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In this article we will discuss about the signs of gifted or the bright child.
Definition of the Term Gifted:
(1) Kolesnik:
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“The term gifted has been applied to every who, in his age group, is superior in same ability which may make him an outstanding contributor to the welfare and quality of living in our society.”
(2) Havighurst:
“The talented or gifted is one who shows consistently remarkable performance in any worth-while line of endeavour.”
(3) Prem Parricha:
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“The gifted child is the one who exhibits superiority in general intelligence or the one who is in possession of special abilities of high order in the fields which are not necessarily associated with high intelligence quotient.”
Gifted children may be classified into three categories:
1. Superior, having I.Q. between 100 and 120. (Terman)
2. Very Superior, having I.Q. between 120 and 140. (Hollingworth)
3. Near-genius, having I.Q. 140 or more. (Terman and Merill)
Objectives of Education for gifted children:
(i) To further increase the range of their knowledge and skills.
(ii) To develop an attitude of critical thinking.
(iii) To develop alertness, initiative and creative power.
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(iv) To develop quality of leadership.
(v) To develop power to work indifferently.
Bright Children-What Happens to Many of Them?
Bright children are as much a problem as the backward ones: unfortunately we have scarcely realised this.
The school books, the courses of study, the methods of teaching adopted, cramp the native abilities of a bright child. When he is made to move at the pace of the average child, he becomes bored and feels restless, he finds no intellectual stimulation in the class-rooms. He does not acquire the right study habits.
As a result his standards of achievement deteriorate, he gets discouraged, and tries to avoid his studies. Thus a very bright and intelligent child loses the capacity to make the most of his abilities. He should have scored high in competition, perhaps won a scholarship to go to college or the university but as he is, he may hardly get admission to college.
Many hardly realise that there are children who are very bright and have much natural ability which is not discovered, and is not encouraged or made use of.
There is an acute shortage of schools, specially good schools in India, and there is a still greater shortage of teachers, particularly of well-qualified teachers. The courses of study offered in schools are limited and the facilities for practical work and activities in subjects like Science, Art, Music and others are lacking in many. There is overcrowding in the classrooms.
The Parents Role:
Under the circumstances, the gifted or the bright children hardly get the attention and right type of handling that they need, at school.
How many of us realise that a child in any of the schools spends less than 200 days out of 365 in the year at school, and remains there on an average of anything from 4 to 6 hours a day. The rest of the hours and day he is under the influence of his parents and in the home.
How great therefore is the parents responsibility for the education of the child! If the bright child is ignored or neglected at school, should he be ignored or neglected in the home? Paul Witty, the famous American psychologist and educator who has done pioneer work on bright children says that much of the responsibility of helping gifted children lies with the parents.
Every child is an individual and must be handled differently. No one can understand him better than his parents, no one can help him as they can. In this pamphlet certain suggestions, based on the findings of child psychology, and the principles of education which have been tried, and found helpful are given, to help parents of bright children.
Why Help the Gifted or the Bright Child?
To meet the acute shortage of schooling facilities there has been rapid quantitative expansion of educational facilities. This has given emphasis to increased enrolment, and over-crowded classrooms. The curricular of studies and methods of teaching adopted have a leveling tendency. Teaching is geared for the many, and the bright child is lost and ignored in the crowd.
Democratic tendencies have made it possible to provide equal opportunities to all children to receive an education. This has resulted in the bright children being overlooked.
More than ever in India today, do we need the training of wise, strong and able leaders in every field – in government and politics, in defence, in science, in industry and agriculture – whether rich or poor, it is the brightest who should become the leaders in every spheres. Unfortunately, this is not often the case, the bright children fall back, and pressures of various types result in the assumption of leadership by the mediocre, and second-rate, or even the third-rate people.
It is a healthy sign that the Government of India, realising the importance of discovering and encouraging bright children has instituted the scheme of holding National Merit Scholarship Competitions for children at the primary school level, so that they get a chance of a good education in special schools at public expenses. Similarly the Science Talent Search of the National Council of Educational Research and Training at the Higher Secondary Level, enable bright students, specially, good in Science, to win scholarships to go College.
