Sep 21, 2022
We’re back with Part 2 of our episode talking to Kintara Phillips about navigating schools and education with gifted kids.
In these episodes we ask Kintara to answer all of those questions you have about how to talk to your child’s teacher, what questions to ask a new school, when is it time to move on, what kind of education is your child going to need and so much more… there was so much we have split it into two episodes!
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Memorable Quote
Kintara Phillips - “Are they getting a hundred percent on all their tests?
Are they getting perfect marks on all of their English essays? Which on the surface parents would be like, well, that's amazing. Like what are you complaining about?
I'm complaining because if my kid, with no effort, gets 100%, could they have gotten a hundred at the start of the unit? The conversations I have with teachers are like, I'm a happy parent when my kids test results are around 75, 80%. It means you've pitched it well. We've got that point where there's stuff he doesn't know.”
Sophia Elliott – “Yeah. The sacred ground of the stuff they don't know. Absolutely.”
Resources
- Emergence Education Website
- Emergence Education Facebook
- Emergence Education Instagram
- James & Susie
Youtube Video
- “An allegory about what happens to smart kids who skate through elementary school, and don't get opportunities to develop persistence, grit, and the true self-confidence that comes from knowing how to tackle a genuine challenge.”
- Heather’s Podcast – what happens when you don’t learn how to learn - #033 [GTN Awareness Week] #ActuallyGifted Adult with Heather Cox
- State Gifted Associations – Australia (AAEGT) - USA
- GERRIC
Bio
Kintara Phillips worked as a Secondary English teacher for 21 years across government, independent and catholic schools. After a principal suggested that her ‘gut feeling’ about extending the gifted students in her class needed to be backed by some evidence – always the overachiever, she completed a Masters in Gifted Education at UNSW in 2016 and presented said evidence at the International Gifted Conference later the same year (and yes, her gut feeling was right). Leaving the classroom in 2021, frustrated by the restrictive system and desperate to find a way to shake things up, she now finds herself almost halfway through a Graduate Diploma in Psychology and plans to complete honours then a Masters in Educational Psychology sometime before she turns 50.
Earlier this year, Kintara was formally diagnosed with ADHD, confirming her place in the2e community and further strengthening her passion for supporting young people and their families, but also educating teachers to be able to provide better inclusions and educational outcomes for gifted and 2e learners. Longer term she hopes to blend her years of classroom experience and psychology training to bridge the gap between schools, psychologists and gifted education and would love nothing more than to see her name mentioned when parents ask about for recommendations for a psychologist experienced with giftedness in the future.
Kintara currently teaches in the Masters of Teaching at two Victorian Universities, and hopes that by employing the butterfly effect and mentioning gifted learners frequently, even if it’s not in the course outline, to the future teacher’s she works with, that perhaps a little shake up may occur in schools sooner than later.
In all her spare time, Kintara and her teacher bestie, have started to build and nurture a small business specifically positioned to support gifted students navigate school, help families plan and advocate and work in schools with teachers providing professional learning opportunities that build understanding of gifted learning needs.
Hit play and let’s get started!