Many parents say, "I know what giftedness is, but I can't
put it into words." This generally is followed by reference to a particular child
who seems to manifest gifted behaviors. Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions
of the term, all of which become deterrents to understanding and catering to
the needs of children identified as gifted. Let's study the following statement:
Identifying and Serving Recent Immigrant Children Who Are Gifted
The challenge of identifying gifted children and providing them
with appropriate educational services is particularly complex when they are
recent immigrants to the United States. Linguistic and cultural backgrounds,
economic and attitudinal factors, sociocultural peer-group expectations, cross-cultural
stress, and intergenerational conflict may all influence efforts to recognize
and provide appropriate learning opportunities. Although immigrant groups are
culturally diverse, they share some unique challenges when interfacing with
the setting.
Raising and nurturing a gifted child can be an exciting yet daunting
challenge. Unfortunately, these complicated little people do not come with
instruction manuals. The following new definition of giftedness highlights
the complexity of raising gifted children.
"What new skills will I master during this next school year?
What new knowledge will I gain about an area I am interested in? How will I
become more effective in working with my classmates? How will I improve my
work habits?"
Challenging Gifted Students in the Regular Classroom
How do teachers develop an instructional plan that will be challenging,
enlightening, and intriguing to students of different abilities, and still
maintain a sense of community within the classroom? This is the central question
for educators as they begin the quest of bringing sound instruction to gifted
students in regular classroom settings.
Students who are gifted and talented are found in full-time self-contained
classrooms, magnet schools, pull-out programs, resource rooms, regular classrooms,
and every combination of these settings. No matter where they obtain their
education, they need an appropriately differentiated curriculum designed to
address their individual characteristics, needs, abilities, and interests.
Few areas in the education of children with exceptionalities are as controversial
and critical as appropriate identification of children who are gifted. The
controversies involve all the pros and cons of labeling children as well as
a variety of political issues. Yet, identification remains critical to ensuring
that children receive the services they need to thrive in school. This digest
discusses the identification of students who are gifted, the difficulties in
the identification process, appropriate identification practices, and procedures
that can help with identification.