Introduction
A child who is naturally endowed with a great mental prowess typically having an intellectual quotient (IQ) 130 or above is considered gifted. The definition however now includes a variety of different categories for giftedness with a particular measure which includes mathematical, spatial-visual, musical and interpersonal. According to the National Association for Gifted Children, “there is no universally accepted definition of giftedness”.
The Needs and Nature of Gifted Learners
It is accepted as a general truth that gifted learners differ from their peers not only in intellectual ability alone but also in different aspects. American psychologist Lewis M. Terman initiated a study to prove this and found that gifted learners have greater strives for excellence and sense of achievement and also having more mental and social adjustment. The mentality of a gifted learner can be considered so unique and special that a different kind of needs maybe required fulfilling them. Some studies conducted in the early 20th century which includes children with 180 IQ and above proved critical points in the adjustment of gifted learners to their environment. The studies show that these children often experience extreme boredom and rejection from their peers more often. In the latter part of the 20th century, a term was coined to describe the development for the gifted learners and is called asynchrony. Asynchrony is the term describing the observed truth that the development of social, mental, physical and emotional aspects of a gifted learner can be of different paces. According to Jennifer Kennedy, “While some define giftedness based on IQ score, IQ tests do not always tell the whole story, and identifying solely based on IQ tests can ignore many kids considered gifted by other criteria.” which proves the point that giftedness is identified in a more complex way than imagined.
The primary need of a gifted learner is to receive proper teaching and learning medium. Often these needs were also rooted to the definitions and characteristics of a gifted learners agreed by experts. The natures of gifted learners can be divided into six types which have different nature and somewhat different needs. The first type of gifted learners is the successful. According to studies, 90 percent of identified gifted learners in programs are classified as successful type. By the term itself, these learners are the ones excelling in all aspects of their lives. Commonly they are the ones who easily adapt to their surrounding by having learned quickly the proper behaviour after discovering what makes them likable. This type of gifted learners score high in achievement tests and listens vividly to their parents and teachers because they have the eagerness to gain acceptance. These learners rarely show unacceptable social behaviour which also concludes that they are socially aware of their attitudes. Having these characteristics makes them have the least needs compared to other gifted learners. Continuous attention however is required in order for these learners to excel because they have a likely loose end. Young adults who are underachieved in are often belongs to this group because they are the ones who found boredom easily. Because they have social adaptability they often compensate boredom with ways of compromises. Compromises which often have little effort resulting to underwhelming results are likely the work offered by these learners.
The next type of learners is the challenging or the kind of learners with low self-esteem. Often these learners blame the program or the school they are in because it failed to realize or identify the needs they require or the talents he/she must develop. This kind of learners is not easily identified and often requires a substantial amount of time before being identified. They receive few awards and are often not submissive to authority. According to Betts G., “Type II's may be "at risk" as eventual dropouts for drug addiction or delinquent behavior if appropriate interventions are not made by junior high” .They do not conform to what is the socially accepted and they challenge even their teachers. They have however the creativity and spontaneity that would actually attract peers but they usually don’t use this in their own advantage and the natural result of what they do is disruptive. These learners require much attention and must be classified as early as possible in order for them to actually excel in life. However they are, as mentioned above, not easily identified. They are usually the ones with the delinquent behaviour and would have negative self-image.
The third type of gifted learners is the ones hiding their talents are referred to as undergrounds. These gifted learners are the males and females who usually hide their gift in order to be more socially acceptable. The unique feature of these people is that they have a transition stage when they willingly reveal their hidden talents and more often due to particular situation which requires them to do so. They usually emerge in the middle school age wherein the academic and athletic competitive environment is more evident. These gifted learners have to make a choice whether to show or hide their talents and often than not, that decision would reflect most of what is left for their lives. Their needs are special and they must not be allowed to leave their projects unfinished and must also take advanced class in order to achieve their needs. The fourth type is the type of gifted learners which are very angry, have very low self-esteem and have little recognition to authorities. They are called dropouts and are very special kind of gifted learners. They require continuous counselling and often a lot of diagnosis. They feel the sensation of uneasiness because of the neglect and acceptance more than other people. They are usually late in classes and would find making relationship extremely difficult due to the lack of trust. They are needy of attention and proper counselling and if not given they might end up just ruining their lives.
