Concept of giftedness
Definition 1
Giftedness is a systemic quality of the psyche that develops throughout life, determining a person’s ability to achieve high and outstanding results in one or several types of activity at the same time (in comparison with other people).
Definition 2
A gifted child is a child who differs from other children in his extraordinary, bright and outstanding achievements in a certain type of activity.
Currently, scientists in the field of psychology and pedagogy have proven that giftedness is a qualitative originality and the result of a complex interaction between the sociocultural environment and hereditary personality traits, mediated by the child’s activities. It should also be noted that for the development of giftedness, the child’s own activity and the psychological mechanisms of his self-development, which form the basis for the formation and subsequent implementation of individual giftedness, are of great importance.
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Definition 3
Childhood is the age period during which the formation and development of the child’s abilities and personal qualities takes place.
Childhood is characterized by deep integrative processes in the child’s psyche.
One of the most pressing and frequently discussed issues in the field of giftedness is the question regarding the frequency of manifestation of children's giftedness. Answering this question, two points of view are put forward, which are essentially opposite:
“Every child is gifted from birth”
“Children who are truly gifted are extremely rare”
Proponents of the first point of view believe that any child with normal development can be developed to the level of giftedness, provided that the necessary favorable conditions for upbringing and learning are created.
Proponents of the second point of view, on the contrary, believe that giftedness is a unique phenomenon. Children with giftedness must be sought for the purpose of their further development, carried out in specially organized conditions.
Finished works on a similar topic
Coursework The concept of giftedness in pedagogy 440 ₽ Essay The concept of giftedness in pedagogy 280 ₽ Examination The concept of giftedness in pedagogy 210 ₽
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System of working with gifted children
The state system of working with gifted children includes several levels. The basis of this system is the school, which covers the widest possible range of children. At the school level, it is essential that teachers have the skills to recognize the giftedness of their students and create optimal conditions for them in terms of learning and relationships with peers. And, if necessary, show ways of contacting out-of-school institutions that work with gifted children; It is also desirable that the school allows teaching according to flexible programs that allow those students who need it to gain additional knowledge, which is very rare. Schools in large cities have more opportunities to organize special education for gifted children than, for example, schools in rural areas, although this is not often the case. Therefore, boarding schools for gifted children can be recommended for especially gifted children from rural areas.
In general, as practice shows, 90% of traditional school teaching is dominated by the teacher’s monologue, designed to convey ready-made knowledge to students. Even in those lessons where dialogue is present, its functions are mainly limited to reproducing the topic. Teachers do not pay attention to the content of assignments, the nature and form of questions and their place in the teaching system. In most cases, they use tasks of a reproductive nature that are focused on unambiguous answers and do not activate the student’s mental activity. Therefore, the additional education system plays an important role in the development of a gifted child. Accordingly, the next level of vacation centers for gifted children is being formed, who speak different languages and are able to give a strong impetus to the child’s intellectual development in order to develop motivation for care even during the school year. The most famous in Europe are the summer recreation centers for gifted children of the Cadmus international school in the UK and the international recreation center of the French association ALREP.
Extracurricular clubs, studios and creative workshops provide opportunities to pursue interests beyond the curriculum.
At a special level is work related to the early professionalization of gifted children. We are talking about those children who have shown ability in a particular area at a very early age and have received training in that area.
Public associations play a significant role in organizing systematic work with gifted children. They complement government structures, reflecting a wider range of opinions on the problems of educating gifted children.
Working with gifted children is one of the ways to concretely realize the human right to individuality. In general, mass education is one of the most important institutions of modern society. By its nature, this education is obliged to take care of the majority of students first. However, a school aimed at the average level turns out to be ill-equipped for those who differ greatly from this average level, both in the direction of lesser and greater ability.
Unfortunately, much less has been done for children who, according to various indicators, exceed the age norm. However, it is highly gifted people who can make the greatest contribution to the development of society, and wasting talent is an unacceptable mistake for the development of the state.