These efforts, however much they are expanded, touch but a fringe of the problem. Most of the bright children are not likely to be discovered or affected by any of these schemes and hence may be denied the benefits of these schemes. The only solution therefore is that it is the parents who must realise that their child is bright and needs very special help and guidance, and not only that he should reach and attain the fullest stature of his abilities, but also that he may be an asset to the country.
India needs the conservation, the development and the fullest utilisation of the giftedness of its parents. Unfortunately knowledge about brightness and how to help and encourage bright children is very limited in India. Brightness is a universal phenomenon among the top ten per cent of children in school-going age. Knowledge available from other countries has been found useful and this along with the work and studies undertaken by the psychologists and educators in the field in India is presented in this brochure.
Signs of Brightness:
Although it is not possible to generalise entirely, observation and studies of bright children in Indian homes and schools have revealed that they display many of the characteristics mentioned below:
1. They are very active in physical movement, and learn to sit stand and walk at an earlier age than other children. They can grasp and manipulate objects easily and love movement.
2. They learn to understand and utter words, phrases and sentences very early. They acquire a large vocabulary by the age of two or two and a half years, and want to talk, and know the names of objects.
3. By the age of three some of these children are bilingual. For example, in a a home in Delhi or Punjab, the child will be able to utter words in Hindi and Punjabi, or in Hindi and English. Ravi, aged several words in English, Shoba at five could speak sentences in Bengali, in Hindi and in English.
4. They are curious and ask many questions about time, calendar, clock, winds, rainfall, weather and about people. They are interested in newspapers and journals even if they have not learnt to read yet.
5. Bright children learn counting and reading very early, and may be able to write their names before they are admitted to school.
6. A bright child displays wide interests. He is interested in collections of stamps, leaves, labels, pictures, shells and other objects, and he attempts to classify them.
7. Bright children are often interested in the activities at home, and love to be assigned tasks, which they carry out with a sense of responsibility.
8. Bright children display a sense of humour and can say witty things.
9. A bright child is generally found to have friends who are older than he is, but he plays with them at an equal level.
10. He is emotionally stable and adaptable and loves to cooperative with his parents and family members in house-hold matters.
11. He exhibits reasonableness and understanding at a very early age and can take part in discussion with grown-up people.
12. Bright children have a wide range of interest. They love books, journals and may be interested in some other areas such as painting, music, scientific hobbies, languages or mathematics.
13. Bright children can attend to one thing for a longer time than others, and show persistence in what they do.
Analysing Brightness:
Since many parents are interested in knowing about the nature of brightness, a brief discussion is made here. If more parents have an understanding of the nature of brightness in children, they would perhaps know how to help them to make the most of their abilities.
We have already said that the bright child is superior to companions of his own age in intellectual ability. The “intellectual ability” consists of many skills and specific abilities.
These are as follows:
(a) Skills with Words:
Bright children learn to speak and use words speedily and meaningfully at an early age. They acquire a large vocabulary from an early stage.
They understand many words, speak well and write well. They love to read.
(b) Skills in Numbers:
Counting, and numerical operations are performed quickly and with remarkable facility. They love to add, subtract, multiply and divide at a young age.
(c) Manipulative Skills:
They show an ability to fit things together and to recognise their parts—they can study a diagram and construct an object from it. Block designs and mechano sets delight them, “I know how to make this. I can find a piece of wood to fit this etc.” is frequently heard from them.
(d) Reasoning and other Cognitive Abilities:
Instead to merely accepting suggestion and statements from elders and companions the child’s brightness exhibits itself in his reasoning—he observes facts and draws conclusions from them, he asks questions and on the basis of the answers goes on to conclude other facts. In discussions he shows the ability to talk logically. His reasoning ability may sometimes cause irritation to the parent or the teacher.
These skills and abilities make intelligence. Some are found in a greater measure than the other abilities in a child; He may have more verbal and linguistic skills, less manipulative skill, but high skill in numbers and reasoning. Besides these skills and abilities, there are some outstanding specific aptitudes which may be shown by bright children e.g., they may show marked aptitude in painting or in music, in composing poetry or in elocution or debate.
