Giftedness and the
Gifted: What's It All About?
Many parents say, "I know what giftedness
is, but I can't put it into words." This generally is followed by
reference to a particular child who seems to manifest gifted behaviors.
Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions of the term, all of which
become deterrents to understanding and catering to the needs of children
identified as gifted. Let's study the following statement:
"Giftedness is that precious endowment
of potentially outstanding abilities which allows a person to interact
with the environment with remarkably high levels of achievement and
creativity."
This statement is the product of a small
neighborhood group of parents who took a comprehensive view of the
concept of giftedness before focusing on any attempt to define the
gifted child. They thought, first, that within giftedness is a quality
of innateness (or, as they said, "a gift conferred by nature"), and
second, that one's environment is the arena in which the gifts come into
play and develop. Therefore, they reasoned that the "remarkably high
levels of achievement and creativity" result from a continuous and
functional interaction between a person's inherent and acquired
abilities and characteristics.
We often hear statements such as "She's a
born artist," or "He's a natural athlete," or conversely, "Success never
came easy for me; I had to learn the hard way," or "He's a self-made
man." Those who manifest giftedness obviously have some inherent or
inborn factors plus the motivation and stamina to learn from and cope
with the rigors of living.
We suggest that you wrestle with the term
in your own way, looking at giftedness as a concept that demands the
investment of time, money, and energy. This will help you discuss
giftedness more meaningfully with other parents, school administrators,
school board members, or anyone who needs to understand the dynamics of
the term.
Who Are Gifted
Children?
Former U. S. Commissioner of Education
Sidney P. Marland, Jr., in his August 1971 report to Congress,
stated,
"Gifted and talented children are those
identified by professionally qualified persons who by virtue of
outstanding abilities are capable of high performance. These are
children who require differentiated educational programs and/or services
beyond those normally provided by the regular school program in order to
realize their contribution to self and society" (Marland,
1972).
The same report continued:
"Children capable of high performance
include those with demonstrated achievement and/or potential ability in
any of the following areas, singly or in combination:
1. general intellectual ability
2. specific academic aptitude
3. creative or productive thinking
4. leadership ability
5. visual or performing arts
6. psychomotor ability."
Using a broad definition of giftedness, a
school system could expect to identify 10to 15 percent or more of its
student population as gifted and talented. A brief description of each
area of giftedness or talent as defined by the Office of Gifted and
Talented will help you understand this definition.
- General intellectual ability or
talent. Laypersons and educators alike usually define this in terms
of a high intelligence test score--usually two standard deviations above
the mean--on individual or group measures. Parents and teachers often
recognize students with general intellectual talent by their
wide-ranging fund of general information and high levels of vocabulary,
memory, abstract word knowledge, and abstract reasoning.
- Specific academic aptitude or
talent. Students with specific academic aptitudes are identified by
their outstanding performance on an achievement or aptitude test in one
area such as mathematics or language arts. The organizers of talent
searches sponsored by a number of universities and colleges identify
students with specific academic aptitude who score at the 97th
percentile or higher on standard achievement tests and then give these
students the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Remarkably large numbers of
students score at these high levels.
- Creative and productive
thinking. This is the ability to produce new ideas by bringing
together elements usually thought of as independent or dissimilar and
the aptitude for developing new meanings that have social value.
Characteristics of creative and productive students include openness to
experience, setting personal standards for evaluation, ability to play
with ideas, willingness to take risks, preference for complexity,
tolerance for ambiguity, positive self-image, and the ability to become
submerged in a task. Creative and productive students are identified
through the use of tests such as the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking
or through demonstrated creative performance.
- Leadership ability. Leadership
can be defined as the ability to direct individuals or groups to a
common decision or action. Students who demonstrate giftedness in
leadership ability use group skills and negotiate in difficult
situations. Many teachers recognize leadership through a student's keen
interest and skill in problem solving. Leadership characteristics
include self-confidence, responsibility, cooperation, a tendency to
dominate, and the ability to adapt readily to new situations. These
students can be identified through instruments such as the Fundamental
Interpersonal Relations Orientation Behavior (FIRO-B).
- Visual and performing arts.
Gifted students with talent in the arts demonstrate special talents in
visual art, music, dance, drama, or other related studies. These
students can be identified by using task descriptions such as the
Creative Products Scales, which were developed for the Detroit Public
Schools by Patrick Byrons and Beverly Ness Parke of Wayne State
University.
- Psychomotor ability. This
involves kinesthetic motor abilities such as practical, spatial,
mechanical, and physical skills. It is seldom used as a criterion in
gifted programs.
