Giftendness

Well done! I'm glad to see you got online. I like that your brifeing on giftedness is thorough. Next requires you to consider programming for gifted kids, which inlvoves "HOTS" ... not "MOTS", which is to say, "Higher Order Thinking Skills" and not merely "More Of The Same".

Without an appreciation of the features of giftedness and some planning, the tendency can be to give gifted kids more work to do, rather than tasks that respond to the pace of their thinking and interest in going deep and wide with ideas.

Giftedness: Definitions, Prevalence, Categories, and Etiology

Giftedness: Definitions, Prevalence, Categories, and Etiology

By Lisa Raine, Jasmine Richardson, Karen Bravo-Elder, & Marjorie Riles

“Defining Giftedness is a complicated and often controversial task and the definitions are continually debated and modified” (Winzer, 2008, p. 280). 

Definitions

Giftedness: “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 education programs and/or services beyond normally provided by regular school program in order to realize their contribution to self and society” (Winzer, 2008, p. 281). “Having multiple forms and being diagnostic, developmental, and process-oriented rather than static and narrowly defined through an intelligence test. Giftedness is described as broad in terms of academic ability, talent, social, and interpersonal skills, and even vocational domains” (Bennet, et al 2008, p.134).

Academic Ability: “Academic ability refers to intellectual ability measured by performance on IQ tests and other standardized tests of academic achievement” (Winzer, 2008, p. 284).

Creativity: “Creativity is a very special condition, attitude, or state of being that nearly defies description” (Winzer, 2008, p. 285).

Talent: “Talent refers to a specific dimension of a skill in areas such as music, visual arts, drama, athletics, and particular academic domains” (Winzer, 2008, p. 282).

Leadership: “Leadership is defined as the ability to effect positive and productive changes that are self-enhancing or group-enhancing” (Winzer, 2008, p. 286).

Prevalence

“The lack of a universally accepted definition of giftedness makes it very difficult to estimate its prevalence in the population at large and in children and youth.  However we can reasonable assume that only a small percentage of the population will show the traits of giftedness, creativity, and talent.  Overall, giftedness is estimated to occur in 2 to 5 percent of school-aged children” (Winzer, 2008, p. 287).

Categories

Depending on the definition used to define giftedness, the categories may change.  Typically the categories are: academic and intellectual, creativity, talent, and leadership.

Etiology

“The effects of heredity and environment are both important in the development of children who are gifted and talented, but the relative contribution of the various factors is not clearly understood” (Winzer, 2008, p. 287).  “No race, ethnic group, or culture holds a monopoly on giftedness. Yet the statistical probability of giftedness increases when a child’s parents have higher than average intelligence and provide a better-than average home environment” (Winzer, 2008, p. 288). “Other factors in the environment that seem most clearly to affect the development of giftedness are the values and expectations of the culture; the soci-economic level of the family with accompanying nutritional and other health variables, attitudes, and values; the number of children in the family; and the presence of environmental stimulation” (Winzer, 2008, p. 288).  While this is all true and confirmed by studies and statistics, some kids are just born with some inborn capabilities that are truly amazing and astounding.

"The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this:

A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive.

 

To him...

a touch is a blow,

a sound is a noise,

a misfortune is a tragedy,

a joy is an ecstasy,

a friend is a lover,

a lover is a god,

and failure is death.

 

Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create - - - so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating." ~Pearl Buck~

 

Bennet, S., Dwort, D., & Weber, K. (2008) Special Education in Ontario Schools (6^th ed.).4

            St. Davids, Canada: Highland Press.

Winzer, M. (2008). Children With Exceptionalities in Canadian Classrooms (8^th ed.). Toronto,

            Canada: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Ongoing Discussion

Greetings everyone! I'm looking forward to our ongoing discussion. :) JEC

setting up

Greetings to all in EDUC 1600 at the Doon Campus! We're just getting set up here for our online portion of the course. I'm looking forward to studying with you all!

All the best JEC

On the Continuum 2013

A continuation of the blog started in Introduction to Exceptionalities.
Focus is on: -->

• Special Health Care Needs
• Neurological Disorders
• Severe & Multiple Disabilities
• Giftedness
• English Language Learners