The Concept of "Giftedness"

Schools continue to offer gifted programs because educators have insisted that gifted children exist. If gifted children exist, the nature of their giftedness, according to the most pragmatic definition possible, should guide the manner in which their general abilities are allowed to develop.

Toward a pragmatic approach to giftedness, Robin Barrow states, "We should proceed as if giftedness were the product of learning and the environment, even if in some respects it is determined by innate factors" (54). Such is an interactionist approach to the nature versus nurture question--neither the environment nor nature is exclusively responsible for giftedness.

A theoretical compromise aimed at dividing the difference between heredity and environment is practical, since we do not know the extent to which either factor operates. We can assume that both are at play by inference--in the same manner that we assume the giftedness exists in the first place. We cannot empirically verify it--at least not in

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nd which are not. Such a process is exclusionary, and seemingly goes against the concept of public education as an inclusionary movement; however, if educators only reach a middle group of students, and do not reach the extremes of gifted students and students requiring special remediation, the inclusionary ideal of public eduction has also been violated. Therefore, as a practical alternative, gifted students must be selected to receive instruction in keeping with their gifts. If giftedness exists, what are its manifestations? Barrow provides a representative list of eight characteristics of the gifted (44). The eight characteristics were taken from a literature review, originally published in the Gifted Child Quarterly. The list includes such characteristics as curiosity, creativity, ability to think abstractly, and humour. Barrow notes that the characteristics, stated in sentence format, are couched in qualifying terms. Gifted people "tend to [qualifying term] deal at a high level of abstraction." "They are frequently [qualifying term] curious." "They are often [qualifying term] interested in philosophical questions." In the above examples of giftedness, it is apparent that the identifying factors of the characteristi
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Approximate Word count = 1276
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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