Social Giftedness Research Articles

Giftedness characteristic identification among Kazakhstani school children

AbstractThe need to identify and recognize school going children with giftedness remains a concern of the Republic of Kazakhstan's government. This concern motivated this study to examine the internal structure of the giftedness characteristic identification scale (GCIS) for use by Kazakhstan's school children. Exploratory quantitative research approach, and its design was grounded within the exploratory type. The GCIS is a self‐report scale to identify the four characteristics of giftedness including contextual, intellectual, creative, and social giftedness. A total of 1176 elementary and middle school students were sampled for the study. The students were in grades and aged between 12 and 16 years. Most of the participants were 65% female; and 35% male. The data collected was analyzed using exploratory factor analysis. The findings established a relatively high‐reliability Cronbach alpha coefficient of 89.7%. No statistical difference was found between the Kazakh and Russian languages of instruction, based on the gifted characteristics of the participants. Emphasis was placed on the fact that the GCIS was a reliable tool to identify giftedness among schoolchildren in Kazakhstan, but much future work is needed to determine its validity.

Designing a methodological system for the development and support of gifted and motivated students.

The paper was intended to develop a new methodological system and test its impact on the development of motivation and giftedness among children. The experiment was conducted among 1,200 children from grades 3, 7, and 10 by researchers from the Daryn Republican Applied Research Center of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan and L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University. The teaching methodology involved: interactive technologies; developing projects with faculty members; and conducting electives in the exact sciences, humanities, natural sciences, and the creative arts. The experiment lasted 4 months. Before and after the experiment, all respondents were evaluated by their instructors according to the following four criteria: academic giftedness, creative giftedness, social giftedness, and intellectual giftedness. The overall result demonstrated an increase in the level of giftedness to above-average values. Motivation levels observed among respondents in grades 3, 7, and 10 were 1.71; 1.72, and 1.54, respectively. The level for this criterion also reached above-average values. This implies that this technique is effective. This technique can already be applied not only in special schools for gifted children, but also in general educational institutions to achieve better results.

Соціально обдарована особистість: здібності, якості, розвиток

У статті здійснено аналіз соціальної обдарованості в теоретичному і процесуальному (діяльнісному) аспектах. Визначено специфіку соціальної обдарованості, зумовлену природними задатками й набутими здібностями (соціальний інтелект, емоційний інтелект, здатність до міжособистісної і колективної взаємодії) особистості.

Emergence of Social Giftedness in Primary School Children

The article examines the conditions of supporting social giftedness in school children. A typology of social giftedness is proposed and social giftedness structure is determined based on the analysis of available research of this phenomenon. The author distinguishes the indicators of social giftedness in primary school children. Pedagogical observation of educational process in the primary school of Nayanova Gifted Children Academy (Samara, Russia) demonstrated that social giftedness in schoolchildren gains support on the level of individual creative initiative of teachers. By the same token, the development of social giftedness is not part of general education system in Russia. Both the pedagogical toolkit and the attention to social giftedness development need considerable advancement on institutional level.

Persistence of Choice as a Reflection of Social Giftedness

The article raises the issue of social giftedness and outlines the necessity of the fundamental study of this phenomenon. The author suggests that social giftedness is reflected in the stability of socially oriented behavior and in more complex and diverse interest in one's own personality: in appreciation of one’s own uniqueness and in participation in a wide range of small and large social groups, where one expresses one’s involvement through personal concern for the groups. The object of the study is to identify the relationship between the stability of one’s choice for the benefit of the group and social giftedness. The proposed hypothesis states that socially gifted schoolchildren tend to make persistent socially oriented choices (with collectivistic cognitive orientation). The hypothesis was tested on a sample of third-graders by means of M. Kuhn and T. McPartland’s test "Who am I" and an experiment of collectivistic/individualistic choices relating to the presence of an authoritative figure. The study confirms that persistence of collectivistic choices is characteristic of socially gifted students.

ПРОЯВЛЕНИЯ СОЦИАЛЬНОЙ ОДАРЕННОСТИ ОБУЧАЮЩИХСЯ МЛАДШЕГО ПОДРОСТКОВОГО ВОЗРАСТА

Statement of the problem. The article presents the results of the research into manifestations of social giftedness among junior adolescents: communicative and organizational abilities, motivational orientations in interpersonal communication, emotional intelligence, as well as the correlation among the studied manifestations in the structure of social giftedness. The research contributes to the solution of the relevant educational problem of monitoring, development and psychological and pedagogical support of gifted students. The purpose of the article is to identify the manifestations of social giftedness among junior adolescents and to outline the directions of psychological and pedagogical work on the development of students’ social giftedness. The research methodology was the analysis and generalization of scientific works and publications of native and foreign psychologists on the problems of giftedness and social giftedness in the area of definitions, sources and components of the structure of giftedness, as well as the use of standardized survey methods in the framework of the psychometric approach to the study of key structural components of social giftedness (communicative and organizational abilities, prosocial motivation and social intelligence) and statistical methods (rank correlation, cluster analysis) to study the correlation of indicators in the structure of social giftedness among junior adolescents. Research results. The article presents the results of empirical research into manifestations of social giftedness among junior adolescents (communicative and organizational abilities, motivational orientations in interpersonal communication, indicators of emotional intelligence), demonstrating that only a small part of the studied sample of adolescents possesses abilities manifested at a high level in the structure of social giftedness. The article offers the results of statistical research showing the direct correlation among the components of the structure of social giftedness. In light of the model of social giftedness created on the basis of cluster analysis, the directions of psychological and pedagogical work on development and support of students’ social giftedness are offered. Conclusions. The research results and conclusions can be used by a psychologist of education while solving tasks in the framework of the function of psychological and pedagogical support of educational process in educational institutions and tasks of the Federal State Educational Standard of basic General education concerning the formation and development of students’ personal and interdisciplinary competencies. On the basis of the obtained data, a program of monitoring and development of students’ social giftedness with elements of training sessions and psychological games can be developed.