And therefore, the law and the obligations of working with gifted children have adopted a system of additional education. The term "additional education" can be associated with the number of new ones. Initially, pedagogical phenomena related to these problems were called by other terms: “extracurricular”, “extracurricular”, “extracurricular”, “extracurricular work”. But, despite the relative novelty of this term, we can say with a high degree of confidence that it is outdated, since it has not yet had time to become properly entrenched in educational literature and in the public consciousness. This is due to the high dynamics of changes in the field of home education.
It is obvious that in recent years the system of additional education has transformed from a “superstructure” to basic education, which in fact was its predecessor - the system of extracurricular and extracurricular activities, into a leading factor in the formation of a person’s “educational personality”.
Additional education is a purposeful process of training and education through the implementation of additional educational programs, the provision of additional educational services and formative educational activities outside the main educational programs, in the interests of human society.
Signs of giftedness
The first signs of giftedness appear in a child during preschool childhood. Their identification is carried out by observing the nature of the child’s activities. The main aspects of the leading signs of gifted behavior are motivational and instrumental:
- Instrumental – determines the nature of the methods of activity.
- Motivational – determines the nature of the child’s relationship to the surrounding reality and his own activities.
The main signs of the instrumental aspect of the behavior of a gifted child:
- Rapid mastery of methods and techniques for performing one or another type of activity, its successful implementation.
- The invention and application of new, more effective methods and techniques of activity to resolve necessary life situations.
- Deep mastery of subjects, on the basis of which new goals of activity are put forward, aimed at a new vision of the situation and its subsequent successful resolution.
For a child who is truly gifted, it is the third sign of behavior that is characteristic.
Definition 4
Innovation is a kind of going beyond the requirements of the activity being carried out, allowing the child to discover new patterns and techniques.
The main features of the motivational aspect of gifted behavior:
- High sensory selectivity to certain aspects of objective reality (sounds, smells, colors, plants, etc.), and certain forms of one’s activity (physical, cognitive, artistic, etc.).
- High cognitive needs, manifested in increased curiosity, as well as the desire to go beyond the initial requirements of educational and cognitive activity.
- High interest in certain types or areas of activity, passion for a specific subject, immersion in doing something. This interest is manifested in perseverance, perseverance, hard work, preference for contradictory, paradoxical and non-standard scientific information, non-acceptance and rejection of templates and standards.
- Increased demands on the results of one’s work, the desire to set extremely difficult goals and perseverance in achieving them, a tendency to self-improvement, self-education and self-development.
What is life like for gifted children at school?
No easier than any other child. At the same time, children with a specific type of giftedness may have different adaptation problems. Perhaps the easiest to adapt to in school are the “academically gifted.” They delight parents and teachers with their successes. They don’t have any special problems communicating with their peers - they are always ready to explain something, help, even “let them copy it off.” And their extracurricular interests usually do not differ from the interests of their classmates.
“Intellectuals” are treated condescendingly at school. They admire their abilities in one area (for example, physics or mathematics) and sometimes forgive complete failure in something else (for example, illiteracy in writing). They often delight the school with their brilliant successes at competitions at various levels. These children are often so absorbed in their intellectual hobbies that they do not feel much need for attention from their classmates. Although they may also have quite persistent selective attachments (for example, among admirers of their “talent”).
Sports and musical abilities in children are revealed quite early. If such schoolchildren achieve very high results in their field, they almost cease to attend a regular public school due to their busyness. Classmates and teachers are left to admire their achievements from afar. Such children often experience emotional distress due to high competition in their “professional” environment.
Some psychologists believe that creatively gifted children in a regular school do not receive proper understanding from adults and peers, and are subject to ridicule and almost bullying. Therefore, the solution is to “place” them in special schools for the gifted.
However, not all experts agree with this point of view. If a child is talented, this does not automatically mean that he will be incompetent in communicating with his peers. Sometimes such children show arrogance towards the children around them (“What should I talk to them about?”) or towards their teachers (“What can they teach me?”). In this case, communication problems will arise. But this is rather a cost of family upbringing, and not at all an attribute of creative talent. Most often, children with artistic, artistic, and poetic abilities enjoy well-deserved admiration in their home class, fame at school, and all kinds of support from teachers.
