The author finds Roland S. Persson's (2012a) paper to be timely, fascinating, important and powerful. At risk of mixing metaphors, it provides much food for thought and a penetrating lens through which all those vested in the optimal realisation of human potential would be prudent to review their own perceptions, boundaries of belief and…

Dr. Persson's (2012a) target article addresses a number of key points that will greatly impact the study of giftedness, gifted education, and talent development in the "flat" world of the 21st century and beyond. Research in these areas needs to continually reflect upon changes in the social world outside its narrow purview to validate its…

The author recognises the fact that knowledge of cultural diversity and its implications is growing in the field of giftedness research and practice. In some ways, the target article could therefore be considered "old news." The author contends that his effort to address culture variation and its problematic impact on research, however, is not to…

This chapter explores international students' perspectives of boundaries in the American graduate-level classroom, specifically considering the culturally based essence of boundaries. The authors focus on graduate-level Japanese international students. This population is particularly helpful in their consideration of boundaries because research…

In the United States, unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) are a diverse and extremely vulnerable group served by social workers about whom there is little research. URMs enter the United States from many lands without parents or kin, often having experienced war and other traumatic events. Using a risk and resilience framework, we summarize the…

What role might education play in the reinvigoration of a robust American democracy? We argue that common understandings of democracy, citizenship, and democratic education are too anemic to right the political inequalities and stagnancies that have deadened American democracy. Instead, we look to notions of "paideia" and an educated, enlightened…

Somali women were interviewed regarding their children's adjustment. Qualitative analysis revealed 5 themes: cultural comparisons, concerns about children, parents' loss of disciplinary authority, available support, and the future. The women discussed changes in their children, such as loss of respect and threats to use law enforcement against…

Most of the nation's teachers and administrators are White and from the middle class and have little experience or training working with culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Although those findings should raise school leaders' concern, the rapid growth rate of ELs makes solving those challenges an urgent necessity. To meet the needs of…

Interethnic contact is considered a potent tool for the generation of interethnic understanding and tolerance. This faith has engendered countless social projects that seek to stimulate contact between members of different ethnic groups under "optimal conditions". However, the academic literature does not stipulate how, if at all, these…

A review of the literature related to culture and student behavior reveals a number of interesting observations that are not surprising. First, culture is a difficult construct to define and has been defined variably over the years. Second, schools are becoming increasingly diverse, and evidence-based behavior management practices have been…

In this article, we explore three anthropological approaches to science education research: funds of knowledge, third space/hybridity and practice theory. Definitions, historical origins, uses and constraints of each approach are included along with reviews of exemplary studies in each tradition. We show that funds of knowledge research draws on…

The purpose of this article is to explore four experiences that the author has encountered in her teaching career and focus on how they have shaped her understanding of gifted males and the instructional strategies that she uses in her classroom. The situations described in the article focus on four distinct subgroups of gifted males, James and…

Intercultural miscommunication occurs when there is a breakdown in communication between speakers of two different cultures and languages due to cultural differences and/or sociolinguistic transfer. Intercultural miscommunication has tremendous impact on ESOL students' academic learning at North American schools. This paper examines the nature of…

Our study investigates how Korean universities are designing and implementing internationalization policies to meet the demands of globalization. Relying upon globalization theory we reveal how power is embedded within these internationalization efforts. Indeed, we accept the notion that the United States is the world's superpower and therefore…

Understanding the cultural and linguistic diversity of young children with hearing loss informs the provision of assessment, habilitation, and education services to both children and their families. Data describing communication mode, oral language use, and demographic characteristics were collected for 406 children with hearing loss and their…