What does "gifted" mean anyway? Part 1

I’ve had several questions around “how can I know if I am/my student/my child are gifted”. As it is not a simple question, though it seems so, I want to spend a few blog sessions addressing it. By the end, hopefully the subject will have more clarity.

Our Understanding of Giftedness is Changing

I thought I would start by reviewing what BC has to say. This blog is an abbreviation of the information on their website: http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/gifted/whoare.htm.

The BC Ministry of Education speaks about giftedness in the following ways:

“Perceptions of giftedness vary even among gifted education specialists. At one time "gifted" was the term used to describe those students who learned quickly and obtained high scores on IQ tests. … Today "giftedness" is generally accepted to include a wide range of attributes, from the traditional intellectual measures to interpersonal abilities.”

There Are Different Types of Intelligence

Gardner's (1983) model of intelligence describes capabilities in seven areas.

• Linguistic: The ability to use words effectively both orally and in writing (e.g., writer, orator).

• Logical-Mathematical: The ability to use numbers effectively and to see logical relationships and patterns (e.g., mathematician, scientist, computer programmer).

• Spatial: The ability to visualize and to orient oneself in the world (e.g., guide, hunter, architect, artist).

• Bodily, Kinesthetic: The ability to use one's body to express ideas; to make things with hands; and to develop physical skills (e.g., actor, craftsperson, athlete)

• Musical: The capacity to perceive, discriminate, transform and express musical forms (e.g., composer, musician).

• Interpersonal Intelligence: The ability to perceive and make distinctions in the moods, intentions, motivations and feelings of other people (e.g., counsellor, political leader).

• Intrapersonal Intelligence: Self-knowledge and the ability to act adaptively on the basis of that knowledge (e.g., psychotherapist, religious leader).

**Gifted students will show patterns of development that exceed their peers in one or several of the intelligences.**

Gifted Characteristics = Above Average Intelligence, Creativity and Task Commitment

After an extensive analysis of research studies of gifted individuals, Renzulli (1986) concluded that giftedness involves the interaction of three sets of characteristics: above average intellectual ability, creativity and task commitment. This interaction may result in giftedness in general performance areas such as mathematics, philosophy, religion or visual arts, or in the performance areas as specific as cartooning, map-making, play-writing, advertising or agricultural research.

Treffinger (1986, p.40) defined the characteristics as follows:

Above Average Intelligence

• Advanced vocabulary

• Good memory

• Learns very quickly and easily

• Large fund of information

• Generalizes skillfully

• Comprehends new ideas easily

• Makes abstractions easily

• Perceives similarities, differences, relationships

• Makes judgments and decisions

Creativity

• Questioning; very curious about many topics

• Has many ideas (fluent)

• Sees things in varied ways (flexible)

• Offers unique or unusual ideas (original)

• Adds details; makes ideas more interesting (elaborates)

• Transforms or combines ideas

• Sees implications or consequences easily

• Risk-taker; speculates

• Feels free to disagree

• Finds subtle humour, paradox or discrepancies

Task Commitment*

• Sets own goals, standards

• Intense involvement in preferred problems and tasks

• Enthusiastic about interests and activities

• Needs little external motivation when pursuing tasks

• Prefers to concentrate on own interest and projects

• High level of energy

• Perseveres; does not give up easily when working

• Completes, shares products

• Eager for new projects and challenges

• Assumes responsibility

*Task commitment refers to the passion and the perseverance that follows when students are involved in problems, topics and projects of their own interest or choosing, in our outside of the classroom. Gifted students are typically committed to tasks that are personally meaningful. A lack of commitment to a task assigned by someone else does not necessarily mean the student lacks task commitment.

Regional Science Fairs

I encourage all you science-minded scholars out there to check out the Science Fair link under "Cool Opportunities". There is a regional science fair near you and the Foundation will walk you through the process and find you a mentor to help you along. Travel! Meet Interesting people! Build a rocket! Learn something new! Enjoy!

The gift doesn't fall far from the giving tree

This week I had a chance to meet the parent of one of the gifted students with whom I am working. What a treat! As we were chatting over lunch, we discussed how similar kids were to their parents - specifically gifted kids.

The conversation reminded me of a quote by Linda Silverman. She states:

"Where one child in the family is found to be gifted, the chances are great that all members of the family are gifted. Brothers and sisters are usually within five to ten points in ability. We studied 48 sets of siblings and found that over one-third were within five points of each other, over three-fifths were within ten points and almost three-quarters were within thirteen points...Parents IQ scores, when known, are usually within ten points of their children's; grandparents' IQ scores are often within ten points of their grandchildren's."

(Silverman, Linda in a paper What have We Learned About Gifted Children, published in 1997)

It seems to me that God knew what he was doing in making families; often gifted people can feel very alone, but right from the start God has put us in relational groups of people that are remarkably similar to us - we have a built-in support group, a group that can spur us on, challenge, debate with and encourage us, sympathize with us, people who have gone down the path we are going, at least to some degree.

I know it doesn't always feel like that - I know I felt so totally different from my family that at times I wondered if I was adopted. True story. I was also the only blond. Very suspicious. Sometimes, when we are in a family and looking at each other from an individualistic point of view we see only the differences - he is musical, I'm into art, she's the brain, I'm more social - but viewed from the outside and as a group, you see how very similar we all are to our family. And it's a good thing. A finger-of-God good thing.

And so, I invite you to join me this week in being thankful for family.

Excuse me, what was that question again?

The formulation of a problem is often more important that its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires imagination and marks real advance in science.

Einstein and Infeld (1938)