MANIFESTATION of giftedness
It is difficult to identify a gifted student without evidence of his or her giftedness, but often various factors, such as cultural background, English language ability, and learning disabilities can mask that giftedness. To control for some of these factors, many gifted education programs look for some combination of two or three of these indicators of giftedness: Achievement (or Above Average Ability), Motivation (or Task Commitment), and Creativity.
achievement
When most people think of giftedness, achievement is often what they think of first. The students who gets a 100 on the test, the students who consistently score above the 90% percentile on standardized tests, the students who win spelling bees and academic decathlons... These are the high achievers.
While not every high achiever is gifted, the students excelling in traditional academia without having to exert much effort are usually gifted and need some form of enrichment or challenge to reach their full potential.
While not every high achiever is gifted, the students excelling in traditional academia without having to exert much effort are usually gifted and need some form of enrichment or challenge to reach their full potential.
motivation
Motivation is a harder trait to measure. Many gifted students may lose their motivation a few years into their school careers, because the education system has failed at keeping them engaged. For those that hold on to their motivation, it can be demonstrated by a high GPA, products that result from self-directed and/or independent learning, pursuit of an intellectual interest outside of regular classroom responsibilities, and more.
Again, some students who are motivated may be excellent students without being gifted and some gifted students may have a lack of motivation, but the majority of gifted students are intrinsically motivated by the joy of learning.
Again, some students who are motivated may be excellent students without being gifted and some gifted students may have a lack of motivation, but the majority of gifted students are intrinsically motivated by the joy of learning.
creativity
Creativity is an exciting aspect of learning that is gaining importance in our education system. Due to the nature of the field, creativity can be expressed in an infinite number of ways. A student can demonstrate exceptional creative ability through consistently coming up with original and inventive solutions to problems, high aptitude in one or more creative fields (such as dance, art, music, writing), unique synthesis of information that leads to new ideas, developing inventions, and much more.
Creativity is aligned more with talent than giftedness, but it is an indicator that this student is not being adequately served by the traditional classroom structure and would benefit from enrichment and challenge found in the gifted program.
Creativity is aligned more with talent than giftedness, but it is an indicator that this student is not being adequately served by the traditional classroom structure and would benefit from enrichment and challenge found in the gifted program.
REferences
Renzulli, J. S. (2002). Expanding the Conception of Giftedness to Include Co-Cognitive Traits and to Promote Social Capital. Phi Delta Kappan, 84(1), 33-58.