Conceptions of Giftedness

Abstract

Johnny, a 9-year-old elementary school student, has an IQ of 140, which would qualify him as "gifted" by virtually any IQ-based definition of giftedness anyone might use. Johnny has few friends, in large part because he has very poor social skills. Johnny has no hobbies to speak of, and is unengaged in significant extracurricular activities outside of school. And despite his IQ, Johnny is a good, but not great, student.Davy is also 9 and is in the same school as Johnny. He has an IQ of 120, which would quality him as "gifted" by some, but not other IQ-based definitions of giftedness. Davy is very active in sports and is the best soccer player of any age in his school. He also is a highly talented trombonist, and is first trombone in the elementary-school orchestra. His teacher believes he has the potential for a career in musical performance, should he wish to follow that path. Davy is very popular and is one of the top three academic performers in his class.Who is gifted? Johnny? Davy? Both? Or neither? In answering this question, four things must be kept in mind.First, "giftedness" is a label-nothing more. We are frequently asked whether such-and-such or so-and-so child is gifted. The answer depends on the criteria one sets. But there is no one absolute or "correct" set of criteria. Criteria for such labeling are a matter of opinion, nothing more, and there are many disagreements as to how the label should be applied.Second, the label can be applied in either a more general or a more specific way. The more general way implies that giftedness is relatively general across many domains-that is, someone is either gifted or not. On this view, someone who is gifted is gifted very broadly. The more specific way implies that giftedness is something that is potentially limited to one or several narrow domains-for example, verbal skills; or within the verbal domain, writing skills; or within the writing domain, fiction-writing skills. Indeed, relatively few successful fiction writers are also successful nonfiction writers, and vice versa.

Success: A 9 Layered-based Model of Giftedness

“…They are able to deal with everyday tasks in an efficient way. On the third level, lay critical and creative thinking skills, which lead to academic success (Kaufman et al 2008). The following layers compose individual's metacognitive skills; metacognitive skills are at the top of this hierarchy because it has been found that they can distinguish expertise from excellence (Pylvas, 2015).…”

“…A leader senses the effects of his decisions and actions as well as balances his cognitive and affective aspects (attentional control) in order to assist others to self-actualize. On the first hand wisdom-based skills and practical skills as top-level, metacognitive skills, on the other hand altruism and social progress may offer an alternative prospect for protecting the democracy in the benefit of future generations (Kaufman et al 2008, Koltko-Rivera, 2006). Wisdom has a dynamic nature and is interwoven with the stream of life.…”

“…Thus, students can build on their skills and knowledge in a variety of interesting ways with the aim to capitalize on their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses (Kaufman et al 2008). …”

“…Therefore, giftedness measurement should entail analytical, creative, wisdom and task-commitment skills in as specific or various domains (Kaufman et al 2008). …”

Habilidades de visualización de estudiantes con talento matemático: comparativa entre los test psicométricos y las habilidades de visualización manifestadas en tareas geométricas

“…Aunque no necesariamente debe ir acompañado de alto rendimiento académico, se entiende el estudiante con talento matemático como aquel que, en virtud de unas habilidades sobresalientes, es capaz de alcanzar este rendimiento en el ámbito matemático (Passow, 1993). En la definición de talento matemático, se atribuyen a los estudiantes unas aptitudes, capacidades o habilidades por encima de la media en el área específica de las matemáticas (Johnsen, 2004;Kaufman y Sternberg, 2010;Tannenbaum, 2003). Aunque existen diferencias para concretar estas características (Davis, Rimm y Siegle, 2011;Greenes, 1981;Miller, 1990), no difieren esencialmente de las propuestas por Freiman (2006), que, entre otras, señala que el estudiante con talento matemático localiza la clave de los problemas, produce ideas originales, valiosas y extensas, mantiene bajo control los problemas y su resolución, presta atención a los detalles y desarrolla estrategias eficientes.…”