3.5.8 Relationship Between Anti-Intellectualism and Attitudes Toward Gifted Education Among Emerging School Leaders

How society identifies, values, and educates intellectually gifted students varies widely within the education sector in the United States. There is a debate in the literature regarding whether intellectually gifted students should receive special education services and even whether intellectual giftedness is a socio-cultural phenomenon or intellectual classification (Gallagher, 2015). Administrators develop the depth and quality of gifted programming, and perceptions of these educators in the field determine the efficacy of gifted education. These perceptions, which often come from experience and interaction within professional developments, should be viewed within the light of the political and social context of the United States (Hofstadter, 1963). Throughout the history of the United States, the concepts of genius, the intellectually gifted, and giftedness have been viewed by educators and the public both positively and negatively in a cyclical manner (Hays, 2010). The term anti-intellectualism refers to a complex concept of negative attitudes and mistrust toward intellectual giftedness. Rigney (1991) delineated this argument by conceptualizing anti-intellectualism into three related, yet unique perspectives: anti-elitism, anti-rationalism, and unreflective instrumentalism. The three dimensions have similarities to one’s attitudes and viewpoints towards various aspects of education, in particular, the education of the intellectually gifted. Little previous research has been conducted regarding school leaders’ anti-intellectual attitudes and further if these attitudes have links to support for gifted education. This study investigated the relationship between anti-intellectual attitudes and the attitude toward gifted education among pre-service school principals. Using two instruments, Opinions about the Gifted and their Education Adapted from Francoys Gagne’ and Lorraine Nadeau (McCoach and Siegle, 2007) and the Anti-Intellectual Survey (DeSart, 2017), a quantitative correlational study was conducted. It revealed relationships between emerging school leaders’ demographics and various subscales of both instruments, as well as a negative relationship between the leaders’ level of anti-intellectual attitudes across various dimensions and their level of support for gifted education. This study revealed the importance of assessing the anti-intellectual attitudes of current and future school leaders and with developing appropriate, intellectually-focused gifted programs, namely within curriculum and professional development.

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