Why is it important to work with gifted children from an early age?

Dr Margaret Sutherland Margaret.Sutherland@glasgow.ac.uk

SNAP

Associate Tutors/

CPD

Parents

Research

Young people

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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.