Measuring Brightness (Identifying the Gifted Children):
Brightness can be measured and assessed. Generally, the following means or tools are used:
(a) Intelligence tests.
(b) Scholastic achievement tests.
(c) Observation and judgement of teachers.
(d) The use of health records.
(e) Personality tests.
(f) Observations and remarks of classmates and companions.
(g) A properly-kept record of study habits.
The most frequently used tool is the tests of intelligence. They help us to determine brightness in a child, in terms of the I.Q. or the Intelligence Quotient. In the case of a child, his Intelligence Quotient is a comparison between his intelligence and the intelligence of average children of his age or it is a ratio between his chronological and his mental age.
These tests of intelligence, first introduced in France by Alfred Binet, early in this century, were then used extensively and experimented upon in the U.S.A., the U.K. and other countries.
Many adaptations and advances have been made on intelligence tests for Indian children such as Sohan Lai’s Tests of Intelligence, Bhatia’s Battery, the C.I.F. Scale of Intelligence, Kamat’s adaption of Sanford Binet Test and others. More recently, the Department of Psychological Foundations of the National Council of Educational Research and Training Delhi, is engaged in the task of standardizing or adapting more tests of intelligence useful for children in our county.
It may be pertinent to note here that “intelligence” which is a major factor in “brightness” is regarded as a capacity determined by heredity as well as environment. Heredity determines a child’s inborn ability to learn, while how much this inborn ability is developed and used, is determined by the environment in which he lives and moves.
Although the knowledge of intelligence quotient is necessary and important for professional psychologists and counsellors to guide in the education of children, many lay people think it is prophetic. Many parents misunderstand the I.Q. and do not realise that this is only an indication of intelligence, and that this does not throw light on other qualities which constitute brightness.
The I.Q. indicated Rama’s high degree of intelligence, and great intellectual ability but she never achieved anything in life. Why? Rama started doing many things, and never finished them. She lacked will power and persistence. She had no sense of direction. The motivation to learn and to achieve was not developed to its maximum. Character development is needed side by side with intellectual ability, in order that the utmost development may take place.
The intelligence test also does not measure creative ability, for example, the ability in music, fine arts, leadership qualities, ability in drama and many others. Experienced and good teachers have many opportunities of observing these qualities in and outside the classroom.
Discovery Brightness:
Brightness can be discovered to a great extent without the use of intelligence tests. It is worthwhile if parents ask the following questions to find out whether their child is bright or not. If the answer to most of the questions is “yes” it means that the child is bright.
1. Was he able to walk at an early age?
2. Did he learn to talk and express himself in words earlier than most children of his age?
3. Did he take an interest in learning new words and in repeating sentences?
4. Did he learn to read before he was admitted to school?
5. Was he active in play and fond of the company of children older than himself?
6. Was he interested in counting and numerical calculation?
7. Did he ask many questions about “why, how, where and when of things”?
8. Is he interested in finding out things and in persistently gaining new information?
9. Has he a large number of interests?
10. Does he have some very strong interest in some one activity, say in Mathematics, Music, in puzzles, in writing stories or poetry, in painting things?
11. Does he have leadership qualities?
12. Does he come out with some very commonsense and pertinent suggestion relating to some problem, facing the family?
13. Has he energy and persistence in overcoming obstacles and in doing what he wants to do?
14. Is he sensitive?
15. Has he a sense of humour?
Some Positive Suggestions for Parents:
1. It is so important for parents play a major role in the proper development of the bright child—his physical and mental health—by providing the right environment so that his intelligence may find full scope for functioning.
Here is the case of Rashmi, a girl of twelve in the eighth class in one of the New Delhi schools, who was recognised as a very bright child in the school by all the teachers uptil class VII, and whose good performance at school was known to her parents. A healthy and tall girl with an attractive personality, Rashmi became irregular at school and gradually very slack in her studies. She used to board the public bus to reach school from her home in West Patel Nagar.
One Saturday afternoon, her mother unexpectedly came to fetch her at school, to take her out to relative’s place, but heard that Rashmi was absent from school after the recess since 1 p.m., She had just disappeared. It was an anxious mother, the teachers and Principal who tried their best to know where she had gone.
