Music & Minds: Using a Talent Development Approach for Young Adults with Williams Syndrome

Abstract

Increased attention has been given to the perplexing issue of students with both disabilities and abilities. This study investigated whether a talent development approach could be adapted for persons with Williams syndrome (WS). Available school records and extensive interviews provided evidence that educational programs for these students with WS had focused primarily on remediating their deficits. Although the majority of participants demonstrated a lifelong interest in music, few had been able to participate in music enrichment during their entire school experience. For this group, use of a talent development approach focusing on strengths, interests, and learning style preferences was found to enhance all participants' understanding of mathematics and to provide opportunities for the further development of their abilities, especially their music potential.

Is there still a need for gifted education? An examination of current research

“…Positive findings and results have also been found relating to the use of gifted education programs and strategies that have been found to be effective at serving gifted and high ability students in a variety of educational settings and students from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic populations (Baum, 1988;Colangelo et al, 2004;Gavin et al, 2007;Hébert & Reis, 1999;Little et al, 2007;Reis & Diaz, 1999;Reis et al, 2007). Some enrichment pedagogy have even been found to benefit struggling and special needs students when implemented in a wide variety of settings (Baum, 1988;Field, 2009;Gavin et al, 2007;Gentry & Owen, 1999;Kulik, 1992;Little et al, 2007;Reis, Schader, Milne, & Stephens, 2003;Reis et al, 2007Reis et al, , 2008VanTassel-Baska et al, 2002). While not all forms of pedagogy can be extended to all students, some reading and technology enrichment programs (Field, 2009;Reis et al, 2007Reis et al, , 2008, some content based enrichment (VanTassel-Baska et al, 2002), and some differentiation and enrichment project-based learning have been found to benefit students of all achievement levels.…”

“…When given gifted programming options (self-selected independent study with a mentor), 82% of gifted underachieving students reversed their underachievement when they had the opportunities for strength-based gifted programming. Reis et al (2003) Music and minds: Using a talent development approach for young adults with Williams syndrome…”

Musicality Correlates With Sociability and Emotionality in Williams Syndrome

“…In addition to affective behaviors, music has also been used as a teaching tool to enhance areas of cognitive and social deficits. For example, Reis and colleagues (2003) used music to teach mathematics, a cognitive deficit typically associated with WS; post-test results revealed an overall gain in the comprehension of fractions in 94% of the WS participants. Thus, music may have implications on skill improvement across multiple domains in WS.…”

A Different Perspective to the Early Intervention Applications during Preschool Period: Early Enrichment for Gifted Children

“…Bu zenginleştirme modelinin öğrencilerin gelişimleri üzerindeki etkilerini belirlemek amacıyla çok çeşitli araştırmalar da yapılmıştır. Bu çalışmalarda, model çerçevesinde uygulanan zenginleştirme yöntemlerinin başarılı sonuçlar verdiği (Starko, 1986), modelin hem üstün yetenekli hem normal gelişen hem de özel gereksinimli öğrencilerin eğitimsel bireyselleştirme ihtiyaçlarını karşıladığı (Olenchak, 1991), modelin benimsediği yetenek geliştirme yaklaşımının farklı alt ve özel gruplarda da faydalı olduğu (Reis, Schader, Milne ve Stephens, 2003) ve eğitim programlarının zenginleştirilmesiyle akademik başarının arttığı (Reis vd., 2005) yönünde bulgular ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Bunlar dışında modele özgü zenginleştirme yöntemlerinin öğrencilerin okula devamlarını artırdığı, uzun vadeli uygulamaların akademik başarı, motivasyon artışı gibi etkilerinin olduğu ve öğrencilerin ilgi ve yeteneklerini daha net şekilde belirleyebilmelerine yardımcı olduğunu gösteren araştırma sonuçları da bulunmaktadır (Gentry, Reis ve Moran, 1999;Reis, Gentry ve Maxfield, 1998;Reis, Gentry ve Park, 1995;Renzulli, 2012).…”