Lecture 12: GIFTEDNESS [Year]
Exceptionality
“exceptional” – exception to rule > far away from the average (top 1%)
General ED designed around the average child – doesn’t work well for exceptional children
STEREOTYPES
Old Stereotype
> Belief in a just world (not the case) – the majority are average, so expect if
someone is excellent in something, they are deficient in something else =
average like everyone else {incorrect!}
> “equality in rights” = equality in abilities; no premise for this
> it’s true some gifted fit the stereotype, but so do ungifted kids
New Stereotype
> problem: labelled as gifted – HIGH expectation to be perfect
> it’s rare that child gifted educationally is gifted in all other aspects (sociable)
> even in education - gifted in one domain typically (eg. gifted in math & snc
won’t be gifted in writing & English) .. children aren’t perfect
> consistent w. “all American child” – media’s depiction
boy, athletic, good looking (blue eyes, blonde hair, white), from small
city in America, faced an adversity (eg. death of father), good student,
popular, has a little sister to care for
> problematic for gifted kids & rest of population – impossible to measure up
to media’s standards – live deficient lives b.c. never live up to perceptions
8 Gripes (“complaints”) of Gifted Kids
1. No one explains: Assessing giftedness > in gr.3/4 give whole class test – subsequently, kids that did good take
a test w. psychologist – not assessed (forget about it) or assessed (parents notified & decide what to do)
> parents tend not to tell child (have to move child, have to leave friends, overly confident)
> vague with children: “what do you think about going to afterschool programs”, etc.
2. School is easy/boring: repetitive work – they don’t want to do it, tune out, many drop out
3. Kept perfect:
> not perfect (they’re children), won’t do their best all the time, teachers have expectations
> many cases kids understand subjects better than teacher {eg. math} – doesn’t look up to teacher, the
only thing teacher can do is expect child does what is expected according to curriculum
4. Teased for being smart: girls grade 7, grade 8 – everyone makes fun of her (intimidated)
5 & 6. Feel misunderstood/different: different interests, also: gifted academically, not emotionally
7. Overwhelmed: a lot of options; worries early in life – “what will I be in life; important decisions”
8. World problems: most people are helpless (donate to charities, demonstrations) = enough to elevate that
guilt that others are suffering > children don’t have emotional stability @ that age to deal w. it (obsess about it) Lecture 12: GIFTEDNESS [Year]
Characteristics ** not all gifted kids will have these characteristics **
> advanced words: no one taught them (exposed to it; from TV in the background
– pay attn. & figure out what it meant by the context)
> memory: sponge of knowledge – curious & pick up everything; at a young age
they have a lot of information about everything
> curious: problematic for teachers – “eg. where do babies come from? - only so
much they want to explain”, most kids are satisfied w. explanations “mommy’s
tummy” – no curiosity or understanding, kids continue asking “how did they get
there, how did they come out”
> interests: obsessed/passionate of things (eg. sand collections, dinosaur
collections) – knowledgeable in interests
> intense: totally absorbed in activities/thoughts
> if interested, more motivated: offended they have to do things they already
understand, find it trivial
> abstract thinking: teen years = abstract thinking “what if”, obsessed, trying to
constantly figure out the world – operate at that level of thinking really early on =
diff level of understanding the world
> perceptive: hypothetical, snc. reasoning – subtle things from observances
> complex/challenging: confusing to other kids, threatening to teacher
(NA: creativity is not encouraged – all kids are taught the same way: test, meet
the requirements > no novel ways of creating probs.)
> pay attn.: can divide their attention in multiple ways (problematic for the
teacher – other kids can’t do this > lose entire class)
> catches on quickly, then sloppy: right answer & show how you did the work –
many kids have the answer in their head – don’t want to be bothered explaining it
** classroom difficulties for kid & – power struggles w. teachers
teacher – general ED isn’t always > “better ways”: teacher intimidated
> sensitive: typical kids “when will we get there? What will we eat?” -no
the most suitable env’t ** understanding of uniqueness – gifted kids see beauty & uniqueness – broader
** bittersweet being gifted – smart understanding why lake in dessert is special/stares at plane taking off >>
understanding of other ppl (takes a long time to develop; gifted see it early)
BUT hard for children & not always > Justice/fairness: hard time functioning, don’t let things go (others get over it)
the case they will do well in school
- not a fun place, don’t have friends > global issues, humor: humour requires intelligence- laughing about self, know
the difference between when it’s a joke & pushing line; feel like outsiders = use
that understand them, tune out, their sophisticated sense of humour – most often class doesn’t get it
argue w. teachers, fail courses** Lecture 12: GIFTEDNESS [Year]
GIFTED EDUCATION APPROACHES: ENRICHMENT/ACCELERATION
Enrichment – “horizontal, inclusive approach”
general ED class – w. additional education {age & grade appropriate}
same topic/content/level but exposing child to much more (extra work @ same gr. Level)
time for enrichment activities: available ideally during class time
o children shouldn’t spend more time in school; use 9-3 productively, so they’re not bored
Challenged by work, kept busy, active & interested
Interdisciplinary Instruction
Topic: Ancient Greece from historical perspective
Gifted child taught: philosophical/economic/psychological perspective too
Much broader, enriched perspective about the topic, content
Independent Study
Excuse child from class discussion on the topic
child spends time writing a paper on specific part of the topic – supervised, read by others
change grading scheme to certain extent - keep tests in, remove rogue-memory work required on regular
basis & replace it with independent study assignment
Mentorship: adults guide child in real life situation (child can spend time in museum)
Internship:placed in job setting – completed material
Enrichment triad: “other specific models - not discussed”
PROS: inclusion, social
Inclusive: see the world (broad range of individuals w.in the community)
o Neighbourhood school, general ED classroom, with friends
o “Normalizing experience” – same age, same grade, same stages, same neighbourhood
Social skills developed – exposed to a broad range of individuals w.in community
CONS: academic
More work – don’t get to be children; socialize, play, hang out
o Especially in high school, they don’t want to take enriched classes (universities don’t care about
enriched classes, all they care about is grades; so why not do less work & get a better grade?)
More likely to be bored, get into confrontations w. teachers, tune out of the system Lecture 12: GIFTEDNESS [Year]
Acceleration – “vertical, segregated approach”
special ED classes – teaching more in less time, same curriculum
move up curriculum – accelerate speed of instruction (same curriculum; 2 yrs of high school not 4)
Acceleration Traditionally: when “Special ED” wasn’t available, only General ED
stayed behind & repeated grades, or skipped grades – based on academic level: did you/not master it?
Problem: accounts intellect/academics NOT social development (too old/too young)
Not common, easier; Didn’t need to go through process of identification & finding placement
Acceleration Today – inclusive classes
Advanced placements –
Same age group as everyone else, but accelerate in specific subjects
Accelerated subjects: University level material – finish grade 12 = completed 1 year of university too
For the rest of the classes, with same-age peers
Honors sections – form of ability grouping
Gifted & non-gifted, if high achievement = in advanced classes > ONE particular subject they’re good at
Ability grouping
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