However, Robinson et al.’s (2002) landmark compilation of research examining the social and emotional lives of gifted students uncovered common affective characteristics. Ability to concentrate for long periods of time on projects of interestįrom an affective perspective, research has yielded consistent conclusions that gifted individuals are as well-adjusted as any other student group and are not any more vulnerable or flawed than their peers.Intense, sustained passion in one area, which may change over time.Advanced vocabulary and communication skills.Ability to understand abstract and complex concepts.Ability to see connections, relationships, and multiple perspectives.Ability to process and learn information quickly.Ability to find and solve difficult and unusual problems.Above-average general intellectual ability.Cognitive attributes that appear often among gifted individuals include: Furthermore, these common cognitive and affective characteristics do not comprise a comprehensive list. When discussing characteristics of gifted children, we must understand that any one of these characteristics may be present or not present-there are so many variables at work. What are the unique characteristics of gifted individuals?Īside from showing increased potential or demonstrating advanced accomplishment in one or more specific content areas as many definitions of giftedness suggest, other more specific characteristics tend to appear regularly in the literature surrounding gifted individuals. Other conceptions of giftedness do exist, however, including but not limited to Joseph Renzulli’s (1986) Three Ring Conception of Giftedness, Francoys Gagné’s (2003) Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent, and Robert Sternberg’s (2003) Triarchic Theory of Intelligence. Domains include any structured area of activity with its own symbol system (e.g., mathematics, music, language) and/or set of sensorimotor skills (e.g., painting, dance, sports)." (para. "Gifted individuals are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains. For instance, the National Association for Gifted Children’s (NAGC, n.d.-b) definition also revolves around high capability: Generally, though, existing definitions typically are based on the federal definition. According to NAGC’s 2014-2015 State of the States in Gifted Education survey, only 37 states define giftedness, and even fewer states (32) currently mandate identifying and/or providing services for gifted learners (National Association of Gifted Children, n.d.-a). In fact, they are not required to define giftedness-as well as identify and/or serve gifted students-at all. States and local districts are not required to use the federal definition of giftedness. "The term 'gifted and talented,' when used with respect to students, children or youth, means students, children or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities." (Marland, 1971) The federal definition of giftedness, originally developed in 1971 and called the Marland report, revolves around “high achievement capability”: Most people understand that giftedness entails being bright and having high potential, and existing definitions of giftedness typically focus on capability and achievement as identifiers of giftedness. So let’s dig in and discover something new about giftedness! How is giftedness defined? It seems logical that our first blog post should unravel what giftedness really means, as a deep understanding of giftedness is necessary to best relate to our children as well as advocate for them throughout their educational career.
Welcome to the Michigan State University GATE program’s blog! Offering insight into the nature of giftedness and suggestions for parenting gifted youth, this blog complements GATE’s mission: to support gifted students as they develop intellectually, cultivate social relationships, and expand their understanding of the world.Īs a former teacher of gifted students and a current Michigan Association of Gifted Children board member, gifted education consultant/speaker, and parent of two young children, I am excited to serve as your regular blogger and share what I have learned over the last 20 years of working with gifted youth, their teachers, and their parents. The views expressed in this post are that of the author and their resources and do not necessarily reflect the views of Michigan State University and the Gifted and Talented Education Office.
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