WHAT IS GIFTED?

After years of research, there is still no general or universal consensus on what “gifted” really means. However, many researchers and educators have been able to give certain factors and/or ideas that are certainly possible characteristics of the term and help us in the diverse identification of students.

Years ago, children were not labeled gifted, they were different, but not in a good way. “Child prodigies were targets of intense scrutiny and were looked at as “freaks of nature” by many” (Glass 2004). They were a burden rather than an asset.

Giftedness created a sense of mystery, and many frowned upon the unfamiliar.

Today, Davis & Rimm define gifted and talented children as those identified by professionally qualified persons who by virtue of outstanding abilities are capable of high performance (2004, p.18) The following are a list of areas a child may experience high performance levels in:
-general intellectual ability -leadership ability
-specific academic ability -visual and performing arts
-creative or productive thinking -psychomotor ability

However, “The particular definition adopted by a school district will guide the identification process and thus determine who is selected for the special services of a gifted program” (Davis & Rimm, 2004 p. 17).

Some believe giftedness is something a person is born with, or born into. “There are some youngsters who are born with the capability to learn faster than others those ideas or concepts that societies value in children and in adults” (Baldwin, 1994).

According to Dalzell (1998), giftedness may be defined simply as intellectual precocity.

Renzulli’s three-ring model provides us with another definition for gifted individuals. Identifying gifted behavior as a reflection of interactions among three basic clusters of human traits-above average, task commitment and creativity. Gifted children are those that are or capable of developing these sets of traits.

Giftedness is also disputable between cultures. In Athens and Japan position and gender determined opportunities while early China valued gifted children and youth.

We should note that there is always a danger of labeling a student as gifted to having an adverse affect. So we must be careful when doing so. Positive and negative affects will be looked at further down.

QUESTIONS:

Why has giftedness changed over the past few centuries?

Has it changed for the better or for the worse?

With the ideas we have of giftedness today are students in a better position for success?

With so many variations of the term, how can a universal recognition be developed?
Does giftedness depend on opportunity? Gender? Race?