In what ways can creativity be infused into mathematics education, especially for students who may not naturally gravitate toward math?
Our last guest of the season features a double expresso with President of the National Association for Gifted and Talented, Dr. Jonathan Plucker. In part one of this two-part interview, Jonathan shares his thoughts on problems with achievement gaps and excellence gaps in education.
Listen in to gain insight into the connection between academic excellence and creativity later in life, and why there’s never a blank canvas to work with when being creative. Jonathan also shares his candid thoughts on creativity in imaginative play, as well as how we can diminish the harmful impact of poverty on children’s ability to develop imagination.
I’m actually fully convinced that in the next 10-15 years, if we prioritize [achievement gaps], we can actually go a long way to solving this problem… and I could not have said that five or six years ago.
Featured Guest
Jonathan Plucker is a prominent education policy and talent development scholar, and the inaugural Julian C. Stanley Professor of Talent Development at Johns Hopkins University. He holds a joint appointment at the Center for Talented Youth and School of Education.
His work focuses on education policy and talent development and has been supported by over $40 million in external grants and contracts. Jonathan has published over 300 articles, chapters, and reports. He recently became editor for the Psychological Perspectives on Contemporary Educational Issues series at IAP. His work defining and studying excellence gaps (http://cepa.uconn.edu/mindthegap) is part of a larger effort to reorient policymakers’ and educators’ thinking about how best to promote success and high achievement for all children.
