Why is it important to work with gifted children from an early age? · Young gifted children. In N....
Transcript of Why is it important to work with gifted children from an early age? · Young gifted children. In N....
Why is it important to work with gifted children from an early age?
Dr Margaret Sutherland [email protected]
SNAP
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Young Learners
Gifted
Young Learners
Pedagogy
?
Pedagogy
Young Learners
Gifted Young
Learners
• Respecting and
responding to human
differences in ways that
include rather than
exclude learners
Inclusion
Early Childhood Education (ECE) has come to the
attention of policy makers across the globe as they
have recognised:
• the important role it plays in supporting young
children as they grow and develop (Pascal &
Bertram, 2001),
• longer term positive impact on social capital
(Stephens, 2010).
• Basing much of their work on three high profile
longitudinal studies (Schweinhardt, 2003; Ramey et
al., 2000 and Reynolds, 2000) Heckman and
Masterov (2005) argue that intervention in the early
years will improve the life chances of the most
vulnerable thus leading to sizeable savings in later
years.
Early Intervention
• Developing countries
should invest in the
first 6 years of a child’s
life if they are serious
about reducing
inequality
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development
• Has it has less to do
with the development
of young children and
more to do with getting
their parents back into
employment?
(Baldock et al., 2005;
Flett, 2008).
Is this interest all that
it seems?
• Policy makers began to view children as ‘the direct
objects of policy development and not just the
secondary beneficiaries of family policy’
(Campbell-Barr, 2010, pg 166).
• Policy is developed to enhance life chances (Alcock
et al., 2004) thus early years policy is enmeshed in
wider policies that relate to, among other things,
economy, education and health
(Randall, 2000).
• These policies brought about far-reaching changes
to curriculum and pedagogy
(Nutbrown and Clough, 2006).
• At the heart of these policies was the desire to tackle
a range of social issues such as drug and alcohol
addiction, teenage pregnancy, poverty and ill-health
(Weinberger et al., 2005).
• The sharp focus on
early years is therefore
part of a wider policy
agenda related to
reducing social
exclusion, advancing
educational outcomes
and raising attainment
and reducing poverty.
• Gifted education is often
misconceptualised as an
issue of elitism and
exclusivity (Winstanley,
2004), only a consideration
of the financially
advantaged and already
privileged few.
• To consider perpetuating such a system seems
unthinkable to many and consequently there is
considerable resistance to identifying and providing
for these children.
(Tomlinson, 2008)
• Provision for these children is seen as advantaging
an already advantaged group, which clearly
demonstrates just how misunderstood this cohort
are and the misconceptions which exist about where
you will find them.
• Koshy and Robinson’s
(2006) review of the
literature argued that of all
the children with “special
needs”, younger gifted
children are the group most
frequently ignored not just
in the UK but
internationally.
Gifted Education
• Special Educational Needs and Gifted Education -
rooted in the deficit model?
• We just find it one long battle.
• Getting the right school for our children shouldn’t
have to be a battle but it is
• School staff didn’t read the reports coming from his
pre-school so it was like starting all over again
• There is just not enough attention to the quality of
the teaching
Parents’ views
• Too many teachers don’t have the experience to
manage our kind of children
• Lip service is being paid to inclusion but there is no
real change
• League tables are seen as more important than our
children
• Children’s Rights for All Country Reports: UK
• Quotes from 2 Mencap parent groups
• A leading UK charity for people with learning
disabilities. Mencap is the voice of learning
disability. Everything we do is about valuing and
supporting people with a learning disability and their
families and carers.
Attitude of Parents
“More Able = Gifted Academically”.
“Teacher willing but unsure about what to do”.
“Not willing or able to do anything”.
“Just be given extra work”.
“School think you are pushy parents and the general public think you are elitist”.
“Everything has to be negotiated and re-negotiated”.
Dr Nicky O’Leary, University College Dublin
• Knowing
• Believing
• Doing
(Rouse, 2008)
• Uses advanced vocabulary or asks about a new word heard in a story and then practices that word.
• Uses metaphors or analogies
• Spontaneously makes up songs.
• Creates symmetrical patterns with blocks or in drawings.
• Modifies his or her language when talking to younger children.
• Can put together difficult puzzles.
• Addapted from Roedel, W.C., Jackson, N.W. and Robinson, H.B. (1980).
• Has skill in ordering and grouping.
• Has an adult sense of humour, makes up clever jokes.
• Makes connections between past and present experiences.
• Sensitive to the needs or feelings of others.
• Can carry out complex instructions.
• Is unusually attentive and notices subtle changes in the environment.
• Uses verbal skills to handle conflict.
• Becomes totally absorbed in one kind of knowledge, is an "expert" (trucks, dinosaurs).
• One hallmark of highly able children for instance, is
asynchronous development, where intellectual,
physical and emotional maturity progresses at
uneven rates. Children may have the intellectual
ability of a 7 year old and the emotional maturity of a
4 year old.
• My abilities are
misunderstood
• Stuff we do is boring/too
easy
• I’ve got few friends
• I’m expected to get
everything right
• They don’t like me, I know
more than they do
• I’ve got no time left for fun
• I’m expected to do what
everyone else does and
then special stuff
• They don’t know I’m really
good at something
• I’m singled out and
different
• It’s like feeding an elephant grass, one blade at a time. Not only will he die
of malnutrition before you can get sufficient food into him, he is unlikely
to realize you are trying to feed him at all. That single blade of grass is
simply too small to notice.