The fifth type of gifted learners is the double labelled. These gifted learners are handicapped or have disabilities in one way or the other and more commonly considered average by many other peers. These gifted learners hide their abilities by reasoning that assignments and home works are boring. They do not exhibit the characteristics that foundations for gifted learners are looking for. According to Betts G., “These children may deny that they are having difficulty by claiming that activities or assignments are "boring" or "stupid." They may use their humor to demean others in order to bolster their own lagging self-esteem”. For these reasons they are usually just taken for granted and are not deemed special. The last type of gifted learners is the autonomous learners. These particular gifted learners have the quality of independence and self directive. They are able to use the system to their advantage and need less order from authority. They have the ability to determine their own path and lead themselves successfully along the way. They are aware of their social behaviour and are well adapted in recognizing their place. They are rarely underachieving and have high chance to become quality leaders.
Base on those types the general characteristics of gifted learners are competitiveness, recognition of authority (positive and negative), special need for social adjustment and identity, the need for acceptance and ownership, the need for proper facility and recognition and they have special paces for development. All these are proven by many studies and would describe gifted learners as really special people.
Foundations of Gifted Learners
Modernity and the new millennia brought not only advancement in science and technology but also reliability on the facts and studies that we know today. The studies of the past which are proven difficult to understand and give solid proof are now as factual as all other branches of math and science. The studies conducted for the gifted in the 1920s and 30s are now given credibility by modern approach and techniques. There are also more numerous foundations for the gifted learners as well as significant increase in institutions and laws that supports the gifted learners. There are initializing foundations which started ahead of others which includes pioneers like Lewis Terman and Leta Hollingworth. It is now common truth that regular and average facility for learning would fail to satisfy the needs of gifted learners. The said pioneers started a movement in order to increase the social awareness for gifted learners as well as to help gifted learners achieve what they truly deserve. After the Soviet Union’s release of the Sputnik in 1950s, the movement for the development of structures for gifted learners slowly gain momentum. This is a response to the changing need of a country and what more would likely satisfy these needs than the gifted minds of gifted learners. Twenty years later, the legislation for the benefit of gifted learners and the structures and facilities specially made for gifted learners flourished. These movements and developments have brought the gifted learners to become the spotlight and they have been able to become aware of their roles as well. Following the momentum of positive change is the definition of giftedness which will be discussed at the latter part of this paper.
The close of the twentieth century is a series of great leaps for gifted learners as many well known and well established structures and acts became approved. Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act funded several well known entities. Among these entities are National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented and A Nation at Risk (1983) and National Excellence: A Case For Developing America's Talent (1993). National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented is an institution which provides monetary and financial aid for gifted learners as well helping them be encouraged for achieving great in life. A Nation at Risk (1983) and National Excellence: A Case For Developing America's Talent (1993) are reports which are conducted and issued by the federal government. These reports state the missed opportunities and failure to identify gifted learners and that all those in the scale f a national level. This actually caused a great fuzz all over the country which forced the a call that institute a whole lot of facilities both local and national that directly aims to provide the proper need for gifted learners. As many facilities and foundations arise, National Association for Gifted Children helps solidify the intent and structure for the projects for gifted learners. They even provided a program criteria which will help the institutions and foundations determine and identify the gifted learners, help construct a proper learning program for those gifted learners and provide continuous support for them. A Nation Deceived in 2004 spotlights the failure of America to provide the needs that will accelerate the growth of gifted learners and this was contrasted with the numerous researches done at those times.
Differential education is the term use by foundations for gifted learners in order to describe the special kind of education needed by these people. As mentioned before, gifted learners have different paces and learning curves which their talents and intelligence flourish and in order to meet and compensate this fact, institutions and foundations use differential education as a solution. This term was coined by Virgil Ward in 1961 which describes a curriculum that covers gifted learners at different levels. The guidelines for writing the said curriculum was described by Ward in his book entitled Educating the Gifted: An axiomatic Approach. The said curriculum was not entirely different from the common academic curriculum used by the education system nowadays. It is however modified to satisfy a more encouraging environment and somewhat a more engaging and challenging pace which the gifted learners could use to exponentially develop their talents. This particular approach is not appealing commonly to ordinary people and this fact is what makes this curriculum different. This curriculum also became the foundation to Hollingworth works as the curriculum highlights the academically talented youth.
