Understanding the Needs of Gifted Children: Issues and Challenges - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Understanding the Needs of Gifted Children: Issues and Challenges

• Dr. Jyoti Sharma

Cluster Innovation Centre University of Delhi

jyotisharma/01May 2017

Claim

Gifted students are a special population Learning needs of gifted students are not met effectively in regular classrooms Gifted students are excluded from main stream education Education provisions in India are not designed to meet the learning demands of gifted students

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What Does Gifted Students Possess ?

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Highlights

 Potential to run extra mile  Learning

behavior unusual as compare to average peer group

 Aware of their unusual closeness to the subject  Potentials as missed opportunities are converted

into challenges

 Struggling on their own to understand their

problems and find the solutions

 Education

system is either unaware

• r

unprepared to meet their challenges

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Highlights

Such students demonstrate clues

• f

their exceptionality in many exceptional ways Within the group, they are a heterogeneous community All such cases are known as children with high potentials; learners with Advanced learning needs

• r Gifted Students

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Chronological peer group

Gifted Child

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Non-Academic

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Masked or hidden potential

Issues with Gifted Education

jyotisharma/02/June/2016 Potentially gifted children (Talent Pool) 13- 15% Significantly Gifted Children 3-5 % Exceptionally Gifted Children 0.1-1%

Common traits of gifted child

 Learn faster  Think or process more deeply  Requires less repetition/practice  Quick recall  Large memory  Connect thread of knowledge together

from different domains

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Difference between a Bright child and Gifted child Bright child Gifted child

Is interested Is highly curious Answers the questions Discusses in details Knows the answers Ask questions Top set Beyond the group Is alert Is keen observant Has good ideas Has unusual ideas Teacher pleasure Speaks own mind Understands ideas Construct ideas Enjoys school Enjoys learning Grasps meaning Draws inferences Enjoys straightforward sequence of leaning Thrives for challenging problems

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When you have a gifted child in your school Role of Teacher

Handing Gifted Child

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Top to Bottom Approach Grass root level Approach

Issues with Gifted Child

 Giftedness is asynchronous development in

which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened curiosity create learning demands & experiences that are qualitatively different from the norm.

 These unique traits make them vulnerable

and requires modification in teaching, parenting and counselling.

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Myths about Gifted Children

 They are so bright that they don’t need

any help

 They can manage all issues on their own  They are highly mature so they can deal

with stress

 They can be engaged with other

responsibilities to keep them busy

 They shall be assigned responsibilities to

help weak students to balance their time

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Issues with Gifted Children

 Surviving in a society that does not recognize,

understand, welcome or foster giftedness

 Unchallenged academic environment lead

to boredom, frustration and disruptive behavior.

 Lack of goals, motivation, direction can make

them underachievers

 Feel pressured to live up to the expectations

• f parents, teachers and other significant adults

in their lives

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Cognitive issues

 Running faster than their peer make them

lone runner

 Unconventional thinking make them

subject to criticism or fun

 Un-satisfied when cognitive needs are

not met

 Struggle to confine their urge for higher

knowledge to be accepted by peer group

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Psychological and social issues

 More prone to depression  Emotional intensity  Heightened sensitivity  Feeling different from others  Perfectionist  Social isolation  Peer relation issue  Old age peer vs same age peer

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Issues with Gifted Child

 Low self esteem  Often set unrealistic standards for themselves  Get irritated with peer who don’t understand

their idea

 Difficulty in trusting others

• Real sense of failure and become school refuses
• Difficulty in solving inner conflict
• Withdraw

their giftedness

• r

high level creativity if feel threatened

• Dislike drill/practice work

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Other contributing factors

 Inappropriate parenting  Burden of expectations from self and

• thers

 Personality conflict  Behavioral issues  Dual or multiple exceptionality

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Why school counselor

 School counselors are uniquely qualified

to provide assistance in academic, social and personal domains of a child

 Open and trusting relation with child  Monitor progress of child  Work collabratelvy with child, school and

parent

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Role of T eacher

 High ability may not always translate into

insightful career planning

 They need special assistance in planning their

future

 High ability in multiple domains, find it difficult

to narrow their career choice leading to delay in career decision making

 Time appropriate and specific career planning at

an early age

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Role of T eacher

Loose focus due to unchallenging learning environment

 Keep Motivating them with more and

more challenging task

 Planning enrichment and accelerated

curriculum planning

 Monitor their academic progress for

modifying curriculum requirement

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Role of T eacher

Lack self confidence due to their unusual way of thinking

 Create opportunities to appreciate their

divergent way of thinking

 Help

teachers to understand and appreciate creativity

 Assess them on well known standardized

tests of intelligence and creativity

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Role of T eacher

Look forward to meet cognitively appropriate peer group Allow them to mix with older peer group who are cognitively at their level Convince schoolsfor above grade placement Engage them in project learning at higher grade level

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Role of T eacher

Heightened potential in one domain may be

• vershadow by limitation in some other domain

Identify specific learning, emotional and social needs Focus on both kinds of needs Design intervention for one and enrichment for

• ther

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Role of T eacher

Children from disadvantaged background are mostly ignored

 Take clues from their everyday behavior in

multiple school setting

 Create contexts where their gifted behaviors

are easily demonstrated

 Foster their gifts by providing additional hand-

holding

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Role of T eacher

 Provide them leadership role  Show faith in their heightened potential  Periodic assessment is must  Be objective in your approach  Provide them Emotional Scaffolding  Be a support to them so that they can

share their problems

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Child

• Increasing his/her true potentials
• Channelizing his/her strength
• Fostering his/her self esteem
• Engaging in creative task
• Conducting time bound assessments
• Adjusting with peers
• Creative opportunities outside classroom
• Connecting with older peer of same interest
• Patiently listening to his/her worries and helping

them out

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Parents

• Make them aware about the potentials of the their
• ward
• Sensitize them with unique learning needs
• Keeping them grounded
• Guiding them on how to support the child
• Sound them of the challenges with a gifted child
• Educate them about services and opportunities
• available for such children
• Continuously guiding them to make a balance between

expectations and healthy parenting

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School Administration

• Bring to their notice
• Update school about the progress/limitations of

such children

• Ask them to create opportunities
• Convince

them to create flexible

• pportunities/options
• Guide them to set up resources
• Counsel them to be grounded and let the gifts

blossom

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Self

• Update yourself with latest research & practice
• Link with higher/research institutes
• Involve in small scale research
• Develop database and analysis it
• Upgrade your skills and knowledge through professional

development programs

• Member of professional bodies engaged in related work

Some facts to consider

 There are some programs/ schemes that

focus on Academically Bright Students but these are limited only in Science and Mathematics.

 Some of the programs are:  NTSE  INSPIRE  KVPY  OLYMPAIDS

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Identification and Assessment

 Intelligence T

est

 Creativity T

est

 Aptitude T

est

 Achievement T

est

 Personality T

ests

 Motivation Scales

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Institutes and Centre of Excellence

 IISc  ISEAR  Homi Bahbha Centre for Science Education  IIMSc  S.N. Bose Centre for Basic Science  ISRO  Hraish Chandra Centre for Research  INSA  Vigyan Prasar

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jyotisharma/02/June/2016

Quality Education is My Fundamental Right.

Excellence Equality