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There are many definitions for giftedness. They all have one element in common:
A gifted person is someone who shows, or has the potential for showing, an exceptional level of performance in one or more areas of
expression. Some of these abilities are very general and can affect a broad spectrum of the person's life, such as leadership skills or the ability to think creatively. Some are very specific
talents and are only evident in particular circumstances, such as a special aptitude in mathematics, science, or music. The term giftedness provides a general reference to this spectrum of abilities without
being specific or dependent on a single measure or index. It is generally recognized that approximately five percent of the student population, or three million children, in the United States are considered gifted.
A person's giftedness should not be confused with the means by which giftedness is observed or assessed. A parent's, teacher's or
student's recommendation, a high mark on an examination, a high IQ score, are not giftedness; they may be a signal that giftedness exists. Some of these indices of giftedness are more sensitive than others to
differences in the person's environment. NAGC does not subscribe to any one theory of the nature of human abilities or their origins. We assert that there are children who demonstrate high performance,
or who have the potential to do so, and that we have a responsibility to provide optimal educational experiences for talents to flourish in as many children as possible, for the benefit of the individual and the
community.
[FromParent Information, National Assn. for Gifted Children] http://www.nagc.org/
NAGC’s article Who are the Gifted? also states that “because of the biological base, intelligence and therefore giftedness,
is dynamic and interactive, that is, influenced by both the genetic endowment and the environmental opportunities provided.”
The Federal definition, which is reflected in many laws governing service to gifted students, refers to gifted and talented children as:
“children who give evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, leadership capacity,
or specific academic fields, and who require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop such capability.”
The New Jersey Administrative Code for the Dept. of Education now makes special provision for gifted education and has the following
definition:
“Gifted and Talented students means those exceptionally able students who possess or demonstrate levels of ability, in one or more content areas, when compared to their chronological peers in the local district and who require modifications of their educational program if they are to achieve in accordance with their capabilities.” [N.J.A.C. 6A:6-1.3 Definitions]
[The following is reprinted from Parent Information, courtesy of the Hillsborough Township Public Schools Program of Gifted and
Talented Education.]
Gifted and talented students often go unrecognized by teachers, counselors, parents, employers or contemporaries. Some have overcome
this obstacle --
Her family suggested Louisa May Alcott should find work as a servant or a seamstress. An editor told her she could never write anything with popular appeal. Beethoven handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his own compositions instead of improving his technique. His teacher called him hopeless as a composer. Caruso’s
parents wanted him to be an engineer; his teachers said he had no voice at all and could not sing. Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. Charles Darwin,
who gave up a medical career begun at Edinburgh, was told by his father, “You care for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat-catching.” In his autobiography, he wrote, “I was considered by all my masters and
by my father as a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard in intellect.” Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of good ideas. Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was too stupid to learn anything. Einstein did not speak until he was four years old and didn’t read until he was seven. His teacher described him as “mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams.” He was expelled and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School.
Carl Jung, who had trouble with math, was considered stupid by his teachers. His concept of himself was less
intelligent, less hardworking, attentive, decent, and cleaner than many of the other boys. Louis Pasteur was only a mediocre pupil in undergraduate studies, 15th out of 22 in chemistry.
Werner Von Braun failed ninth grade Algebra. Fred Waring was once rejected by his high school chorus teacher. Tennessee Williams was enraged when his play Me, Vasha was not chosen in a class competition at Washington University, where he was enrolled in English XVI. The teacher recalled that Williams denounced the judges’ choices and their intelligence. F.W.Woolworth’s
employers at the dry goods store said he had not enough good sense to wait upon customers. Emile Zola failed his class in literature at the Lycee, receiving a mark of zero. Isaac Newton did poorly in grade school. The director of the Imperial Opera in Vienna told Madame Schumann Heink that she would
never be a singer and advised her to buy a sewing machine. Leo Tolstoy flunked out of college. Admiral Richard E. Byrd had been retired from the Navy, as “unfit for service” until he flew over both poles. Abraham Lincoln entered the Black Hawk War as a Captain and came out as a private.
While the examples above are of well-known figures, giftedness is not synonymous with eminence. Read Major Myths About the Gifted Child next
for further information on misconceptions concerning giftedness.
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