Same but different...
Tuesday, 10 August 2010 18:54
Teachers often see gifted children as belonging to one, homogenous group. As any parent will know, they are in fact different in many ways. One of the lectures in my on-line study (Certificate of Gifted Education, UNSW) this week looked at the work of George T.Betts and Maureen Neihart. I first read the article some years ago, and found it very helpful, especially when talking to parents about underachievement. Re-visiting it via a presentation by Professor Miraca Gross has helped me to think about it in more depth. Betts and Neihart provide a framework for educators and parents that helps to explain the emotional, cognitive and social needs of gifted and talented children. They also provide a table setting out the feelings, behaviours, needs, perceptions, identification and home and school support. The profiles are a starting point, not a definition: Successful, Challenging, Underground, Dropout, Double labelled and Autonomous. Sadly, the "Successful" are actually underachieving - we all know the child who achieves and learns well but is really very bored and does not take risks. Have a look at the article for yourself - especially if you know a child that you think may be underachieving.
Just in...
Did you know?
Gifted children vary a lot. Some are great at sports. Some have disabilities. Children can be gifted or not along one or more of a large number of dimensions. Labels like "gifted" need to be used carefully as all children are different. |
NSWAGTC Blogs
The blogs appearing on the NSWAGTC site are designed to provide colour, news and subjective views about the many issues and concerns facing gifted children and their parents, care-givers and educators. Some of the blogs are associated with formal roles of the NSWAGTC, such as the President and the Webmaster. These allow the persons filling these roles to note to members any current news and changes. Other NSWAGTC blogs are written by individuals with experience of gifted children from one or more perspectives - for example Cate's Blog is from the viewpoint of a primary school teacher and parent of gifted children. These blogs are written solely by the person identified and represent his or her views, rather than necessarily those of the NSWAGTC. Comments are invited We invite comments on our blog entries, by both financial members and registered users (free). Click here to register. Comments may be reviewed and those considered inappropriate will be deleted. New blogs? We would also be delighted to consider applications from potential bloggers provided that the applicant accepts that this will be subject to a review process and may well be declined for any number of reasons which may not be shared with the applicant. Applications, which should include a resume and a vision for the potential blog, and suggestions for new blogs, can be sent in the first instance to the webmaster. |
