I could reduce the level of acrimony on this board at least a bit by never writing about the demographics of intelligence and giftedness
This is very true - I feel that that whole train of thought is outside the purpose of this board. Why is it that such a high percentage of the time we talk about politics, it's this particular story?
but I think these are important topics with big implications for educational policy
If this is an important topic (and not a great way to get people off track, as
I suspect) for educational policy then post on a board where people come to discuss educational policy. I don't set the U.S. agenda for educational policy, and I don't get much say in it. For now my number one concern is my own child's eduation. Even though I vote in my local elections, it's the whole package, never line-items.
Hmmm. I'd like to offer a different perspective on the educational policy discussions. I think many of us arrived here in part because we were struggling to understand our children's experiences at school. Based on some recent threads, I think it's fair to say that Bostonian and I come from fairly different world views, but I do find it helpful to be able to frankly discuss these kinds of issues, because so often IRL people are not up front about why they do or do not support particular policies--policies which directly end up impacting my children.
When I try to advocate for my children, I sometimes find myself in coalition with adults that I don't know well. We have some shared beliefs, certainly, which is how we came to be together, but there are also places where our beliefs and philosophies diverge. Having discussions here helps me to recognize sooner when my view and that of another parent or parents is diverging, and allows me to better articulate both where I do and do not share particular objectives under our larger goals. It also helps me to see that some of what I might otherwise advocate for has implications I hadn�t considered�either for my own child, or for other children who also need to have their needs met. I would agree though that these are threads that are best explored when the heading is specifically related to educational policy or research.
I do dislike when threads become focused on one upping one another though. If it becomes clear that there is no desire to find common ground, I no longer want to participate. However, I recognize that the point at which I am no longer finding the discussion helpful may come earlier or later in a discussion than it does for other participants.
