Gifted Education

I met up with a former classmate from high school last Sunday. I was glad to see him because he's a nice guy. I was with my sister. I know he became a math teacher at Windham Tech. I hadn't seen him in a few years. We started talking and he said that he just finished a master's degree in special education. He said it would have been more interesting than a master's in math education. We both agreed. My sister and I said that special education is interesting, it has so many fields. I mentioned gifted education. He said that is one field that gets largely ignored. I agreed. It is very necessary. Some of the troublemakers in school are actually very gifted students that aren't challenged enough. We didn't talk for long because he said he had to get home to his girlfriend.
The short conversation left me thinking. I remember when I was taking my special education class in college, that it was said that gifted education was actually something that wasn't allowed. It was said that if the gifted people got ahead, they may become a group of people that would take over. It wasn't until Sputnik was in the air and the Space Race began, that the United States wanted to use its most gifted people in the best way.
When I was in high school there was an English teacher who had just graduated at the top of her class from UConn, where she had double-majored in English and special education with an emphasis in gifted students. I never had her as a teacher because she arrived as I was leaving. I heard she had gotten fired. I don't know why. Very intelligent people still make their mistakes, even if they are so smart. High academic achievement and intellect don't always ensure good interpersonal skills or organisation of tasks.
I do think one main problem with gifted children in schools is the fact that many are outcasts. They exist on the fringes because they don't think like the rest of the class. Gifted people don't have the same interests that average folks have. Students can get jealous of them as well and want to bully them. I can see myself in some of those situations.