In the evening after a great search, it was discovered that Rashmi along with two other girls of 12 from a neighbouring school had gone off on a picnic to the Buddha Jayanti Park on their own accord. It was discovered that occasionally they had played truant from school and gone to the movies, dressed up to look live grown-ups.
Her mother took her to the Child Guidance Clinic. It was discovered that Rashmi had lost all interest in her studies. She liked to be outdoors, among the flowers, she loved reading poetry, painting landscapes, and an active and healthy life. Her parents had never taken her for a picnic; she had only travelled by train once in her life time, to accompany her mother on a condolence trip to a relative’s house.
Besides her school books, she had nothing interesting in the house – she was discouraged from painting or reading poetry or doing anything not related to the usual home-work. The parents lectured to her about being a good and dutiful girl about the customs and manners expected of her in their family circle. Her individuality, her brightness and her abilities got no recognition at all.
The rigid atmosphere in the family discouraged free discussion with her two elder brothers and her parents. She had a keen curiosity to know about the origin of many social customs, about marriage, sex, babies about the dowry system, but these remained in her mind, and were discussed in the company of the two other very bright girls from a neighbouring school.
2. Like all other children, bright children have some fundamental needs, which are often overlooked and perhaps more so in the case of bright children, who are generally expected by their parents to look after themselves.
They need to feel that they are wanted and loved by their parents and that their parents enjoy their company.
A bright child is sensitive and needs recognition. Sincere praise from his parents, teachers and friends, makes him feel that he is liked. If he is denied recognition, he escapes into daydreaming or live in a world of unreality. Responsibilities should be given to him in the home and his initiative and judgment respected and praised.
The child should feel that he is protected in case of need; and can turn to his parents for advice in many of the problem that worry him.
Bright children need knowledge and new experiences. Opportunities should be provided to meet this need. The parents may encourage them in gaining new experiences instead of lecturing to them and trying to give knowledge from their own angle.
Every parent of a gifted child should remember that he seeks the understanding and sympathy of his parents in his search for further learning.
Even if the parents are not highly educated and have not had good schooling, they can give him the encouragement and affection and provide him with a favourable atmosphere at home, so that he may be assisted in his intellectual growth and development.
Besides this there are many other aspects of helping the bright child that the parents have to keep in mind.
3. Motivation:
This is necessary in order to encourage learning. Motives or inner drives compel the child with a sense of urgency had enabled him to do certain things. For example, curiosity is one of the strong urges in a bright child. He wants to know why it rains, what causes the moon to wax and wane, why he must be punctual.
Answering the child’s questions should provide him knowledge as well as excitement. Parents should prepare themselves to answer the child’s questions readily and correctly. This necessitates that parents also should read and keep themselves informed about many facts. In case a parent cannot answer a question, he may say, “Let’s find out. Let us consult an encyclopedia. Let us see its meaning in a dictionary. Let us find out from Mr……………….. He is sure to be able to explain this correctly.”
A parent should never say, “I am tired, don’t disturb me” “Don’t interrupt me”, “What an inquisitive boy you are—Cant’ you keep quite?” This will discourage him, and he will not be frank and happy in the home environment.
The child should be encouraged, as he grows older and can read, to find out the answers to his questions himself. Many interesting illustrated books in English, in Hindi and in the regional languages are available which give the answers to how and why of many things in Science, in Geography and the world in which we live, as well as information on World History and literature. The gift of such a book to a bright child will have much more value and be more acceptable to him than a box of sweets or a new shirt.
The child has to be interested in acquiring knowledge and information and he has to realise the importance of learning.
One of the most important ways in which a child learns is through observation of his parents – children imitate their parents. Bright children are keen observers and so learn from the examples set by their parents. Good manners, correct speech habits, courtesy, neatness, consideration for others, honesty, punctuality all these are qualities that can be acquired by a bright child at a very early age, by observing his parents practice them. Hence the great importance of setting good examples and practices before a bright child.