(Stephanie Tolan)
A thought!
The better we get at
providing for highly
able children, the
better we get at
identifying
© copyright 2008 Scottish Network for Able Pupils
peer/ self
nomination
Identification Methods
parent
nomination
subject specific
tests
teacher observation checklists
standardised tests
National tests
Assessment
A pre-determined set of skills?
Identify gaps and plug them?
Developing learning dispositions?
The process is more important than the product?
Successful completion of task means child is ready for next stage/will do well at school?
Allow for experimentation with resources?
Extra practice at weak skills?
No one end point?
© copyright 2008 Scottish Network for Able Pupils
assessment gather data
parents
observation
peers
child Assessment is for learning
© copyright 2008 Scottish Network for Able Pupils
Observation Child
Peers Parents
Curriculum
Conflicting Narratives
Gifted and talented child Parents
Teacher
Legislation and Policy
I can do this standing on my head, in fact I think I might just do that!
I don’t think they believed me when I said he’s good with numbers. They just talked about his behaviour
He can’t work with a group. He’ll have to learn to behave.
Children will receive a challenging education
Dovetailing Narratives
Gifted and Talented
Child I want to know more about numbers
Parents
Staff are thinking about ways to challenge his ability with numbers
Using different mathematical materials has really challenged him
Policy and Legislation
Children will receive a challenging education
Teacher
• Opportunities to grow and
develop………….
Pedagogy
Young Learners
Gifted Young
Learners
Pedagogy
Gifted Young
Learner
Young Learner
• Alcock, P., Erskine, A. And May, M. (2004) (eds) The Blackwell Dictionary of Social Policy Oxford:
Blackwell
• Baldock, P., Fitzgerald, D. And Kay, J. (2005) Understanding Early Years Policy London: Paul Chapman
Publishing.
• Campbell-Barr, V. (2010) The Research, policy and practice triangle in early childhood education and care
in Parker-Rees, R. Leeson, C.; Willan, J. and Savage, J. (2010) (3rd Ed) Early Childhood Studies UK:
Learning Matters.
• Carr, M. (2001) Assessment in Early Childhood Settings London: Sage Publications.
• Edwards, C., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. (1998). The hundred languages of children: Advanced reflections.
Greenwich: Ablex Publishing Company.
• Flett, M. (2008) Developing quality early childhood programmes in United Kingdom in Early Chilodhood
Matters, 100: 25-30.
• Heckman, J. And Masterov, D. (2005) The Productivity Argument for Investing in Young Children
http://jenne.uchicago.edu/human-inequality/papers/heckman_final_all_wp_2007-03-22cjsb.pdf
• Hodge, K. A., & Kemp, C.R. (2006). Recognition of giftedness in the early years of school: The perspectives
of teachers, parents and children. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 30, 164-204
• Jackson, N. E. (2003). Young gifted children. In N. Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of gifted
education (3rd ed.) Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
• Katz, L. (1993) Dispositions and Educational Goals Urbana, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and
Childhood Education
• Koshy, V. and Robinson, N.M. (2006) Too long neglected: Gifted young children. European Early Childhood
Education Research Journal 14(2), 113–126.
• Ministry of Education (MoE), New Zealand (1995) Te Whariki – Guidelines for Developmentally Appropriate
Programmes in Early Childhood Services Wellington: Learning Media.
• Nutbrown, C. and Clough, P (2006) Inclusion in the Early Years London: SAGE Publications.
• Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (2009) Doing Better for Children OECD
Publishing: Paris.
• Pascal, C. and Bertram, T. (2001) 'Evaluating the costs and benefits of early childhood programmes',
European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 9: 2, 21 — 44.
• Ramey, C.T., Campbell, F.A., Burchinal, M., Skinner, M.L., Gardner, D.M. and Ramey, S.L. (2000) Persistent
effects of early intervention on high-risk children and their mothers. Applied Developmental Science 4: 2-
14.
• Randall, V. (2000) The Politics of Child Daycare in Britain Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Reynolds, A.J. (2000) Success in Early Intervention: The Chicago Child-Parent Centers Lincoln, Nebraska:
University of Nebraska Press.
• Rouse, M. (2008) ‘Developing inclusive practice: a role for teachers and teacher education?’ Education in
the North, 16, 6–11.
• Schweinhart, L.J., Barnes, H.V and, Weikart, D.P. (1993) Significant Benefits: The High/Scope Perry
Preschool Study through Age 27. Ypsilanti, Michigan: High/Scope Press.
• Stephens, C. (2010) The early years research-policy-practice nexus: challenges and opportunities in
Yelland, N. (2011) (ed) Contemporary Perspectives on Early Childhood Education UK: Open University
Press.
• Stoeger, H. (2006) Identification of Giftedness in Early Childhood Gifted and Talented
International 21:47-65
• Tomlinson, S. (2008): Gifted, talented and high ability: selection for education in a one‐dimensional world,
Oxford Review of Education, 34:1, 59-74
• Walsh, R., Hodge, K.A.; Bowes, J.M. and Kemp, C.R. (2010) Same Age, Different Page: Overcoming the
Barriers to Catering for Young Gifted Children in Prior-to-School Settings In International Journal of Early
Childhood 42, 43-58.
• Weinberger J., Pickstone, C. and Hannon, P. (eds) (2005) Learning from Sure Start London:
RoutledgeFalmer.
• Winstanley, C. (2004) Too Clever by Half: A fair deal for gifted children London: Trentham Books.