1. Why is gifted education important? Provide 3 reasons with explanation. (Minimum: 12 sentences)
Many factors in the United States have changed over the millenniums. But education does not seem to be one of them. Dickens, a renowned highlighted that tutors should teach the learners only about the facts. He considered facts as the only valid way to develop the minds of reasoning creatures. Teachers have adopted the notion for many years such that it became difficult to introduce the concept of gifted education amongst them. Different theories and models have proven that facts are not adequate. They make students eliminate the aspect of critical thinking. Instead, the learners are only focused on acquiring more knowledge to answer questions during examinations. Gifted education comes to develop critical thinking skills and knowledge amongst the pupils. This article cuts across all the relevant information concerning the concept of gifted education.
Without a proper definition of gifted education, scholars have come to accept that the lack of conception is the best way to advance in the field. The establishment a solid perception of giftedness acts as a barrier to achieving the benefits of the discipline. Students are equal in every right and require the appropriate techniques to enable them to learn. The constituents of a good education cannot be the same for all the learners. Educators must formulate ways that encompass the variations of the pupils. Gifted education promotes the diversity and creates a group of children with high abilities and achievements that are differentiated. The formal type of learning cannot tap the differences in the school populations. Teachers who use the same techniques every year keep reminding learners that they are subordinate to their elders because they have a position of power. Gifted education comes in to eliminate the notion that instills fear in children to conform to standardized tests and practices (Borland, 2005). Kids develop in different ways and at various rates. The condition affects how they grasp the formal education raising concerns about the effectiveness of the form of learning. Gifted education makes the instruction and curriculum flexible to enhance its usefulness to the students.
2. Describe how the history of gifted education influences its current state. Provide 3 influences.
The foundation of school-based giftedness began with the definitions provided by Cross and Coleman. Their meaning though susceptible to change indicates that there is a need to modify the criteria for learning in the advancing age of education to enable the children to manifest themselves in one particular area of specialization. Various events changed the outlook regarding gifted education. They include the creation of a differentiated curriculum, the urge to become powerful nations, the ideology that intelligence was measurable, school reform efforts, better understandings of the brain functioning, and the acknowledgment of various intelligences (Cross and Coleman, 2005).
3a. What unique features do each of them add to the discussion of what is gifted? (1 feature of each model)
The influences led educators to formulate conceptions and models to evaluate the changing phase in the learning process critically. Some of the theories advanced by scholars include the Gagne Paradigm of Gifted Education. The model considers different factors such as talents, giftedness, the environment, and catalysts. Giftedness constitutes of abilities such as intelligence, sensory-motor, socio-affective, creative, amongst others.
3b. Where do they tend to overlap? (3 common characteristics)
The conceptions reinforce one another. For example, giftedness includes the talents are affected by the surrounding of the child. The abilities are also influenced by catalysts such as competitiveness, adaptations, personality, etc. Other models include the WICS (wisdom, intelligence, creativity, synthesized) and the Differentiated Structure of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT). The ideology that all the approaches focus on is transforming the student’s outstanding natural skills and developing them to create an area of expertise (Gagne, 2004). The models use the catalysts to indicate factors that can hinder or promote gifted education.
3c. Which conception do you feel most closely represents your view of giftedness? Explain. (explain in detail 1 model and your own model)
References
Borland J. H. (2005). Gifted Education Without Gifted Children. Conceptions of Giftedness (Second Edition). Cambridge Univ. Press: UK p. 1-18.
Cross T. L. and Coleman L. J. (2005). School-Based Perception of Giftedness. Conceptions of Giftedness. Cambridge Univ. Press: UK p. 52-63: 467.
Gagne F. (2004). Transforming gifts into talents: the DMGT as a developmental theory. High Ability Studies, Vol. 15, No. 2.