A child loves the company of his parents. He loves being taken out on a trip or excursion or just simply a walk or drive where perhaps he can have his father or his mother all to himself, to hear him relate the events of the day, or to answer his questions. The child is very pleased if the father shows his office, his factory or somewhere where he works, or some other interesting place.
A bright child easily understands and appreciates the time his parents spare for him, to take him out. He should be allowed to feel that his parents are his best friends to whom he can talk freely and truthfully about many things, without frowning at him for his strange ideas or rebuking him.
4. Parents should at the same time not be too demanding:
There was the case of Leela, a very bright girl of twelve, whose mother scolded her for standing first in only five out of the seven subjects in which she was examined. “What a shame! you got the second position in two subjects! I am really so disappointed, I did not expect this!” and then advised the child not to spend any time on any pursuits except study those two subjects in which she stood second. “You must work very hard, otherwise you will never be admitted to the Medical College after finishing school!” Such discouraging remarks, and an overambitious attitude of parents, are very damaging to the ego of a bright child, who is after all a child first and everything else afterwards.
Similarly, some parents over-estimate the talent of a bright child and demand that the child achieve something that he cannot possibly do. Take the example of Prakash; he was a bright boy, and was among the five students selected by his school to participate in an inter-school elocution contest.
He did not win any of the three prizes awarded to the best students among many schools. His father was sorely upset, and complained of what he thought was poor judgment or partiality on the part of the judges. He was loud and noisy in his criticism. Prakash, on the other hand, was quite satisfied about the decision on the awards, and felt humiliated and sad, at his father’s wrong ideas about his ability in elocution.
5. Some parents try to impose certain types:
Some parents try to impose certain types of skills and training upon bright child, without realising that he has no interest or ability in that particular direction. If a child is bright intellectually, it does not mean that he must be very good at painting, or music or cricket and must be trained in one of these, because his father was a good painter, or a musician, or showed excellent performance in cricket. In this way a parent may try to fulfill his own unfulfilled ambitions through his child.
6. Some parents select a certain vocation for a child:
Some parents select a certain vocation for a child, because they think that he appears to have certain qualities. For example, Ramesh’s father expected him to be a famous Mathematician one day, because he seemed to have outstanding mathematical ability. Ramesh may be very bright in Mathematics at the age of eleven, but it is too early to decide what he is going to be? To force certain predetermined aims before him will be undersirable.
No selection of a vocation should be made for a bright child, before he finished his high school, but the guidance of a Vocational Counsellor should be taken after the eighth class, to help him in the proper selection of subjects in which he is to specialise. Aptitude tests can be administered and through proper guidance, a bright child can be helped in selecting those subjects or groups of subjects in study in which he is likely to achieve greater success and satisfaction.
7. Parents who have problems in handling a bright child:
Parents who have problems in handling a bright child, and would like to do their best for him should seek the help of a Child Psychologist or a Guidance Counsellor when they are not very clear about the course of action they should adopt or when their bright children are presenting behaviour problems of various types.
Guiding Principles:
There are some guiding principles which should be borne in mind in order that the bright or gifted child can do his best in the class or for the school:
(1) School programmes should be so planned:
School programmes should be so planned that gifted and bright pupils find work that will give them satisfaction and a sense of achievement. Each gifted child should be carefully understood for this reason.
(2) Gifted or bright children should have a suitable curriculum:
This objective cannot be achieved through segregation or double promotion. The curricular activities should be enriched for them by providing a sufficient variety of books and reference materials, or through providing a sufficient variety of activities which will challenge the pupils and throw greater emphasis on expressive and creative work.
Bright children need less drill and less easy reading. They need a programme in which they are given more opportunities to carry on investigation of their own. If the programme provided does not challenge the child’s ability, he may develop into a loafer: he may become the centre of all disciplinary problems, since he must have some outlet for his surplus unused energy.
(3) Gifted children should not be educated in such a way as to make them conceited:
This is just what has happened when such children have been taught in regular classes; it may result, too, when special classes are organised, unless care is exercised to present it.
When children discover that they have exceptional abilities, they may easily become conceited unless they are helped to realise the responsibilities that their abilities place on them. The bright child needs to learn to accept responsibility, to respect the potential talents of other pupils, and to tolerate the academic shortcomings of his slow learning associates.
