, majority of teachers at each site made changes. Changes in classroom practices and influencing factors, were determined from interviews, field notes, formal and informal observations, and a final survey. Participants cited staff-development activities, leadership, mentoring, resources, and project support as extremely beneficial.
The intricate relationship of mentor and protégé serves as personal guide for extraordinary creative development and self-actualization. This article presents a developmental theory of mentoring in which we propose that, while enhancing extraordinary creative and intellectual growth, mentoring also facilitates the task accomplishment uniquely characteristic of early life stages. We describe how different levels of mentors working with youthful protégés facilitate this critical developmental process and explore implications of this theory in bringing about a dynamic synergism between creativity, intellectual accomplishment, and individual independence and autonomy.
The benefits or "gifts" deriving from a mentorship, for both mentors and proteges, are described. The list of benefits was developed from the literature on mentorships, from interviews with mentors and proteges, and from an evaluation completed by gifted students and their mentors at the termination of a school mentorship program. Gifts to proteges include: advancement of career, an increase in knowledge and skills (general as well as specific), development of known as well as undiscovered talents, development of a personal ethic, establishment of a friendship, and enhancement of creativity. Also described are the following gifts to mentors: getting work done, having ideation stimulated, establishing a long-term friendship, and receiving personal satisfaction. Implications for educators of the gifted and talented focus on program development.
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