Definitions of Giftedness

Judith Hewton

To find a satisfactory definition of giftedness it is necessary to understand its origins in the history of humankind. The 20^th century saw the greatest developments in this field following the work of Terman and associates (1925, 1926, 1947, 1959) whose longitudinal studies provided information about highly gifted people. This program of research will continue until 2020 to encompass the entire lives of his original 1528 gifted youth with IQs above 140 (VanTassel-Baska, 1998). Terman’s studies have demonstrated that his gifted were not socially or emotionally bereft and have been largely very successful throughout their lives. Another significant early influence is seen in the work of Hollingworth (1926, 1942) who also worked with highly gifted children.

These two landmark researchers pioneered the field but it is interesting to note that, while other factors such as age and achievement were considered, the designation of giftedness relied heavily on testing for high IQ levels. The broad field that giftedness has become had at its roots a narrow definition and middle to upper class aspirations (Cornell, 1984).

As with Terman and Hollingworth, most of the key studies of giftedness have been accomplished in the United States of America, particularly after the Sputnik launch in 1959 when education was considered a failure and research efforts were multiplied.

The next major impetus in the gifted field was provided in 1972 by the Marland Report to the Congress of the United States which presented a multifaceted definition of giftedness since used widely.

This report served the purpose of focusing on potential and delineating a variety of ability areas.

In 1978 Renzulli proposed a definition which received worldwide recognition and was used substantially throughout the ‘eighties.

In stating that gifted children possess or are capable of developing these traits Renzulli had moved away from reliance on IQ testing although complex areas such as underachievement remained largely unaccounted for in his definition. Underachieving gifted children may tend not to display high levels of task commitment.

VanTassel-Baska (1998) provides a succinct summary of the general movement towards a more liberal view of the field in her expanding lens for viewing conceptions of giftedness. She explains how the notion of genius has been extended to embrace creativity (Guilford, 1950; Torrance, 1967), talent development (Feldhusen, 1995; Renzulli, 1994; VanTassel-Baska, 1998), componential intelligence (Sternberg, 1986, 1991) and multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1983, 1993).

The work of Sternberg and Gardner in particular led to a focus on specific talents or aptitudes. Sternberg's theory proposed a number of components of intelligence in three broad categories: metacomponents (planning, monitoring, and evaluation), performance components (skills and abilities), and knowledge-acquisition components (processing and encoding). Gardner's (1983) theory of multiple intelligences, originally identified as linguistic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, musical- rhythmic, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal, (since developed to include naturalistic intelligence with potential for more to come) also expanded the multidimensional view of ability.

This expansion of ways of considering giftedness is echoed by Clark (1997). It builds on Renzulli and Purcell’s discussion of emerging paradigms which expanded on Feldman’s (1991) proposal of a paradigm shift indicating new directions in identification, renewed research initiatives and financial support (Renzulli & Purcell, 1996).

Another expansion of the concept of giftedness is seen in Gagne's (1985, 1995) theory of giftedness and talent where he proposes a set of aptitudes or gifts which the child develops into talents through interaction with a range of internal and external catalysts.

Gagne proposes that giftedness should be considered as the translation of natural abilities (aptitude domains), with the help of intrapersonal and environmental catalysts, into high performance talent areas.

Gross’s categories of giftedness (2000) can be used to describe the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) assessments that form one part of the picture of a child’s giftedness. She believes that intellectually gifted children can be classified as mildly, moderately, highly, exceptionally and profoundly gifted. Levels of intellectual giftedness, as defined by IQ ranges, and the level of prevalence of such children in the general population, appear as follows:

The definition adopted by the 1993 Queensland Education Departmental policy is as follows.

These criteria are outlined in the Resource Document: The education of gifted children in Queensland state schools, 1993, and should be considered along with other definitions available in the literature.

The field of gifted education relates predominately to formal schooling and entertains two major questions. These are:

• Which students are gifted? (i.e., The Education of Gifted Students)
• What are their needs in terms of school organisation, curriculum content and pedagogy (i.e., Gifted Education)