Tensions in gifted college programs in China: the case of “Mount Everest Plan”

To date, no empirical study has focused upon understanding the tensions in gifted college programs in China. This qualitative inquiry examines the tensions the “Mount Everest Plan” programs face while initiating gifted education reform in China, how the gifted college students characterize these tensions, and what conditions they believe tend to account for the tensions. The voices of 18 gifted college students were heard through individual semi-structured interviews and the transcripts of the interviews were analyzed using thematic coding to uncover the themes related to the tensions. This qualitative case study identifies multiple tensions arise surrounding the “Mount Everest Plan” programs which include program training needs versus students’ personal growth needs, program identification purposes versus students’ personal motives, identification of a person versus identification of a path to success, and high variance within the gifted class versus undifferentiated curriculum. These tensions involve competing arguments on the genesis and the development of gifted education and gifted students. The study also discusses possible ways of resolving and easing these tensions so that the services and programs can be enhanced.