Dr. Gallagher at Yunasa West in Colorado

Shelagh Gallagher wears many hats 鈥� so many, in fact, that she has more great ideas than time to realize them. She is a Yunasa , an NAGC award-winning curriculum and consultant, a recruitment and program consultant for Learning Center in China,听 an author, a professor, a conference keynote speaker and presenter, and mother to 20-year-old 鈥渓ight of my life鈥� son Colin. A self-described 鈥渃urriculum wonk,鈥� Shelagh has naturally gravitated toward designing courses that 鈥渂ecome an apprenticeship 鈥� not a place where you just learn facts.鈥�

I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Shelagh Gallagher for her first-hand take on problem-based learning (PBL) curricula, her work with 优蜜视频 and boccone dolche 鈥� her favorite pastry recipe.

How did you become interested in pursuing gifted education and pedagogy as a career field?

鈥淚 entered into my graduate program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill thinking I would be a counseling psychologist for gifted and talented students 鈥� like Patti Gatto-Walden, another Yunasa Senior Fellow.鈥� That all changed, however, when her studies and connections led her down a circuitous path of 鈥渆xposure I鈥檝e had to diverse people and perspectives on gifted education. It really had more to do with the programs and mentors I ended up working with.鈥� Her first point of contact was June Maker, who focused on deep instruction and emphasized the importance of questioning and building lower-to-higher order thinking in lessons. Dr. Gallagher then spent time at Confratute with Sandra Kaplan, who focused on differentiated curriculum, and depth and complexity. After receiving her PhD, Dr. Gallagher took a position at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, whose mission of helping students become problem finders, rather than problem solvers, resonated with her daily during her three years there. She was then hired by Joyce VanTassel-Baska, during the early years of her development of the integrated curriculum model. 鈥淚t was a winding path that led me to problem-based learning and ultimately investing so much of my career in it, but it鈥檚 a spot that makes sense to me. Now I balance my interest in the psychology of giftedness with curriculum, and really, the two blend perfectly.听 One is the study of gifted students鈥� unique qualities, and the other is creating curriculum to help develop those qualities into a capacity for deeper insight into the world.鈥�

Dr. Gallagher鈥檚 father, Dr. James J. Gallagher, was an international leader in both special education and gifted education. In the 1970s, James Gallagher was the chief architect in the development of the Individualized Education Program (I.E.P.) and created a national framework for early childhood special education. Throughout his career, and upon his death in 2014, James Gallagher was heralded as an early and influential leader in the field of gifted education, with contributions ranging from research to policy, and even his own curriculum unit on leadership.

What is it that particularly inspires you within the field of Gifted education?

Simply put, Dr. Gallagher loves good curriculum: 鈥淚 love the idea of putting that in front of kids. High-quality curriculum,鈥� she laments, 鈥渋s something we need more of. There is still a lot of work to do to create a national infrastructure for gifted education and curriculum 鈥� particularly for minority and low-income students. Our work is far from finished.鈥�

Beginning in 2015, Dr. Gallagher joined 优蜜视频鈥檚 public policy consortium. With the group, Dr. Gallagher supported the idea of 优蜜视频 working with nationally-recognized polling firms to create a poll to determine America鈥檚 opinions regarding gifted education in the United States. 优蜜视频 President Betsy Jones and Dr. Gallagher co-authored a report on the survey results titled America Agrees: Public Attitudes Towards Gifted Education. 鈥淭he new policy initiative has been a very rewarding experience. It鈥檚 been a great opportunity to work with Betsy on the America Agrees report,鈥� she said. Dr. Gallagher and 优蜜视频 staff shared these findings at the annual National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) Advocacy and Leadership conference in Washington D.C. this month, and both she and Betsy presented an extended analysis of the findings at the NAGC annual conference in Minneapolis in November 2018. To read the full report, click .

Why did you decide to focus on PBL curriculum?

鈥淚鈥檝e always been a fan of Jerome Bruner and inquiry-based education. Howard Barrows鈥� PBL model was based directly on Bruner鈥檚 philosophy. The idea that it鈥檚 discovery-based, that it reveals to students the structure of the discipline, and that it focuses on leading students into significant content from an expert鈥檚 point of view has always excited me.鈥�

When I ask Dr. Gallagher where she gets ideas for new PBL curriculum, she doesn鈥檛 skip a beat: 鈥淔ortunately 鈥� or not 鈥� the world is filled with problems. There is no end to the possibilities to create curriculum 鈥� often ripped from current or historic headlines.鈥� All of her PBL curricula are fact-based and rooted in real-world application: 鈥淭he world is my resource and I love how students can tackle actual problems to solve.鈥� Anytime she needs inspiration, she considers what would make a child鈥檚 eyes open wider or what would 鈥渆xpand the vistas of their understanding of the world.鈥�

Do you have any new curriculum on the horizon?

A hearty laugh breaks out. 鈥淥h, I always have ideas percolating; however nothing official I can announce. I can tell you that I have 2-3 curricula that I鈥檓 dying to write. Hopefully, I鈥檒l find time to tackle them soon.鈥�

What do you love most about working with 优蜜视频 and Yunasa?