Other Viewpoints
Robert Sternberg and Robert Wagner (1982)
have suggested that giftedness is a kind of mental self-management. The
mental management of one's life in a constructive, purposeful way has
three basic elements: adapting to environments, selecting new
environments, and shaping environments. According to Sternberg and
Wagner, the key psychological basis of intellectual giftedness resides
in insight skills that include three main processes: (1) separating
relevant from irrelevant information, (2) combining isolated pieces of
information into a unified whole, and (3) relating newly acquired
information to information acquired in the past.
Sternberg and Wagner emphasized
problem-solving abilities and viewed the gifted student as one who
processes information rapidly and uses insight abilities. Howard Gardner
(1983) also suggested a concept of multiple intelligences, stating that
there are several ways of viewing the world: linguistic,
logical/mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic,
interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligence.
Joseph Renzulli (1986) stated that gifted
behavior reflects an interaction among three basic clusters of human
traits: above-average general and/or specific abilities, high levels of
task commitment (motivation), and high levels of creativity. According
to Renzulli, gifted and talented children are those who possess or are
capable of developing this composite of traits and applying them to any
potentially valuable area of human performance.
A good source for pursuing the
characteristics of giftedness in depth is Barbara Clark's informative
book, Growing Up Gifted (1988), which presents an exhaustive list
of characteristics under five major headings: Cognitive (thinking),
Affective (feeling), Physical, Intuitive, and Societal.
No one child manifests all of the
attributes described by researchers and the Office of Gifted and
Talented. Nevertheless, it is important for parents to be fully aware of
the ways in which giftedness can be recognized. Often, certain behaviors
such as constantly having unique solutions to problems, asking endless,
probing questions, or even the masterful manipulation of others are
regarded by parents as unnatural, unlike other children, and trying to
parental patience. Therefore, our recommendation is to study the
characteristics of gifted children with an open mind. Do not use the
list as a scorecard; simply discuss and appreciate the characteristics
and let common sense, coupled with love, take over.
Some General
Characteristics
(These are typical factors stressed by
educational authorities as being indicative of giftedness. Obviously, no
child is outstanding in all characteristics.)
- Shows superior reasoning powers and
marked ability to handle ideas; can generalize readily from specific
facts and can see subtle relationships; has outstanding problem-solving
ability.
- Shows persistent intellectual
curiosity; asks searching questions; shows exceptional interest in the
nature of man and the universe.
- Has a wide range of interests, often of
an intellectual kind; develops one or more interests to considerable
depth.
- Is markedly superior in quality and
quantity of written and/or spoken vocabulary; is interested in the
subtleties of words and their uses.
- Reads avidly and absorbs books well
beyond his or her years.
- Learns quickly and easily and retains
what is learned; recalls important details, concepts and principles;
comprehends readily.
- Shows insight into arithmetical
problems that require careful reasoning and grasps mathematical concepts
readily.
- Shows creative ability or imaginative
expression in such things as music, art, dance, drama; shows sensitivity
and finesse in rhythm, movement, and bodily control.
- Sustains concentration for lengthy
periods and shows outstanding responsibility and independence in
classroom work.
- Sets realistically high standards for
self; is self-critical in evaluating and correcting his or her own
efforts.
- Shows initiative and originality in
intellectual work; shows flexibility in thinking and considers problems
from a number of viewpoints.
- Observes keenly and is responsive to
new ideas.
- Shows social poise and an ability to
communicate with adults in a mature way.
- Gets excitement and pleasure from
intellectual challenge; shows an alert and subtle sense of
humor.
A Quick Look at
Intelligence
The attempts to define giftedness refer
in one way or another to so-called "inborn" attributes, which, for lack
of a better term, are called intelligence.
Significant efforts have been made to
measure intelligence, but, because the concept is elusive, test
constructors simply aim at testing what they feel are typical
manifestations of intelligence in behaviors. Perhaps a little rhyme used
for years by kindergarten teachers will help to describe this
elusiveness:
"Nobody sees the wind; neither you, nor
I. But when the trees bow down their heads, the wind is passing
by."
Just as we cannot see the wind, we cannot
find, operate on, or transplant intelligence. Yet we see the working or
manifestations of intelligence in the behaviors of people.
The man-made computation of an
intelligence quotient, or IQ, is probably the best general indicator of
intelligence, but in no way is it infallible. All too often, a child's
IQ is misunderstood and becomes a lifelong "handle." However, given our
present knowledge, the results of a standardized intelligence test
administered by a competent examiner provide as reliable an indication
as possible of a person's potential ability to learn and cope. Until
some scientific breakthrough is developed, we will rely on the IQ score
to approximate how mentally gifted a person may be.
