Gifted and Talented Students

Identifying a gifted student in class:

Dr. Linda Karges-Bone about gifted children: by yojdork
As teachers we must recognise our students as individuals, “when a teacher notices students, it is with the aim of understanding the student-their potential, individual hopes, fears, interests and needs” (Dixon, English, Ferguson, Godinho, Hay, Longaretti, Moss, Sanjakdar, White & Wilson, 2004, p. 53). Gifted and talented students can come from a range of backgrounds and diversities. Teachers’ assumptions of the student’s gender, socio-economic background, culture should not lead them astray when considering the identification of gifted and talented students.

There needs to be a step away from gifted and talented individuals being stereotyped as “emotionally tense, high-strung, uncoordinated, and bookish”. Research suggests that “the gifted are the social as well as the intellectual leaders” (Tuttle & Baker, 1980, p. 12). So, how to we identify and uncover our gifted students?
Subjective measures for identifying giftedness

ÿ        Teacher nomination

“School may be the only place where many students who face extreme challenges can get their needs addressed” (Marzano & Marzano, 2003), teachers have the opportunity and ability to define children’s capabilities and have the resources to address the signals and signs of gifted and talented students.

However, teachers have been criticised for identifying gifted students as the conforming learners that are well-behaved who sit attentively in class. Teachers need to be informed and educated about how to identify giftedness because it can be difficult when other environmental factors influence our perceptions on who is and who is not gifted.

Joseph Renzulli and others have constructed the Scale for Rating Behavioural Characteristics of Superior Students, (Renzulli, Reis, Gavin, Siegle, & Systsma, n.d, p. 6-9), a checklist which identifies Learning, Motivation, Creativity and Leadership.

Mahoney (1998) has constructed a model, Gifted Identity Formation Model which indicates the four initial signs that shape and influence the identity of a gifted individual:

ÿ         Validation – acknowledgement by others or self that giftedness is present in a particular individual

ÿ         Affirmation – reinforcement of capabilities by others interacting with the gifted individual

ÿ          Affiliation – formation of relationships with others who have similar abilities and share the same interests and passions

ÿ         Affinity – attraction towards people who ignite creativity, activities which spark imagination and active participation, the calling, a sense of purpose in life
These four primary focuses interact with 12 systems that define how gifted individuals distinguish themselves and feel about their giftedness:

·         Self-living companions
·         Biological family
·         Culture
·         Vocation
·         Environment
·         Education
·         Society
·         Psychology
·         Politics
·         Organic-physiology
·         Development

(Ashman & Elkins, 2009)
Gifted Children Part 1: by garzebravo
Even though there are many models and checklists to help indentify a gifted student the ability to spot them is sometimes difficult.

There are certain methods which a teacher could use in the classroom, one method of identifying the difference between the gifted and their peers is that “the gifted are producers of information whereas their age-mates tend to be accumulators of information and recallers of information” (Tuttle & Becker, 1980, p 13). Teachers can identify this through the work of a gifted learner where detailed, complex and authentic ideas appear rather than regurgitated information.

Divergent thinking - is on of the critical thinking techniques which gifted learners will use. They place importance on an idea and can easily exercise the high end of Blooms Taxonomy Framework’s (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001) cognitive ladder to decipher the strengths and weaknesses surrounding an idea.  

Gifted learners can sometimes be seen to be disorganised and have the inability to reach deadlines due to the fact that they sometimes take longer to complete simple tasks because of the complexity of their ideas surrounding a particular task.

Learning profiles is essential in identifying gifted students and should be constantly referred to and changed if necessary. 
When profiling a gifted student be aware that giftedness can come in many shapes and sizes, and one individual can possess many gifts across a range of areas. Giftedness is not just restricted to intellectual aptitude, but is recognised in other potential areas as well, such as:  

general intellectual ability

• specific academic aptitude;

• creative or productive thinking;

• leadership ability;

• visual and performing arts; and

• psychomotor ability.

(Ashman & Elkins, 2009, p. 3)

Picture
Kicking Soccer ball sourced from Flickr images under creative commons licence
Here is a valued checklist a teacher can refer to in order to identify and profile gifted students in any potential area.

Child's name:____________________ Child's birthday:____________________

Your name:_____________________ School name:______________________

Date:____________

This child:

1. Has quick accurate recall of information.

(e.g. good short and long-term memory; quick to provide facts, details, or stories related to complex events; learns quickly and recalls accurately words to songs, poems, stories, or conversations; points out connections between ideas and events)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

2. Shows intense curiosity and deeper knowledge than other children.

(e.g. asks questions incessantly once imagination has been aroused, pays close attention when learning, has an enthusiastic need to know and explore, remembers things in great detail)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

3. Is empathetic, feels more deeply than do other children that age.

(e.g. exhibits maturity usually associated with older children; shows unusual hurt or pain when he or she displeases someone; displays pride in advanced accomplishments; is sensitive to others' feelings and shows distress at other children's distress or adult’s distress; will subjugate their needs to the needs of others; reads body language)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

4. May not always display their advanced understanding in everyday situations.

(e.g. becomes cranky or non-compliant when fatigued or stressed; playground behaviour may not reflect their verbal reasoning about the same situations; may be frustrated with their ability to meet their own high expectations)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

5. Uses advanced vocabulary.

(e.g. correctly uses vocabulary and phrasings adults would expect from older children; surprises adults and children with big words or phrases they use; likes complex communication and conversations)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