(4) Let the parents and teacher recognise the precocity of gifted children:
Lack of recognition of superiority may lead to antagonism towards the school as an institution, and to poor study or work habits because of a lack of stimulation of class-room work. But at the same time, he should not be shown off or exclaimed over and trusted about and heraided by his teachers as different a prodigy, a genius etc.
(5) Grade-skipping or acceleration or enrichment:
Grade-skipping or acceleration or enrichment within the regular classroom are some of the modes of helping the bright child; but the adoption of the mode should be decided in accordance with the needs of the child and in the light of the practical realities.
(6) Participation in Activities:
The gifted child must be kept busy in a host of activities—physical, intellectual, artistic and social. He should be given credit for the distribution.
(7) Evaluation:
Special tests of achievement and aptitude should be constructed and administered so as to locate geniuses, and stimulate them. The ordinary tests will not suit them.
(8) Selection:
The above-mentioned tests must be administered for discovering the gifted, and some of them may be admitted in public school and Sainik schools. They may be given stipends and scholarships.
(9) Orientation of teachers:
The teachers-in-charge of the gifted must be given special training in handling gifted children. At present, we have got no special training for this purpose in India. Refresher Courses and short-term courses should be organised. The teacher should be able to recognise the gifted, satisfy his curiosity, deal with him sympathetically and tactfully, give them extra work and guide them for higher learning.
Present Position about the Gifted in India:
The Indian Education Commission (1966) has analysed the position thread-bare.
It has generalised as follows:
1. A good deal of potential talent never enters school: Talent is normally distributed in the population, and as the whole group of children does not enter school, many talented amongst the group remain deprived of schooling.
2. Even those talented who enter the school are not discovered and located.
3. The present method of discovering talent through examination marks is defective. A gifted may have talent in one subject, and may be weak in other subjects.
Recommendations by the I.E.C.:
1. The universities and colleges could select talented students from the schools in different subjects at an appropriate stage, say, in the age-group 13-15, and help them to develop their knowledge in special fields through individual guidance, provision of laboratory facilities etc. over and above regular school work.
2. All the gifted students (at least top 5-15 percent of all students) who complete primary or secondary education should be enabled to study further in higher institutions, and a large number of scholarships provided for them.
3. Enrichment programmes should be introduced for brighter students, who should be allowed to progress at their own speed. Their achievement should be recognised and recorded in special certificates.
4. A variety of extra-mural programme should be introduced.
5. Well-planned visits may be arranged to laboratories and museums etc.
6. Hostel or Day-centres may be made available for those whose home environment is not conductive for proper study.
7. Teachers must be trained to deal with the talented and create an atmosphere of free expression and creative work.
Adjustment Problem of the Gifted:
The problem of adjustment with the gifted children is of immense importance as well as, perhaps, the most difficult one. Their ability to grasp the significance of situation more quickly than those around them tends to develop emotional disturbances both in themselves and in others of their group. These in turn may lead to jealousies, lack of mutual understanding and friction.
At home, the superior child is regarded as precocious by his parents. They either attempt to exploit his superior abilities or may resent his gifted superiority to themselves. Due to the above-mentioned behaviour of the parents of the gifted child, other members of the family fearing to be criticised by him, feel uncomfortable in his presence.
As a result, the child may feel insecure, unwanted and may develop a sense of guilt. Such behaviour will render him an introvert personality, too much of which is harmful. Tilting the balance other side, the gifted children may be attached special importance, more than what is needed.
That may result in mal-adjustment, aggressive behaviour, egoism and stubborn habits. And over-attention to one child is always at the cost of other children. So, it is advisable that the parents should neither neglect gifted children nor give them unnecessary over protection. They must have their due.
In the school, the curriculum, method of teaching, books and other school conditions are from the view point of normal or average children. The gifted child may, with the passage of time, find himself ill-placed in such environment. He cannot relish, what is taught and find himself idle for most of the time, rather, indulge in mischiefs.