Developing social giftedness in disadvantaged girls at an Indian school

This article describes developmental interactions with a group of female students at an Indian public school situated in a disadvantaged section of the community. Through a series of activities, the author makes an intensive effort to develop social giftedness in these students. The article describes various activities together with the author’s observations as a mentor and facilitator in the field. The qualitative changes in the students’ personalities are confirmed through a standardized personality test.

Multigroup Construct Validity Evidence of the HOPE Scale: Instrumentation to Identify Low-Income Elementary Students for Gifted Programs

Students with exceptional academic potential who come from low-income families are frequently not identified for and consequently are underrepresented in gifted and talented programs. Because of this, new means of identifying such children must be developed. This article presents the findings of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses conducted on the HOPE Scale, a 13-item teacher-rating instrument designed to identify academic and social components of giftedness in elementary-aged students. Participants included 349 teachers who completed HOPE Scales on 5,995 ethnically and economically diverse students from three rural and two metropolitan school districts in the Midwest. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was also used to evaluate measurement invariance between income groups. Findings suggest a two-factor model represents good fit for the data while remaining loyal to the latent constructs of academic and social giftedness. Although showing some legitimate mean differences, invariance test results suggested equivalence of model form, factor loading, and factor variances across income groups. Putting the Research to Use This research has important implications for practice. Frequently, traditional measures of achievement or aptitude under-identify children from low-income families. Concerns exist about the usefulness of teacher-ratings forms or scales in gifted and talented student identification. However, when given specific items or descriptors, teachers can provide useful information concerning student performance. The HOPE Scale provides items that teachers can use to rate specific social and academic behaviors of their students. Findings from this study revealed that teaches can effectively nominate low-income students for gifted programs. Further, items on the HOPE Scale were not biased against low-income students as rated by their teachers, meaning that the social and academic scales provided similar information concerning students in either income group. However, mean scores for student from low-income families on both scales were lower than their non-low income peers, providing evidence that instruments need to be normed on the specific groups for which their use is intended. Practitioners, should not shy away from using teacher nomination instruments, but they should consider the psychometric information available concerning the use of these instruments or rating forms as used with students in demographic groups of intended use. The HOPE Scale, as developed with indicated revisions, will provide educators and researchers with a simple, psychometrically sound instrument to help with identification of underrepresented student for gifted education services.

Haut potentiel intellectuel et développement social

The first part of this article presents a theoretical and empirical review on the issue of gifted children's social development. As a whole, data does not allow for straightforward conclusion as to whether gifted children may be socially at risk. Conflicting results may be due in part to heterogeneity across studies in sampling procedures and in assessing social adjustment. Next, we will examine how social skills development could be viewed as a potential domain for the expression of intellectual giftedness, in the light of theories that posit a multi-factorial view of intelligence or creativity. Accordingly, there may be a need to reconsider the notion of giftedness and thus take into account social giftedness, both for identification and education purposes.

Social Giftedness: Evolution of the Concept and its Application for Everyday Life

The purpose of this paper is to highlight important milestones in the development of conceptions of social giftedness in the general psychology and education literature as well as literature specific to gifted education. Based on Thorndike's (1920) conception of social intelligence, the paper focuses on the “ability to act wisely in human relations.” The paper addresses conceptual and methodological issues that have affected the study of the construct of social giftedness. The article provides a framework for understanding and enhancing social giftedness.

A Dynamic Approach to Giftedness: theory and practice

The aims of this research were to investigate the possibilities of developing the cognitive and creative abilities of recognised gifted children, and also of raising the development of “ordinary” children up to a level of giftedness. This experimental work, based on Vygot‐sky's Dynamic Theory of Giftedness, involved special procedures and an experimental curriculum designed to overcome children's psychological barriers to learning. Five school classes were involved: three experimental classes, two of these gifted and one of average‐ability children. Two further control classes were taught by conventional methods. Comparative assessments were made for 6 years between all the children, regarding cognitive development, creativity and social giftedness, revealing considerable undeveloped potential of “ordinary” children. Major factor influencing IQ changes included the differences in psychological mechanisms to overcome barriers to learning. Due to the experimental psychological curriculum, not only did all the children's cognitive abilities increase, but also their creativity. Hence, these new diagnostic and developmental procedures were found to be effective, demonstrating the high practical value of the Dynamic Theory of Giftedness.

Social giftedness - its characteristics and identification

social giftedness - its characteristics and identification

The Psychology of Gifted Children: Perspectives on Development and Education

Foreword Preface A Pedagogy for the Gifted The Gifted Child as Exceptional The Gifted Infant Competence and Giftedness Foundations of Creativity: The Facilitating Environment New Challenges to Common Identification Practices The Nature and Measurement of Intelligence Sleep and Mental Efficiency Musical Giftedness Mathematical Gifts Social Giftedness and Its Relationship with Intellectual Giftedness Gifted Women Emotional Aspects of Giftedness Dyssynchrony: Uneven Development Gifted Adolescents: A Developmental Perspective Delinquency Among Gifted Children Gifted Children in Three Israeli Cultures Psychological Development of Supernormal Cultures Psychological Development of Supernormal Children The Evolution of Education for the Gifted in Differing Cultures Attitudes Towards the Education of the Gifted Voacational Problems Specialist Training for Teachers: Some Realities and Ideals from the British Context Creative Questioning for the Future Index.