The paper traces the apparently conflicting trends toward elimination of special classes for handicapped students (mainstreaming) and the movement toward special programs for gifted and talented students. Issues related to identification and labeling are examined, and the importance of flexible definitions for both retardation and giftedness is…

Professional sensitivity and responsibility must be used to describe giftedness in ways that do not isolate gifted children or their parents and which encourage shared advocacy with other educational groups. More information is needed on how labeling of gifted students and conceptual frameworks surrounding exceptionalities affect societal and…

Maughn Rollins Gregory writes eloquently and passionately about the critical role his openness, self-exposure, and vulnerability play in creating classroom spaces for genuine discourse and growth. Asked to write a response to Gregory's compelling essay, the author asks herself a similar question: What role will her openness, self-exposure, and…