A Gift

It's no great secret that I'm a bit of a learning junkie so it won't come as a surprise to anyone that I've been a wee bit excited about returning to study this year.   I'm braving the waves of postgrad study; I'm enrolled in a Master of Education (specifically an M.Ed in Cognitive Psychology and Educational Practice) at Flinders University. Officially classes started last week, but I jump started things by taking an intensive summer school subject back in January.  

It's that subject that I want to talk about today. That subject was (and still is!) called Conceptions of Giftedness, Intelligence and Creativity. A bit of a mouthful right? Basically, whilst the intelligence and creativity parts of the title are clearly important, the subject really focusses on working out what giftedness actually is so that we, as professionals, can advocate for the gifted kids in our classes, schools and communities. 

It's a bit of a touchy area for me because my two children are gifted. 

Until a few years ago, I raised them as a single parent, just the three of us. My whole experience of parenting was with gifted children: meeting developmental milestones scarily early; dealing with their incessant need for challenge and learning; advocating for their special (yes, special) needs; supporting them in the areas that lagged behind their intellectual and creative development; conversations about anything from nuclear fusion to the medieval English serfs' use of non-arable land; the need to manage social activism from one son who wants to save the world (whilst happily ignoring problems closer to at home). This was my norm and, as such, I never once considered that it might be different to any one else.  

Then I married a man with four sons of his own.  I discovered, very quickly, that there is a huge difference. I could write a thesis on the ways our two groups of boys are different. Some of the differences are simply down to different families of origin but most are not. Most stem from the differences in the way the boys experience, perceive and interpret the world. There's nothing inherently superior in either way; in fact there are 6 different ways because there are 6 different kids. There are undeniable differences though.

This blog post, over at
Crushingtallpoppies.com,
shares my frustration with this myth.

I'm sharing these details of my life because one of our assignments requires us to rebut and then positively reframe myths about giftedness. And... As a parent of gifted children I'm finding it really hard. The first myth we addressed was that all children are gifted. *internal scream* No. They're not.  All children are unique, but they are NOT all gifted. I witness this truth every time I sit at the dinner table with our combined tribe and hear the disparity in conversations. I see it every time I look at the learning tasks of my 14yo gifted son compared to my 14yo stepson. I feel it as I see the frustration in my son at the way his stepbrothers skate over the surface of something he wants to share deeply. I know it in my bones as a mother. Right there, that's where I'm having trouble with this. I'm struggling to step back and be a student rather than mama bear.

Anyone who has seen me with my other kids - the ones who call me Mrs RP - knows that when advocating for them I'm often in full mama bear mode. With these kids I guess it's a bit different though. As Rita Pierson eloquently describes it, I'm acting as their champion. This is different to being mama bear in many ways, but overlaps in others.  Is this why I'm struggling to make the distinction between mama bear and student? The overlap? I don't know but I have a sneaking suspicion that it's something I'll struggle with in all of my studies about giftedness because it has been such a big part of my role as a parent. 

I didn't expect to be so emotionally challenged by my first subject but I can tell you that it has pushed me further and deeper into my readings than I expected so it's probably a good thing. Some might even say it's a gift. Ha!

This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 6 Engage in professional learning
Standard 7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community

It Shouldn't Be This Complicated

A few days ago I wrote about labels and the inevitable 'othering' that comes with the act of labelling people.  Now I want to talk specifically about one particular label: giftedness.

I mentioned in that earlier blog post that I have two children who've been labelled as gifted and that we've used the label to 'other' them into a specialised programme.  Hypocritical? I can see how it might look that way. It's a bit more complicated than that though. When we're dealing with kids, it always is right?

Giftedness is an umbrella label applied to different groups of individuals depending on the organisation or educational body doing the applying.  Here in South Australia the Department of Education and Child Development uses Gagne's Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent to identify that "gifted individuals as those who possess a natural (innate) ability or aptitude in at least one field or domain of ability, such as intellectual, creative, socio affective or sensorimotor, which is manifested to an outstanding degree, positioning them amongst the top 10% of their age peers" (DECD, 2012).  

Other definitions focus on behavioural characteristics such as asynchronous development (Columbus Group, 1991) or a greater awareness (Annemarie Roeper, 2000).  The problem with all of these definitions, as with any umbrella label definition, is that they paint only part of the picture.

A very cursory search of the world of mummy blogs will show that living with 'gifted' kids is often described as a minefield of much, much more than asynchronous development. Talk to any mainstream teacher and they will tell you that the rare truly gifted student they come across are usually the toughest kid in their class to reach.  My 13 and 15 year old sons both have a greater awareness of some things and practically none of others that don't rate as worthy of their attention.  I've been told that to think my children need different educational accommodations is pure elitism.

The thing with giftedness is that it's rarely simple, and never easy.  So that's why it's a bit more complicated. 

Educational outcomes for gifted children are often very low because due to disengagement with school. Many do not 'survive' our traditional methods of schooling well at all. Those who do get through secondary school with the grades to enter tertiary education often drop out.  

Giftedness is a loaded label that 'others' both the kids and their parents, and carries a social stigma of elitism. I'm NOT comparing the challenges associated with parenting or teaching gifted children with the challenges associated with other special needs. The challenges are different. Qualitatively and quantitatively  What I AM saying is that this label is complicated and these children deserve consideration of their special needs. Most do not get this. My two are lucky: they've got pushy parents who know their way around the education field.  It shouldn't come down to luck though. It shouldn't be this complicated.

This relates to the following Australian Professional Standards for Teachers...
Standard 4 Create and maintain safe and supportive learning environments
Standard 7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community