Current best
practices for gifted and talented education incorporate
definitions of gifted that use the multi-criteria approach -
they have broadened from the very narrow basis of intellectual
performance to a much wider basis that encompasses many areas
of human achievement. This means that more children are being
properly identified.
Why are these theories
important?
Both the Gagne
and Renzulli models demonstrate the importance of nurturing
natural gifts in students of high ability. Contemporary
perspectives highlight the multifaceted nature of intelligence
and emphasize the idea that potential abilities can and must
be cultivated
Gagne’s Model for
Differentiated Model for Talent Development
Gagné
differentiates between giftedness and talent, asserting that
talent is a skill in a single domain that has been developed
systematically, while giftedness represents innate abilities
in multiple domains.
Gagne’s model
proposes that giftedness is the manifestation of natural
abilities, often called aptitudes or gifts, in at least one
ability domain to a level that places the student in the top
10% of their age mates. Gagne’s model
proposes five aptitude domains: intellectual, creative,
socioaffective, sensorimotor, and “others.” These are
considered natural abilities.
Talents, as
defined in this model, emerge from the nurturing of these
aptitudes into the skills characteristic of a particular
occupational field, also called systematically developed
skills.
Gagne’s model
helps us to see the important role that the talent development
process plays in transforming natural abilities into
systematically developed skills. Interpersonal
factors, environmental factors, chance all play a role in this
model.
Gagne, F. (1985) A
Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent retrieved from
http://www.nswagtc.org.au/info/definitions/gagnemodel.html
Renzulli Model of
Giftedness
Renzulli
distinguishes between two types of giftedness — schoolhouse
giftedness and creative productive
giftedness.
Schoolhouse Giftedness
Schoolhouse
giftedness might also be called test-taking or lesson-learning
giftedness. It is the kind most easily measured by IQ or
other cognitive ability tests. The abilities people
display on IQ and aptitude tests are often the kinds of
abilities most valued in traditional school learning
situations.
Creative Productive
Giftedness
The second type
of giftedness is called creative productive giftedness and
describes those aspects of human activity and involvement
where a premium is placed on the development of original
material and products that are purposefully designed to have
an impact on one or more target audiences. In this
model, giftedness is evident in certain people (not all
people), at certain times (not all times), and under certain
circumstances (not all circumstances). To explain this
relationship Renzulli proposes a three ring theory: it
is the interaction of these three rings (above average
ability, creativity, and task commitment) that lead to
creative productive gifted behaviors.
Renzulli’s
three-ring model stresses gifted behaviors rather than a
stricter definition of giftedness.
Renzulli, J. S.,
(1998) A Practical System for Identifying Gifted and
Talented Students. The National Research Center on the
Gifted and Talented, University of Connecticut, Retrieved
from http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/sem/semart13.html
Other Theories
In addition to Renzulli
and Gagne, other researchers have studied the construct of
giftedness. While there are differences in the details
of these theories there are several areas of similarity.
Modern theorists now acknowledge that giftedness is a
multidimensional construct. Intelligence (frequently
measured by IQ) is one aspect of the giftedness
construct. Feldhusen identifies five areas of
talents: academic, artistic, vocational, personal and
athletic. Gardner (1983)
in
his theory of multiple intelligences identifies seven areas of
human intelligence: linguistic, musical,
logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic,
intrapersonal, and interpersonal.
