Gifted preschool children
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Jan Falls |
Today gifted children have added opportunities at primary and high school, but how are they being catered for in preschool? Macquarie University Masters student Jan Falls felt motivated to find out.
"I have been a primary school teacher for some years and when I did my Master of Education I started thinking about gifted children," says Falls. "There are opportunity classes for primary aged children and there are selective high schools, but those bright children have always been bright - what is going on for them, even before they start school?"
The research project
Falls research project took place across seven early childhood centres where she investigated what teachers were doing for the children they considered gifted, in their prior to school year. The research project was three-pronged. Firstly teachers completed a questionnaire, they were then observed in the classroom with the children they had nominated as gifted, and finally were interviewed about issues that had arisen from the questionnaire and observation.
Teacher's definitions of giftedness
While the teachers were not given a definition of giftedness, they all identified similar traits in the children they considered to be gifted. The teachers felt the children had well developed language and cognitive skills and most importantly a keen sense of creativity. Other traits included curiosity, sustained focus, an eye for detail and perfectionism.
"Interestingly we also had children from non-English speaking backgrounds and this is generally under-represented in research," says Falls. "There was a little boy who was really good at problem solving but his grasp of English wasn't as good. During the process of my research his language skills developed and then his giftedness was really evident."
More training and more time
"All of the teachers involved in the study talked about time," says Falls. "Gifted children in a preschool environment don't have like-minded peers and tend to spend a lot of time with teachers because they are the stimulus for them. Teachers understand this, but they are hard pressed for time so there is need for more resources so they can spend quality and meaningful time with these children."
Participating teachers also wanted more formalised training for working with young gifted children, particularly considering the paradox of what stimulating things to give these children at preschool level that is not going to encroach on their formal education.
"These teachers were very conscious of not wanting young gifted children to start school having done too many school-based activities as they could easily become bored," says Falls.
Considering giftedness at preschool level
"The aim of my research has been to highlight that we need to consider these children even at the preschool level," says Falls. "I studied special education as an undergraduate and spent a lot of time working with children who were delayed. But when we talk special education there are both ends of the spectrum and I don't think we are doing enough for children who are bright."
Jan Falls is conducting her research as part of a Masters Degree within the Institute of Early Childhood at Macquarie. For more information visit http://www.aces.mq.edu.au/iec_home.asp