Confratute

In July 1978, University of Connecticut Neag School of Education Professor Joseph Renzulli created a new summer program called Confratute. Renzulli blended the words conference, fraternity, and institute into a new word that describes one of the longest-running summer institutes of its kind in gifted education. Renzulli's expanded definition of giftedness (the three-ring conception of giftedness) enabled a broader population of students to be identified and receive services and was considered a bold, and somewhat controversial, idea in the 1970s.

Confratute is sponsored by the Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development; for the past 30 years this summer program has attracted classroom teachers, gifted education specialists, counselors, school psychologists, and principals. Confratute is based on the premise that enrichment, enjoyment, and encouragement can be offered to a broader population of students. That philosophy is what Confratute offers its 1,000 annual participants, many of whom are repeat attendees at this gathering of innovative and creative educators.

Confratute occurs in an informal learning environment where participants interact on a firstname basis with strand coordinators. It is a place where everyone is involved and committed to gifted education and talent development. Participants attend keynotes and select from more than 90 strands or weekly classes. They also meet on the patio with others who share similar interests and concerns. Many make plans to stay in touch with new friends and colleagues or visit other people's schools. Most of all, Confratute is a community of adult learners with shared passions and interests.

At Confratute, every effort is made to bring the best available practitioner experts and to arrange the many options from which participants can choose so they complement one another. Persons with various strengths and perspectives are recruited for the Confratute faculty in an attempt to explore a wide variety of issues, ideas, and differentiated teaching practices. All faculty and staff share a belief in the importance of high-end learning for all students according to their individual abilities, interests, and styles of learning and expression. The Confratute faculty also acknowledges the importance that kindness and enjoyment play in all learning experiences.

The second ingredient that has helped make Confratute a success has been the dedicated and enthusiastic participants who have brought with them (collectively) thousands of years of diverse experience in education and a willingness to share this experience through active involvement in formal and informal Confratute activities. Many diverse participants attend Confratute from throughout the United States, Canada, and many overseas nations—teachers, administrators, parents, and people with varying interests, ages, backgrounds, and ideas. It has been this diversity and the acknowledgment and celebration of differences that have helped make Confratute a truly memorable experience for so many persons.

A unique part of the Confratute concept is that it is more than a summer course, more than formal instruction, for it is a careful blend of a conference and an institute with a good deal of [Page 171]fraternity in the middle. Confratute is total immersion and involvement in enrichment teaching and learning. It is the excitement of new ideas, the satisfaction of hard work, the joy of creating and producing, and the happiness that comes from making new friends, having fun, and learning a little bit more about oneself as well as how to teach gifted and talented students, as well as all other students, more effectively.

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