According to survey and report in 1972 Marland Report, the people and the greater percentage of the population still fails to recognize the existence of gifted learners. By that time people still are adapting to the realization of the fact that gifted learners are existing and that they require different kind of attention and environmental needs. According to Marland Report, out of all the education personnel questioned, more than 50 percent denies the existence of gifted learners in their institutions and more than 21 states said that there are no facilities that they could provide for gifted learners. The awareness however was raised due to Public Law 94-142 for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975.
Today we have the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children which gathers many affiliates around the world with the same interest as them. They support and help the gifted learners in all possible ways in order to realize their full potential and become successful in life.
Evolution of Definition of Giftedness
The definition of gifted learners or exceptional children has changed many times through ages. The department of Education defines gifted or talented students as those with high capability and exceptional prowess in certain or many fields classified as outstanding by recognized professionals. The fields included in being an exceptional child or gifted learners are general intellectual ability, specific academic aptitude, creative or productive thinking, leadership ability, visual and performing arts and psychomotor ability. Although this is a definition widely and most commonly accepted nowadays, it is not as constant as it is today about 30years ago. The changes are due to the fact that funding and different platform for curriculum are also ever-changing before. The start for the search for the gifted learners and consequently the term probably was in 1870 but not until 1920s were classes for the gifted learners began.
A series of test which are conducted to identify dull children headed by T. Simon and Alfred Binet started a real movement for the search for exceptional students. This was ordered by the French Government and parts of the tests where ability to identify colors, reaction time, perceive differences in weights, reasoning and judgment and many other cognitive functions all in the motif of determining exceptional qualities. Using the work of Simon and Binet, Lewis Terman modified the tests and was able to come up with the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. The modern term for mental age was a child of this scale and that the greater the discrepancy between the chronological and mental age, the higher the alterations needed for the curriculum. The test was modified several times in order to come up with more than 1500 gifted children in a just some decades and this was considered the first systematic sample of gifted behaviour.
Leta Hollingworth is considered the birthmother of psychology of giftedness. She is a counsellor of gifted children and her first book served as the first counsellor of the gifted. Leta’s “child centered therapy” was the primary motivation and source of \’client centered therapy by Carl Rogers. Children above 180 IQ is her best known work and provides the most on depth discussion and understanding of gifted learners. Just after her doctorate, Leta already published 9 scientific papers on intelligence and gender but more importantly is the time after the release of Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test. She tested for the idea of subnormal Intelligence in which a child gained a score of 187 and was recorded as one of the greatest ever.
References
N.A. (n.d.).Definitions of Giftedness. Retrieved from http://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources/definitions-giftedness
Kennedy,J. (2012). 5 Definitions of Giftedness. Retrieved from https://educationaladvancement.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/5-definitions-of-giftedness/
Betts,G. (1988). Profiles of the Gifted and Talented. Retrieved from http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10114.aspx
Ashbridge,S.et.al (2005). Nature and Needs of Gifted Students. Retrieved from http://furman.weebly.com/uploads/5/1/7/6/5176248/nature_needs_module.pdf
Gargiulo,R. (1993). Special Education in Contemporary Society: An Introduction to Exceptionality. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=b01Ogr_LzA8C&pg=PA550&lpg=PA550&dq=A+Nation+at+Risk+(1983)+and+National+Excellence:+A+Case+For+Developing+America%27s+Talent+(1993)
Hollingworth, L. S. (1926). Gifted children: Their nature and nurture. New York: Macmillan.
Hollingworth, L. S. (1927). Who are gifted children? Child Study, 5(2), 3-5
Wasserman, J. (2003). Assessment of intellectual functioning. In J. R. Graham & J. A. Naglieri (Eds.), Handbook of psychology, Volume 10: Assessment psychology (pp. 417-442). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
