If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? In today's landscape of gifted education, this age-old question renews itself, and the urgency of its answer is intensified.
As formal gifted education programs are cut back, whether by choice or by dictate, we can pose the falling-tree question, adapted to one of our precious and increasingly threatened natural resources, gifted students. When our schools eliminate gifted programs, does that mean there are no gifted children in our schools? Parents and teachers of young gifted children know the obvious answer. Regardless of current social, political and educational trends, gifted children, their extraordinary potential and their special intellectual and emotional needs, remain quite real and very present.
One Illinois school district typifies the current national trend towards the thinning of differentiated gifted programming. At the elementary level, this district at one time included a gifted education coordinator, an identification process, a pullout program for identified students in 2nd grade and above, and advanced math for eligible 4th and 5th graders. In one budget year, the coordinator position and the pull-out program were eliminated; the following year brought the exclusion of the advanced math classes. Then, finding itself without program options for gifted students, the district simply dropped its formal, systematic process of identifying them. As one discouraged parent aptly protested:
If a tree falls...
Early identification of gifted children affords parents, as well as school administrators and teachers, a head start in planning individual responses to children whose academic needs are not met by the standard classroom curriculum. When gifted programs were popular, parents could assume that their gifted children would be identified and appropriately served.
Now, the greatest potential for response and progress may lie in the efforts of individuals --- of parents, early caregivers, pre-school teachers and advocates of gifted identification --- all of whom now form the most promising network of support for the gifted child. Traits of giftedness are often recognizable well before a child enters elementary school. The people in this group of early childhood supporters, then, become pro-active advocates, alerting one another to special abilities, needs and gifted behaviors.
If our objective is to provide all children with appropriate educational opportunities, then our initial responsibility is to identify their individual educational potential and subsequent needs. We cannot do this effectively unless we provide more realistic measures of assessment. Certainly, some gifted children present facets of their talents in striking simplicity, i.e., the 3- year-old reader, the math whiz, the musical prodigy. Most often, though, the picture is not so clearly drawn.
For centuries, researchers, in education, science, psychology, medicine and beyond, have been pondering theories and experimenting with instruments and methods for measuring intelligence. From this research have evolved several theories of multiple intelligences. Proposing an explanation for the great diversity of characteristics among gifted children, one such theory was introduced more than a decade ago by Howard Gardner. In his work he describes seven areas of relatively independent intelligences.
Gardner opposes any single-number representation of a child's intelligence, such as that used to define the intelligence quotient, and those of us who work regularly with gifted children keenly appreciate this perspective. Giftedness may appear in any one, or more, of these seven areas and may look nothing like the classic "gifted" stereotype Viewed from this perspective, we may more easily identify gifted children and their particular gifts. Before, many children were missed or excluded because their abilities were not all equally exceptional. Artists, performers, young leaders, problem-solvers and many more are now recognized and cherished for the diverse abilities they possess. Another researcher, Robert Stemberg, poses his "triarchic theory" of intelligence, which is comprised of:
Sternberg states that the most critical need in ability testing is to develop measures which are sensitive to real-world kinds of intelligence. He applies the IQ test to only one of the three areas of intelligence in his model, the componential, and only partially. He notes that using a one-dimensional scale such as IQ leads to the view that giftedness and retardation are opposite ends of a single spectrum; whereas, the attributes measured to identify intellectual giftedness are not at all the same as those whose abundance or lack will distinguish mental retardation. Sternberg further proposes that a key psychological basis of intellectual giftedness resides in "insight skills," such as superior ability to deal with novel tasks and situations as well as adeptness at applying effective intellectual capabilities in more commonplace circumstances, whether academic, artistic, or of any other genre.
These, and other, bigger-picture, more inclusive theories afford us great hope in terms of early and appropriate identification of our gifted young.
Parents often see themselves as biased or inadequate identifiers their young children's intelligent or potential, but in this author's experience, the most accurate identifiers of gifted children, from infancy through age 8, are indeed parents. The keenness and reliability of parents' observations come from the consistency and continuity of involvement with their child.
The following is a partial list of behaviors, tendencies and abilities, used by the Center for Gifted at National-Louis University near Chicago in helping parents identify expressions of giftedness in preschool and primary children. Exhibiting many, though not necessarily every indicator mentioned, a gifted child can be characterized as one who:
Parents who are not afraid to affirm and support their young child's gifts once they identify or even suspect them can make a significant difference in actualizing the potential of that child. The parent, besides being mother or father, is caregiver, mentor, catalyst and friend. A child looks to that parent first and foremost as a continuous role model, someone significant who makes and implements choices about life values. It's an ever-evolving role that nonetheless remains a constant and common denominator for the growing child.
When their child begins school, parents often are reluctant, or ignorant of the need, to share with teachers what they know about their child's abilities. They assume that the teacher will recognize exceptional gifts and talents and respond to their consequent needs, or, at the prospect of being perceived as pushy they want to avoid labeling their child or are fearful that any distinction may place the child at a disadvantage in a classroom setting. On the contrary, parents who adopt the role of enlightened advocates for their child and provide insights and examples rather than emotional judgments are likely to be quite well received by teachers. In addition, these parents, not limiting themselves or their child by self-consciousness about his or her abilities, are those who invariably provide more appropriately challenging experiences outside the classroom as well as the advocacy needed within the school setting.
Parents should feel comfortable about taking appropriate steps to help educators identify the young gifted child and respond effectively. Some suggestions are offered below:
Parents of gifted children feel isolated and/or frustrated about the limitations they encounter can immediately find common denominators, encouragement and enlightenment by sharing and communicating with other parents of gifted. Some will have ready solutions for what others perceive as huge problems; some will learn lessons by hearing about others' mistakes or make strides by learning of others' triumphs. Likewise, gifted children frequently and intuitively find one another in a group; parents can help facilitate that process, thereby allowing gifted children to become resources for each other.
In forests everywhere, there are trees falling; in classrooms all across this country, there are gifted children waiting. As we encourage teachers to presume that these students are there, so can we encourage parents to assume that gifted children walk the halls of every school, and that, in these times especially, they need parents to be their advocates. If we acuminate the sensitivity of educators and parents to the need of identifying gifted children, then we hold the door open for their receptivity to the constituent programs and perspectives. If we show our willingness to help and be supportive, then we make it easier for educators to respond in meaningful ways; and when we encourage helpful responses in the classroom and the community, we strengthen the broader network of support. Earnest efforts such as these, by parents, educators and others who perceive the needs of our gifted young, are the harbingers of understanding that the need to provide our gifted young children with appropriate educational opportunities is as integral to the development of their potential as teaching the alphabet to any child capable of learning it!
Joan Franklin Smutny is Director of the Center for Gifted at National-Louis University in Illinois. She teaches graduate students and is the author of Education of the Gifted, A Thoughtful Overview of Gifted Education, and Your Gifted Child.
Gardner, H. (1883). Frames of Mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books.
Sternberg, R.J. (1985). Beyond IQ. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Smutny, J.F., Veenker, K. & Veenker, S. (1989). Your gifted child: How to recognize and develop the special talents in our children from birth to age seven. New York: Ballantine Books.
Reprinted with permission from the publisher, Open Space Communications.
This article is provided as a service of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted young people 18 and under. To learn more about the Davidson Institute’s programs, please visit www.DavidsonGifted.org.
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