So, the teacher and other authorities have to be careful about him. Again, the gifted child may have difficulties from average students who are in majority. Out of jealousy they mock at him and the gifted may feel ill-at-ease. The teacher should come to his rescue, and advise the majority group to recognise him or his intelligence.
Education of the Gifted or the Bright:
Remembering that bright children are primarily children and that they differ from each other like other boys and girls, highly intelligent children, as a group they have certain characteristics which to a degree get them apart from their contemporaries. Although school work for them should be the same basic material and include many of the same experiences appropriated to all children, the special needs of the gifted children require modifications and adaptations of the usual school programme if their education is to be as effective for them as it is for other boys and girls of the same age.
In the first place, an expanded and enriched programme of studies is needed to challenge these children and to occupy them in worth-while activities in school. The gifted need to stretch their capacities and broaden their experiences in preparation for a full, well-rounded life. Secondary, acceleration of one year, sometimes two, is necessary if the school programme is to attempt to keep pace with the overall development of exceptionally able children physical, social and emotional as well as intellectual.
Thirdly, grouping of children of comparable ability is a pre-requisite to satisfactory personal adjustment. Gifted children need the stimulating of participating at their level of functioning with age- group if they are to relate themselves well to other people and to develop desirable habits and attitudes commensurate with their ability. If the aim of education in a democracy is to provide for each child equality of opportunity for learning, then curriculum adaptation for gifted children need not be disputed.
Programmes for children with high mental ability usually take one of three principle forms enrichment, acceleration, or grouping in special classes. Enrichment, whether in the regular classroom or in a special class, is primarily a teaching procedure, while acceleration and grouping are essentially administrative techniques.
Each may be used alone or in conjunction with one or both of the other types:
1. Enrichment:
The major purpose of enriching at school programme for the gifted is to stimulate and foster optimum development commensurate with their abilities and compatible with their interests and needs. By providing special activities for an individual or for a group of three or four of his most capable pupils, the teacher attempts to fill some of the gaps in education which necessarily occur when children with wide range of abilities, skills, interests, and specific needs are taught in a single classroom.
An enriched programme, moreover, satisfies the community, school personnel and parents alike that no child is subject to special favour. But, this has its limitations. As studied by Gallagher and Crowder, in this type of programme the major difficulties for the gifted were, “those of the poor motivation and of intellectual rigidity or sterility.” The investigators surmised that, in a less favoured educational and economic setting, the findings might be even more discouraging.
2. Acceleration, Grade-Skipping:
Traditionally gifted children have been advanced through school faster than average by occasional grade-skipping, thereby saving a year or two. This offers additional challenge because of the increased difficulty of the school work. Theoretically sound, in practice, it may not be feasible to promote a bright child far enough and fast enough to achieve the purpose without creating great differences in social, emotional and physical status between the accelerated pupil and his classmates.
There is danger in the grade-skipping that some basic tools may be missed and their lack may go undiscovered. Skipping may prove to be most effective if accomplished by wise guidance and follow-up with provision for tutoring, if gaps in learning have occurred.
3. Grouping in Special Classes:
Some of the educationists have advised that the gifted should be grouped in separate social classes for, in the company of other bright, zealous youngster, incentive to grow in knowledge, understanding and skill is enhanced. William Stern calls them ‘elite-classes.’ Investigations have shown that wherever this experiment has been tried, it has yielded satisfactory results.
Full-time special classes for gifted pupils have been in operation for more than a third of a century. One of the oldest is the major work programme in Cleveland which began as a single class in 1922, and has developed city-wide at all grade levels. The limitations of special classes are, first, the children take undue superior air, secondly, become egocentric, thirdly, discouragement to those in regular classes; and lastly harmonious social life at school and in the community is defeated. Yet the advantages claim more weight than the limitations.
4. Role of the Teacher:
A word about the role of the teacher. The teacher for the gifted child must be a flexible person who allows the children time to make new discoveries and freedom to try their wings. The teacher must provide inspiration, encouragement, and opportunity for them to test their potentialities, to explore, and to originate.
These children need inspired guidance and direction but not at the expense of limiting their spontaneity. Thus guiding gifted children towards effective living and productive learning is an important and difficult responsibility for the teacher.