6. Reads, writes, or uses numbers in advanced ways.

(e.g. reads earlier than most children or if learns to read at the same time as most children, does so very quickly; likes to read rapidly to get the gist of a story even though some words are skipped or mispronounced; interest in copying or using letters, words or numbers; uses computational skills earlier than others)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

7. Advanced play interests and behaviours.

(e.g. exhibits play interests that resemble those of older children; likes to play board games designed for older children, teens or adults; more apt to be interested in cooperative play, complex play situations, or sophisticated play activities)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

8. Shows unusually intense interest and enjoyment when learning about new things.

(e.g. spends long periods of time exploring interesting new things; listens for long periods of time to stories and conversations; retells events and stories in great detail; entertains self for long periods of time; shows unwavering attention sometimes to the point of stubbornness; sits patiently when reading or listening to books)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

9. Has an advanced sense of humour or sees incongruities as funny.

(e.g. is humorous in speech, social interactions, art or story telling; makes jokes, puns, plays on words; sees humour in situations, even ones against him or her, and laughs at the situation)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

10. Understands things well enough to teach others.

(e.g. likes to play school with other children, dolls or stuffed animals; talks like an 'expert' or likes to discuss certain topics a lot; explains ideas to adults when he or she doesn't think the adult understands very well)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

11. Is comfortable around older children and adults.

(e.g. craves for attention from adults; likes to be with older children and adults; listens to or joins in adult conversations; often plays with and is accepted by older children)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

12. Shows leadership abilities.

(e.g. has a verbal understanding of social situations; sought out by other children for play ideas; adapts his or her own words and expectations to needs or skill level of playmates; may be seen as bossy; uses verbal skills to deal with conflicts or to influence other children)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

13. Is resourceful and improvises well.

(e.g. makes ingenious or functional things from LEGO or other building toys; uses toys in unique or nontraditional ways; plays with or carries on conversations with imaginary friends; makes up believable endings to stories)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

14. Shows logical and metacognitive skills in managing own learning.

(e.g. understands game rules quickly; learns from mistakes in playing games; sees errors or losses as learning experiences rather than failures; monitors difficulty of task to push self to more challenging levels)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

15. Uses imaginative methods to accomplish tasks.

(e.g. presents unique arguments in order to convince others to allow him or her to do or get things; finds imaginative ways to get out of doing things they don’t want to do; curious with a high energy level that is goal directed)

SA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 SD o Unsure or don’t know

An example:

(Sayler, n.d.)

As you can see the teacher has an integral part in the development of learning for gifted students and with accurate information and appropriate tools to identify gifted students, they can make a significant difference in their lives and life-long learning.  

Other subjective measures:

ÿ        Parent nomination

ÿ        Peer nomination

ÿ        Pupil self-nomination


Objective measures

ÿ        Standardised Testing

Terman’s IQ test has been a fundamental test that has identified gifted students over many years. In order to become a participant in the top 10% of age-peers, there needs to be an IQ score of 130+ (Ashman & Elkins, 2009). The higher the IQ, the greater the learning needs of the student. Even though, IQ tests have stood the test of time they do not provide the level of support needed to identify and promote other forms of giftedness such as creativity, visual sensors and psychomotor skills.

Guilford “introduced the concepts of convergent and divergent abilities, along with flexibility, fluency, originality, spontaneity, sensitivity to problems, and improvisation. His approach questioned the older unitary view of giftedness (based on a single criterion, IQ) and advanced, in its place, a multidimensional concept involving a range of factors” (Ashman & Elkins, 2009, p. 11). Guilford and Torrance worked together and created the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking to identify gifted students within the creativity areas.  
Giftedness: by mwelldunn
A range of tests can be used to identify gifted and talented students:

ÿ         Achievement tests
ÿ         Aptitude tests
ÿ         Judgemental evidence
ÿ         Verbal tests
ÿ         Figural tasks

(Ashman & Elkins, 2009)

There is a range of learning styles and learning areas which can fall under the category of giftedness, so the ways of measuring giftedness is vital.
Identification of gifted indigenous students

Schools are so diverse these days; teachers must consider a range of learning styles, cultures and learning difficulties that students may identify with. Teachers have to be aware that gifted indigenous students can have different characteristics and may need to be identified with different tools.

When identifying and creating a program for gifted indigenous students the teacher must be aware of certain cultural characteristics as well:
  • Culture is predominantly transmitted by word of mouth (not written).
  • Time is a constant, not a future orientation.
  • Health is synonymous with the harmony of the body and soul (unlike scientific viewpoint for body restoration).
  • The clan system dictates ownership.
  • There is a group rather than individual emphasis.
  • Maintenance of eye contact is not preferred.

To meet the needs of gifted Aboriginal and Torres Strait students:
  • Address the mismatch between learning and teaching styles.
  • Use mentors (community involvement is paramount to success).
  • Help students to develop questioning, introspective attitudes.
  • Help students to understand and explore the problems they may face (ie as they try to align their cultural values with those of the dominant culture).
  • Help students to cope with peer pressures not to succeed.
  • Help students to remediate any areas of skill that are lacking especially limited language skills.
  • Provide opportunities to explore a variety of career options.
  • Help students to learn the strengths of each culture and the unity of all people. (Clark 1992, p. 520 as cited in Education Queensland – The Learning Place, 2011)

(Education Queensland – The Learning Place, 2011)