鈥淵unasa is such a special place 鈥� and truly one of the highlights of my year. I love having contact with the kids, and I love the work we do with the kids to ground them and give them a sense of self-efficacy and self-confidence. I experience them having such a sense of opening during the week. I love the colleagues I work with while I鈥檓 there.鈥�

Dr. Gallagher with (from left) Yunasa Fellows Dan Tichenor, Amy Gaessar, Patty Gatto-Walden, and Michael Piechowski

What are some fun facts you think people would be interested to know about you?

鈥淚 paid my way through graduate school as a professional pastry chef, first at a high-end Southern-style restaurant, then at a gourmet retail store.鈥� (Here, I can鈥檛 help but picture Dr. Gallagher in another hat: a chef鈥檚 hat.) When I ask her what her favorite pastry to make was, she didn鈥檛 hesitate: 鈥�Boccone dolche, which is Italian for 鈥榮weet mouthful.鈥� It鈥檚 comprised of three layers of meringue, in between which are a layer of chocolate, a layer of whipped cream, and a layer of strawberries.鈥� Gallagher also sings in her church choir, which feeds her need to keep music a part of her life.

Her son, Colin, spent seven summers as a Yunasa camper in Michigan, enabling her to witness the transformative power of Yunasa and its programming in her own child. In 2018, Colin served as a counselor at Yunasa West and Yunasa Michigan and will return in this role in 2019.

In Fall 2018, 优蜜视频鈥檚 Academy program introduced Shelagh Gallagher curriculum into its course offerings with Ferret it Out: A Problem about Endangered Species and Animal Ecosystems, a course that is also running this spring due to popular demand. This summer, Academy is offering three Shelagh Gallagher curriculum courses: Black Death, The Penguin Predicament: A Problem about Animal Habitat and Survival, and It鈥檚 Electrifying! An Exploration in Water-Based Alternative Energy.

For a full list of Summer Academy classes, please click .

All of Dr. Gallagher鈥檚 curricula is available to preview and purchase online through .

All over the world, the upcoming three-day window of time from October 31 – November 2 is celebrated in many different ways by different cultures.

Samhein is a Celtic Festival that happens at sunset on October 31 and continues through November 1. The holiday signaled the end of the harvest season and the coming of winter and was a time for introspection. For this reason, many considered it to be the Celtic New Year.

This was the time when cattle were brought back down from the summer pastures and when livestock were slaughtered for the winter. Bonfires, thought to have protective and cleansing powers, were lit and celebrations occurred around them. Samhein was seen as the time when 鈥渢he veil鈥� between our world and the spirit world was thinnest and most easily crossed by pagan gods and nature spirits. It was thought that the souls if the dead would visit their homes during this time. These souls of the dead relatives were called to feasts and a place was set at the table for them.

鈥淢umming and guising were part of the festival, and involved people going door-to-door in costume (or in disguise), often reciting verses in exchange for food. The costumes may have been a way of imitating, or disguising oneself from, the spirits.鈥� (Hutton)

Mumming and guising can clearly be seen in the tradition of Halloween. 鈥淎ll Hallows鈥� Evening鈥� is the day before the Christian holiday of All Hallows鈥� Day or All Saints Day. All Saints Day is 鈥渁 time for remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs and all the faithful departed.鈥� (Davis) Halloween is often celebrated with dressing up in costumes, trick-or-treating, attending parties, decorating pumpkins as jack-o鈥�-lanterns, eating candy and watching scary movies or visiting haunted houses.

All Saints Day, also known as All Souls Day, is celebrated in some countries as the Day of the Dead or, Dia de los Muertos. Many of the same customs and traditions from Samhein can be seen in Dia de los Muertos, such as laying out a feast for the departed. In Mexico, Dia de los Muertos is a bank holiday. Those celebrating the holiday build ofrendas, or private altars with foods, sugar skulls, marigolds and possessions to honor the deceased. This holiday can be traced back to the time of the Aztecs.

Similar celebrations, though at different times of the year, can also be found in China with the Ghost Festival and Japan with the Bon Festival.

Personally, I spend this time period thinking of the past year and planning for the future. It is a combination of Thanksgiving 鈥� gratitude for all that I have been given, recognition of all that I have accomplished and appreciation for all that I have shared 鈥� and New Year鈥檚. What do I want the next few years of my life to be like? What values, goals and responsibilities do I want to grow into? Who do I want to spend my time with in the next few years and what difference will I choose to make in the coming year?

However you choose to spend this coming weekend, know that you are not alone in your tradition and that people all over the world are celebrating with you!

References

O’Driscoll, Robert (ed.) (1981) The Celtic Consciousness. New York, Braziller ISBN 0-8076-1136-0, pp.197鈥�216: Ross, Anne “Material Culture, Myth and Folk Memory”; pp.217鈥�242: Danaher, Kevin “Irish Folk Tradition and the Celtic Calendar”

Hutton, Ronald (1996) Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain. Oxford, Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-288045-4, p. 363.

Davis, Kenneth. Don’t Know Much About Mythology: Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Stories in Human History but Never Learned, HarperCollins, page 231.