Definitions of Gifted

Establishing a definition of giftedness is the basis for many educational programs.

There are many professionals who use a child's IQ results to determine giftedness. Some say a result of 130 or higher determines it.

Different governments and schools use the one that most represents their particular needs.

Some place emphasis on intellectual ability, creative ability or a combination of many factors.

I have listed several below:

The 1972 Marland Definition: U.S. government

"Gifted and talented children are those identified by professionally qualified persons, who by virtue of outstanding abilities are capable of high performance.

These are children who require differentiated educational programs and/or services beyond those normally provided by the regular school program in order to realize their contribution to self and society.

Children capable of high performance include those with demonstrated achievement and/or potential ability in any of the following areas singly or in combination."

1. General Intellectual Ability

2. Specific Academic Aptitude

3. Creative or Productive Thinking

4. Leadership Ability

5. Visual Performing Arts

In 1993, the U.S .Department of Education released National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent:

It maintains some words that were in the earlier definition from the 1970s:

Children and youth with outstanding talent perform or show the potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment. These children and youth exhibit high performance capability in intellectual, creative, and/or artistic areas, possess an unusual leader ship capacity, or excel in specific academic fields . They require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the schools.

Joseph S. Renzulli established a definiton using a three ring concept:

Giftedness consists of an interaction among three basic clusters of human traits these clusters being above-average general abilities, high levels of task commitment, and high levels of creativity. Gifted and talented children are those possessing or capable of developing this compos- ite set of traits and applying them to any potentially valuable area of human performance.

Children who manifest or are capable of developing an interaction among the three clusters require a wide variety of educational opportunities and services that are not ordinarily provided through regular instructional programs

Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Gardner, 1983, 1993,1999)

1. Linguistic - Ability to learn and use language effectively 2. Logical-mathematical - Skill at mathematics, numerical patterns and logical reasoning 3. Spatial - the ability to think in pictures, to perceive the visual world accurately, and recreate (or alter) it in the mind or on paper 4. Musical - the ability to understand and create music 5. Bodily-kinesthetic - the ability to use one's body in a skilled way, for selfexpression or toward a goal 6. Interpersonal - an ability to perceive and understand other individuals - their moods, desires, and motivations 7. Intrapersonal - an understanding of one's own emotions 8. Naturalistic – the ability to recognize and classify various elements of nature, or to create something that is valued in one or more cultures

More Information:

The Columbus Group 1991:

"Giftedness is asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm.

This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual capacity. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particular vulnerable and requires modifications in parenting, teaching and counselling in order for them to develop optimally."

Sternberg and Wagner 1982:

They felt the "key psychological basis of intellectual giftedness resides in insight skills that include three main processes:

1. Separating relevant from irrelevant information

2. Combining isolated pieces of information into a unified whole

3. Relating newly acquired information to information acquired in the past.

They emphasized problem-solving abilities and viewed the gifted student as one who processes information rapidly and uses insight abilities."

Government of New Zealand: Working Party Report 2001:

"All individuals have strengths relative to their other capabilities; some individuals have exceptional abilities relative to most other people."

The Ministry of Education and Training for the province of Ontario:

"An unusually advanced degree of general intellectual ability that requires differentiated learning experiences of a depth and breadth beyond those normally provided in the regular school program to satisfy the level of educational potential indicated."

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