GIFTED AND

TALENTED
CHILDREN
 Who is Gifted and
Talented?
Gifted: having extraordinary
intellectual ability and creativity

Talented: having exceptional skills

and ability in a specific area such as art,
music, science, and language
Definitions
1: Federal Definition

"The term ‘gifted and talented,” when

used with respect to students, children, or
youth, means students, children, or youth
who give evidence of high achievement
capability in such areas as intellectual,
creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in
specific academic fields, and who need
services or activities not ordinarily provided
by the school in order to fully develop those
capabilities.“
2: New Proposed Definition of Outstanding
Talent
Children and youth with outstanding talent perform or show the
potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment
when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment.

These children and youth exhibit high performance capability in

intellectual, creative, and/or artistic areas, possess an unusual leadership
capacity, or excel in specific academic fields.

 They require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the

schools. Outstanding talents are present in children and youth from all
cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human
endeavor.
 3: Renzulli’s Three- Trait Definition

Renzulli’s (1978) definition of giftedness is based on an interaction

among three basic clusters of human traits:

(a) Above-average general abilities: Within the above average

abilities Renzulli makes a difference between general abilities (like
processing information, integrating experiences, and abstract thinking)
and specific abilities (like the capacity to acquire knowledge, perform in
an activity).

(b) A high level of task commitment: Under task commitment he

understands motivation turned into action (like perseverance,
endurance, hard work, but also self-confidence, perceptiveness and a
special fascination with a special subject). Renzulli argues that without
task commitment high achievement is simply not possible.

(c) Creativity: By creativity Renzulli understands the fluency, flexibility,

and originality of thought, an openness to experience, sensitivity to
stimulations, and a willingness to take risks.
3: Renzulli’s Three- Trait Definition
Characteristics
According to McAlpine & Reid, 1996, the
characteristics of gifted and talented students can
be studied in various sections:

1. Learning Characteristics

2. Self- Determination Characteristics

3. Creative thinking Characteristics

4. Social Leadership Characteristics

5. Motivational Characteristics
 Learning Characteristics
 displays logical and analytical thinking
 is quick to see patterns and relationships
 masters information quickly
 strives for accurate and valid solutions to problems
 easily grasps underlying principles
 likes intellectual challenge
 jumps stages in learning
 seeks to redefine problems, pose ideas, and formulate
hypotheses
 finds as well as solves problems
 reasons things out for her or himself
 formulates and supports ideas with evidence
 can recall a wide range of knowledge
 independently seeks to discover the why and how of things
 Self- Determination Characteristics

 is sceptical of authoritarian pronouncements

 questions arbitrary decisions
 pushes teachers and adults for explanations
 displays a precocious interest in 'adult' problems
 is reluctant to practice skills already mastered
 is easily bored with routine tasks
 expresses ideas, preferences, and opinions forthrightly
 relates well to older children and adults, and often prefers their company
 asks searching questions
 Creative thinking Characteristics

 produces original ideas

 displays intellectual playfulness, imagination, and fantasy
 creates original texts or invents things
 has a keen sense of humour and sees humour in the unusual
 generates unusual insights
 enjoys speculation and thinking about the future
 demonstrates awareness of aesthetic qualities
 is not afraid to be different
 generates a large number of ideas
 is prepared to experiment with novel ideas and risk being wrong
 seeks unusual rather than conventional relationships
 Social Leadership Characteristics

 takes the initiative in social situations

 is popular with peers
 communicates well with others
 actively seeks leadership in social situations
 shows ability to inspire a group to meet goals
 persuades a group to adopt ideas or methods
 is self-confident
 is adaptable and flexible in new situations
 actively seeks leadership in sporting activities
 is socially mature
 is willing to take responsibility
 synthesises ideas from group members to formulate a plan of
action
 Motivational Characteristics

 strives for high standards of personal achievement

 is self directed
 is highly self motivated and sets personal goals
 is persistent in seeing tasks to completion
 becomes committed to and absorbed in tasks
 tends to be self critical and evaluative
 is reliable
 prefers to work independently
 What Causes
Giftedness?
 Biological Factors

 Social/ Environmental Factors

 Biological Factors:
 regardless of where the child is raised, a gifted child will demonstrate the gifts at
some point

 For example, there are accounts of children with extraordinary gifts that could
have an innate basis, such as the musically gifted. No particular environment
appears to have stimulated the gift.

 Psychologically, giftedness is believed to be an gift that has a genetic origin and is at

least partly innate which may not be clear at an early stage but rather an inclination
that the child may possess the gift.

 Studies have indicated that individuals with extremely high mathematical abilities
have frontal lobes of the brain which are more differentiated compared to average
students.