The nature of intelligence was once
explained in this way:
If intelligence were something you could see, touch, and weigh, it would
be something like a can of paint. The genius would have a gallon, the
person who has severe retardation, only half a pint. The rest of us
would have varying amounts between these extremes, with the majority
possessing about two quarts. This is clear enough, but it is only half
the story.
Each can of paint contains the same five
or six ingredients in varying amounts. One can may be "long" on oil,
another on pigment, a third on turpentine, the fourth on gloss or drying
agent. So, although two cans contain the same amount of paint, the paint
may be of vastly different consistency, color, or character.
Good painters want to know the elements
in the paint with which they are working. Parents and teachers want to
know the kinds of intelligence with which they are working. What are the
special qualities of this intelligence? In what proportions are these
elements present? Most important, how can these elements be
used?
We recommend that you do not become
bogged down in probing into the concept of intelligence. Its intricacies
and mysteries are fascinating, but it must not become a convenient
synonym for giftedness. An excellent coverage of the concept of
intelligence is provided by Barbara Clark in Growing Up
Gifted.
The exciting advances in research on
brain functioning, coupled with the realization that a child's
intelligence is only one key to understanding giftedness, have
underscored the importance of studying all characteristics of the gifted
child.
The Gifted Child Is Called Many
Things
Often parents are confused by the many
terms used in referring to the gifted child. Many parents hear these
terms used--sometimes adopting them in their own conversations--without
knowing whether they are synonymous with "gifted" or are just words that
help to explain the concept.
- The term "genius" used to be widely
employed but now it is reserved for reference only to the phenomenally
gifted person.
- "Talented" tends to be used when
referring to a particular strength or ability of a person. Thought
should be given to whether the talent is truly a gift or is, rather, an
ability that has become a highly developed skill through practice. It is
safe to say that generally the person identified as gifted is one who
has multiple talents of a high order.
- The terms "prodigy" and "precocious"
are most commonly used when a child evidences a decidedly advanced
degree of skill in a particular endeavor at a very early age, as well as
a very disciplined type of motivation. It is interesting to note that
the derivation of the words precocious or precocity comes from the
ancient Greek word for "precooked" and connotes the idea of early
ripening.
- "Superior" is a comparative term. When
a child is classified as "superior," we would like to know to whom, or
what group, he or she is superior, and to what degree. A child may be
markedly superior to the majority of children in a specific mental
ability such as verbal comprehension and at the same time be equally
inferior in spatial relations or memory. The looseness of the term
limits its usage in most cases to broad generalization.
- A "high IQ" may be anything, depending
on what it is higher than.
- "Rapid learner" is a helpful term in
understanding giftedness, because it is a distinct characteristic
manifested by the identified gifted child.
- The term "exceptional" is appropriate
when referring to the gifted child as being different in the
characteristics listed earlier.
At this point it is important to bring
into focus a term that continues to be tossed around altogether too
loosely in reference to education of the gifted. That term is
"elitism."
By derivation, elite means the choice, or
best, or superior part of a body or class of persons. However, time and
an overemphasis on egalitarianism have imparted a negative connotation
to the word, implying snobbishness, selectivity, and unfair special
attention.
But, in fact, gifted children are elite
in the same way that anyone becomes a champion, a record-holder, a
soloist, an inventor, or a leader in important realms of human endeavor.
Therefore, their parents have a distinct responsibility to challenge
those who cry "elitism" and explain to them the true meaning of the
term.
The only reason for mentioning these
terms -- and there are many more -- is to caution parents that semantics
and language usage can be tricky and confusing. Thus, your personal
understanding and application of the term gifted becomes doubly
important.
References
Clark, B. (1988). Growing up gifted (3rd
ed.). Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill.
Gardner, H. (1993). Frames of mind. New
York: Bantam Books.
Marland, S. (1972). Education of the
gifted and talented. Report to Congress. Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office.
Renzulli, J. (1986). The three ring
conception of giftedness: A developmental model for creative
productivity. In R. J. Sternberg and J. E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions
of giftedness (pp. 53-92). New York: Cambridge University
Press.
Sternberg, R. & Wagner, R. (1982). A
revolutionary look at intelligence. Gifted Children Newsletter, 3,
11.
Adapted by permission from D.W. Russell,
D.G. Hayes, & B.L. Dockery, My Child is Gifted! Now What Do I Do?
(2nd ed., 1988), North Carolina Association for the Gifted and Talented,
Inc., PO Box 5394, Winston-Salem, NC 27113-5394; and D. Sisk, The State
of Gifted Education: Toward a Bright Future, Music Educators Journal
(March 1990), pp. 35-39.
This publication is a
product of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education.
ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and
disseminated, but please acknowledge your source. This publication was
prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of
Educational Research and Improvement, under Contract No. RI88062207. The
opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the
positions or policies of OERI or the Department of
Education.
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