Attitudes of Gifted Children

Concerns related to giftedness and the educators`role in giftedness have been and still are a topic of interest for both researchers and practitioners. Contemporary definitions of giftedness are focused on the psychological profile of the gifted child which involves certain behaviours. All researchers concerned with the issue of giftedness state that giftedness has innate characteristics; intelligence is mandatory but not sufficient in achieving results. Other important aspects are also relevant in striving for performance. The teachersòpen, proactive attitude plays an important role. They need to treat children according to their own individuality and they should use the most effective teaching resources that would stimulate the child`s innate potential.

Myths and truths about gifted students The biggest myth about intellectually able kids is that they need no help what so ever in school! As they already seem to know it all, it's only their own laziness that stops them from achieving. Everything comes easier to them; they're assured a place of the top of the class. Their future is bright with no trouble sitting exams; they sail through both primary and secondary school and are assured a place at a top university doing the course of their choice! If only. School is a veritable mind field for gifted kids and their parents. These children often struggle to fit in with both teachers and other pupils. Their abstract and often complex way of thinking makes it often

Giftedness responds in people from infancy through adulthood. Although research has recognised the early years in a gifted child's future development and learning as critical, preschool teachers and school psychologists of this population have limited knowledge about the expression and special characteristics of giftedness at this stage of development. Due to the fact that gifted children have special learning and cognitive abilities, it is important for teachers to recognize these characteristics at an early stage, and then design and implement gifted intervention programs. Additionally, the enrollment of gifted children in conventional classrooms that do not follow any kind of gifted educational program as for the teaching style, pose risk factors for inhibiting the development of their talents and the experience of positive emotions. Further, many gifted children exhibit even from preschool age feelings of frustration, boredom, low self-esteem, under-achievement and other negative characteristics, that may be the result of their asynchronous development or are due to the inability of school to identify their special abilities and support them with gifted pedagogical methods.

2001

This report discusses the outcomes of a study that investigated the relationship between student scores on the five sub-scales of the School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised (SAAS-R) and the academic achievement of known groups of gifted achievers and gifted underachievers. The study examined whether gifted achievers and gifted underachievers differ in their attitudes toward school, attitudes toward teachers, goal-valuation, motivation, and general academic self-perceptions. An additional goal of this study was to attempt to predict the students' group membership as either gifted achievers or gifted underachievers with at least 80 percent accuracy using logistic regression techniques. The sample included 122 gifted achievers and 56 gifted underachievers from 28 high schools nationwide. The study proved the mean differences between the gifted achievers' and gifted underachievers' attitudes toward teachers, attitudes toward school, goal-valuation, and motivation to be statistically significant. The academic self-perception factor, however, was not statistically significant in the study. The effect sizes for these differences ranged from d=.46 (for the academic self-perception factor) to d=1.37 (for the motivation factor). Using logistic regression analyses techniques, the researchers were able to conclude that 81.8 percent of the students in the study sample were accurately classified as either gifted achievers or gifted underachievers in respect to the goal-valuation and motivation factors. (Contains 39 references and 3 tables.) (CR) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

2010

Educational Herald, 2013

Gifted Child Quarterly, 2007

The present study explores teachers' attitudes toward the gifted and gifted education. Specifically, the authors examine whether teachers tailor their responses about attitudes toward the gifted to fit the perceived interests of the researcher. In addition, the authors examine several potential predictors of attitudes toward the gifted: training or experience in gifted education, training or experience in special education, and self-perceptions as gifted. A total of 262 teachers participate in the study. The perceived epistemic interests of the researcher do not affect teachers' selfreported attitudes toward the gifted. Teachers who had received training in gifted education hold higher perceptions of themselves as gifted. However, teachers' self-perceptions as gifted are unrelated to their attitudes toward gifted education. Finally, special education teachers hold slightly lower attitudes toward the gifted. The authors discuss the implications of these results for the field of gifted education.

Journal of Interdisciplinary Sciences, 2018

Abstract: Among non-gifted adolescents school-related problems might include school pressure, such as lack of learning motivation, concentration problems, lack of interest, or just laziness. The nongifted might prefer to do fun things, such as spend time with friends rather than activities that have been chosen for them by responsible adults. Very often this is not the situation for gifted adolescents. Many of them actually like learning, love working hard in order to accomplish cognitive tasks, and wish to have more and more difficult subjects they can absorb themselves in. However, too often they cannot do it in their regular classes; many a time not even in their special gifted groups. Some of the most frequent school-related problems gifted adolescents are likely to cope with are acceleration of their studies, choosing a suitable learning track and make early decisions about academic studies, the difficulty of enduring boredom, negative attitude of peers, high expectations, or the pressure “not to neglect one’s giftedness”, school discipline and self-discipline problems, the difficulty to understand others, problems related to introversion, perfectionism, as well as mpatience and intolerance.

2010

Educators exert a tremendous influence on gifted children's academic and social- emotional development, thus their perceptions of these students is critical. Many factors are associated with a successful classroom experience for the gifted child, and the classroom teacher plays a vital role in that success. The teacher influences not only the academic side of classroom life, but the personal one as well. There is a growing research interest in the interpersonal relationship between teacher and child and how it affects the child's experience in the classroom (Pianta, 1992, Kesner, 2000), but this research has not been systematically applied to the study of gifted children.

1989

Based on the results from a longitudinal study, differences between gifted and normal students in West Germany are discussed. The research is based on a multidimensional model of giftedness. The study design took both academic and nonacademic achievements into consideration and evaluated both relevant personality traits and socialization factors. Developmental aspects and achievement analyses were the focus of the study. Among other points, the stability of test and questionnaire results, the interdependencies between giftedness, non-cognitive personality traits, and achievements, the interactions between the development of intelligence, levels of intelligence, and family environments were evaluated.

Some schools appear with warm and pleasant atmosphere where students feel independent. But in some other schools it is hostile and prison like, where students and teachers are in strain at all times. There are schools with good building, play ground, good Library and Laboratory facilities, and they provide many opportunities to the students to participate in activities according to their taste and thus they can develop their talents. On the other hand there are schools where some or all these facilities are denied to the students. Such a difference in the school atmosphere can have serious effects on students, attitude towards schools and their achievement.

High Ability Studies, 2015

A cross-cultural study of possible iatrogenic effects of gifted education programs: tenth grader's perceptions of academically high-performing classmates. High Ability Studies, 26(1), pp. 152-166.

Gifted Child Quarterly, 2008

The focus of this study is an examination of gifted students' responses on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—Adolescent (MMPI-A) in relation to the adolescent norming sample. The comparisons on clinical, content, and Harris—Lingoes scales provide evidence that gifted adolescent boys' and girls' responses do not differ from one another significantly. Furthermore, the data reveal that the assumption held by many that gifted adolescents are more prone to experience heightened rates of neuroticism or personality difficulties is unsupported by the empirical data. Analyses of MMPI-A scores reveal that gifted students' scores are equivalent to or lower than the general population in all areas. The results are discussed as continued empirical evidence that gifted adolescents do not demonstrate abnormal levels of psychological or personality deviance because of their elevated cognitive abilities. Putting the Research to Work: Educators often subscribe to the not...