Gifted Awareness Week, 2011

Tall poppies. High Fliers. Rising Stars. Odd bods. Creative thinkers. Bright sparks...
Who are we talking about when we refer to the term gifted/ talented children ?
How do I know that what I mean by these terms is the same as the meaning that you ascribe to them ? Defining terms is no easy task when no single definition is accepted by everyone, or even accepted by the majority. In Linda Silverman’s work with parents at the Gifted Development Center in Colorado, she has found that women tend to perceive giftedness as developmental advancement, and are concerned with how this faster development will impact on the child’s relationships with others, while men place all the emphasis on achievement. Neither of these views are complete in themselves in helping to arrive at a convergence because giftedness and talent are fluid concepts that look different in different contexts and cultures.
Francoys Gagné distinguishes between the two terms as being two ends of a continuum with natural exceptionality acting as the ‘raw material’ which is translated into talent as a result of systematic learning and practicing. While there is potential for a child to demonstrate exceptionality (talent) in an area if the environment is conducive to doing so, there is a distinction between what a child is capable of achieving and what he /she will achieve, and this is helped or hindered by a range of other physical and psychological catalysts such as the child’s temperament, motivation and volition, and by environmental influences. Family, people, culture and chance events all have a part to play and can change the course of talent development.
My own view as an educator is that there are children who are exceptional and demonstrate high performance and there are those who we may or may not recognise have the potential to do so. All children benefit from a classroom climate that is accepting and nurturing and should be given opportunities for creativity and challenge BUT we need to increase our understanding of how gifted children think and act in order to be in a position to provide optimal educational experiences aligned to their specific learning needs so that the right ‘buttons’ are pushed to enable them to pursue their dreams in the world of the future. I believe we should be striving for creative solutions to enhance engagement rather than simply bemoaning the tall poppy syndrome and making excuses. Gifted awareness week needs to be a time for reflection followed by personal action. Our gifted children are often forced to wait for their classmates to catch up in the classroom. They can’t afford to wait while the education community procrastinates indefinitely.
Elaine