 Neuropsychological studies claim that in information processing, gifted individuals

have enhanced brain activity localized in the right hemisphere.
 Social/ Environmental Factors:
External variables are defined as factors that influence a person’s decision-
making process. In particular, the influences of:

. Peers

. family

· school environment
 Types
of
Giftedness
According to Betts and Neihart there are 6 types of
giftedness:
 Type 1: The Successful

 Most Easily Identifiable: May account for up to about 90% of the

identified gifted students in schools.
 Learn and adapt well with the system
 Are well adjusted to society
 Generally have a high self-concept.
 Are obedient, display appropriate behavior, and are high achievers,
therefore, loved by parents and teachers.
However;
 they can also get bored at school
 learn the system fast enough so as to use the minimum effort to get
by
 are also dependent on the system, thus less creative and imaginative,
and lack autonomy.
 Type 2: The Divergently Different/
Challenging
 are the divergently gifted; the ones who possess high levels of
creativity
 do not conform to the system
 often have conflicts with teachers and parents
 get frustrated, as the school system does not recognize their abilities
 may be seen as disruptive in the classroom
 at risk of dropping out of schools for unhealthy activities, like
getting involved in drugs or exhibiting delinquent behaviour
 Type 3: The Underground

 Refers to gifted students who deny their talents or hide their

giftedness in order to feel more included with a non-gifted peer
group.
 They are generally females, who are frequently insecure and anxious
as their belonging needs rise dramatically at that stage.
 Their changing needs often conflicts with the expectations of parents
and teachers.
 These types appear to benefit from being accepted as they are at the
time
 Type 4: The Dropouts

 angry and frustrated students whose needs have not been

recognized for many years and they feel rejected in the system
 express themselves by being depressed or withdrawn and
responding defensively
 are identified very late; therefore, they are bitter and resentful due to
feelings of neglect
 have very low self-esteem
 counseling is highly recommended
 Type 5: The Double labelled

 gifted students who are physically or emotionally handicapped in

some way, or have a learning disability
 Are not easily identifiable; do not show behaviours of giftedness that
can be identified in schools.
 show signs of stress, frustration, rejection, helplessness, or isolation
 are also often impatient and critical with a low self-esteem
 are easily ignored as they are seen as average
 School systems seem to focus more on their weaknesses, and therefore
fail to nurture their strengths
 Type 6: The Autonomous learner

 learners who have learnt to work effectively in the school system

 they do not work for the system, but rather make the system work for
them
 are very successful and are liked by parents, teachers and peers
 have a high self-concept with some leadership capacity within their
surroundings
 accept themselves and are risk takers, which goes well with their
independent and self-directed nature
 able to express their feelings, goals, and needs freely and
appropriately
Tests & Assessments
 Objectiv
e
Tests are common assessment tools for identification, but should not
serve as the sole source of identification.

An identification strategy that includes multiple assessments—both

objective and subjective—is the best way to ensure no gifted learner is
overlooked.

Types
The variety of characteristics within the federal definition—intellectual,
creative, artistic, leadership, and specific academic fields—require more
than one assessment to identify.
 How can gifted and talented
students be identified?
 Classroom environments which encourage creative, divergent and higher-level
thinking and an open-ended approach to learning will foster the emergence of
gifts and talents.
 Identification processes should be inclusive to ensure gifted and talented
students are not disadvantaged on the basis of gender, racial, cultural or
socioeconomic backgrounds, physical or sensory disability or geographic
location.
 Identification should be a flexible, continuous process to allow for the
recognition of gifts and talents that may not be apparent at first.
Information which will help the teacher identify a student's strengths, talents
and socio-emotional needs can be gleaned from:

o Parents - particularly in early identification of gifted and talented students.

o IQ tests (verbal and non-verbal).
o Standardised tests.
o School records, achievement tests (eg reading, mathematics).
o Anecdotal records - Interviews (parent/child/community members/previous
teacher/school psychologist).
o Identification checklists.
o Rating scales.
o Interpreters, translators (for students from culturally and linguistically diverse
backgrounds).
Ability Tests
Intelligence quotient (IQ) or cognitive abilities test scores are
also used to identify gifted and talented students. While these
tests provide information for the intellectual domain, these
tests are not as helpful in identifying someone with creative,
leadership, or other abilities.
Individual
Stanford Binet (L-M)
Wescher Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th Edition. Read NAGC's position
paper Use of the WISC-IV in Gifted Education.
Woodcock Johnson
Nonverbal tests, such as the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test or the Test of
Nonverbal Intelligence, may be more effective for students from culturally and
linguistically different or low-income backgrounds to eliminate barriers.

Group
CogAT
Otis-Lennon
Hemmon-Nelson
Ravens Progressive Matrices
Matrix Analogies Test