TalentEd

BOOK AND MATERIAL REVIEW

Louise Porter (1999) Gifted Young Children: A Guide for Teachers and Parents. Sydney: Allen and Unwin. $35.00
 
Literature in the field of gifted and talented education often reports vague and contradictory findings because, in many cases, it frequently fails to establish the conceptual understanding of giftedness on which the research is based. This book has made a credible attempt to rectify this situation through a thorough and considered treatment of the foundational aspects of giftedness and talent as it is made manifest in young children. The book takes a multi-dimensional view of intelligence through a proposed model for the realisation of gifted potential which has been adapted from Gagnés differentiated model of giftedness and talent. In this way the author has tried to draw together many of the current theories on giftedness, including the work of Sternberg, Renzulli and Tannenbaum.
 
The initial chapters of the book focus on the conflicting perspectives held by theorists regarding a rationale for the provision of special education for gifted children. A particular strength of the book is its focus on those students whose giftedness is difficult to identify. For the most part, outward behaviour is the only clear sign educators and parents use in discerning whether a child is talented. Indeed, the performance of gifted individuals is the most common method observers use to infer and identify giftedness. However, it is clear that external and internal factors often interact in such a way as to disguise a child's gifts. This is particularly true for gifted underachievers as well as those gifted children who have a learning disability such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The reader is continually alerted to the need to look beyond performance as the only true indicator of giftedness. Chapter Four provides a useful and balanced list of common signs of advanced development. However, as the author is careful to point out, any list of characteristics of gifted children is prone to inaccuracy due to three sources of bias in studies. They are: a strong representation of white, middle-class subjects; a heavy reliance on subjects chosen through teacher nomination; and anecdotal evidence from clinical practitioners who, by definition, see children who are having difficulties.
 
An important area touched on in the book is underachievement in gifted boys. The author advances the premise that underachievement begins very early and, in the case of young gifted males, is closely related to a lack of social skill development. Clearly, males have been shown to receive more attention from teachers at every level. Teachers call on males more, thus giving young males practice in responding to all kinds of feedback. However, for the young gifted boy who, in the early years of schooling, is often quiet and non-disruptive in classroom settings, this feedback is not received. On reaching secondary school, they are usually less adept socially than their peers despite the fact that teachers often expect them to have the interaction skills that constant feedback develops. In this way, the book provides a powerful argument for the identification of underachievement in the pre-school years when children's attitudes to learning are most malleable. This view is in contrast to much of the current literature which places a disproportionate emphasis on addressing the issue of underachievement in the adolescent years.
 
A further strength of the book is its thorough coverage of current research, although there appears to be a strong weighting given to the literature from North America. However, in the chapter on assessing developmental advances, for example, care is taken to distinguish between practices common to the United States and those frequently used in Australia and New Zealand. Broad-based screening instruments, for example, are widely used in the US whereas in Australia, where few pre-school gifted programs exist, they are not necessary. The author buys into the IQ debate with a solid treatment of the reliability and validity issues as well as the inclusion of a very useful table of advantages and disadvantages regarding the use of IQ tests. Through a synthesis of the assessment research, a proposed model for the identification of advanced development in young children is offered which both parents and educational professionals would find informative.
 
In summary, this book is an authoritative account of the current research in the field of gifted and talented education as it relates to the Australian context. It covers a range of important issues from identification and assessment, social and emotional development, curriculum accountability and most importantly, identification of children whose giftedness is often difficult to recognise. The book concludes with some useful guidelines on the formulation of policies regarding gifted learners. Written for both educational professionals and parents, this extremely practical book provides a timely recognition of the needs and vulnerabilities of young children as they are assisted to transform specific gifts into talents.
Mark Elliott, Faculty of Education, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane
August 1999

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