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Carol Fertig I have been active in the education community for more than 40 years and involved in gifted education for more than 20 years. At various times, I have been a classroom teacher, gifted education teacher, consultant, writer, editor—you name it. I live in Colorado, but also spend a fair amount of time in Chicago. I have two grown boys: one in Colorado and one in California. In my spare time, I enjoy skiing, mountain biking, and golfing. I also like to read, go to plays, and watch foreign movies. Feel free to send me an e-mail. I am also the author of Raising a Gifted Child: A Parenting Success Handbook. This book offers a large menu of strategies, resources, organizations, tips, and suggestions for parents to find optimal learning opportunities for their gifted kids, covering the gamut of talent areas, including academics, the arts, technology, creativity, music, and thinking skills.

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The Label of Gifted Child--Is There a Better Way?

Saturday, April 16, 2005 - by CFertig - Category: Label of Gifted

Recently, I was with a group of gifted education specialists and our discussion revolved around the meaning of the label “gifted.” One person commented that we (being specialists) all knew what the term meant. I questioned that. So, we went around the group and asked just what “gifted” meant to each person. Very quickly it became obvious that we all had very different views of it. This went way beyond the common definitions of gifted children and ventured in to its subtleties.

Some people feel that all students have gifts. Some people feel that being gifted requires a high I.Q. or an exceptional analytical ability. To others it is a student who earns straight A’s or it might be a person who has social problems because he is so smart. There are many definitions of the word and many different interpretations of those definitions. Along with those interpretations go both positive and negative feelings of gifted children.

My question is: Should we use the term “gifted” at all? Is it a useful term? Rather than label students as gifted, would we not be better off using more specific descriptors? As an adult, wouldn’t I understand more about a child knowing that she has great insight into her reading or has the ability to solve complex math problems in creative ways or that he is a great public speaker? Wouldn’t it be more meaningful to know a student is highly organized and goal oriented or is very sensitive to the feelings of others or is a wizard at science? If we need to use some general term, would we be better off using “smart” or “high-ability"?

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