Asynchronicity Vygotsky and StrengthBased Education DISCUSSION INTENSITY A
Asynchronicity, Vygotsky, and Strength-Based Education DISCUSSION
INTENSITY A salient descriptor that characterizes the personality of a gifted child is intensity. Intensity takes many forms that can be both strengths and weaknesses. Recognizing and understanding these intensities can help toward improving the social and emotional life of a child. · INTENSITY OF THOUGHT “Her mind is always whirring. ” · INTENSITY OF PURPOSE “Once he makes up his mind to do something, he’s not satisfied until it’s accomplished. ” · INTENSITY OF EMOTION “She internalizes anything anyone says about her. ” · INTENSITY OF SPIRIT “He’s always looking for someone less fortunate who needs help. ” · INTENSITY OF SOUL “She asks questions that philosophers have asked for centuries and gets upset when we can’t give her definitive answers to them. ” Jim Delisle EXAMPLES FROM LH?
Eight Great Gripes of Gifted Kids 1. No one explains what being gifted is all about – it’s kept a big secret. 2. School is too easy and too boring. 3. Parents, teachers and/or friends expect us to be perfect all the time. 4. Friends who really understand us are few and far between. 5. Kids often tease us about being smart. 6. We feel overwhelmed by the number of things we can do in life. 7. We feel different and alienated. 8. We worry about world problems and feel helpless to do anything about them. HOW DOES THE LH MEET THESE GRIPES?
Asynchronicity-“MANY ages at once. ” The more gifted a child is, the more asynchronous they may be. Cognitive Physical Social-Emotional EXAMPLES?
OPTIMALLY NOT NORMALLY. . Giftedness is asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm. This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual capacity. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable and requires modifications in parenting, teaching, and counseling in order for them to develop optimally. (The Columbus Group, 1991) DISCUSS-OPTIMALLY V NORMALLY.
Examples Ice Decoratives Distrust of authority Argue w/ authority about anything/everything Complicated “made-up” games/rules Frustration when rules are not followed Out-of-level books difficulty matching reading level with appropriate content Inability to wait turns Organizational pitfalls Studying blackholes while losing everything Severe emotional reactions “Dinosaurs are extinct, what if that happens to us? ” OTHERS?
Age 4: “during a storm” “Get away from windows! That lightning is TOO CLOSE! Light travels one million times faster than sound. It takes sound one second to travel five miles. It was less than five seconds between lightning and thunder! It’s windy! This might be a super cell! Get in the basement!”
Vygotsky DISCUSSION
Zones of Proximal Development I can do alone I can do with help GT kids needs are asynchronous, thus their needs vary between tasks.
Many AGES, Many ZONES. . . Physical Age: 7 Math Age: 16 Reading Age: 12 Executive Age: 5 Writing Age: 7 Emotional Age: 4
Discussion- “many ages at once” Intellectual: Tesla, Enigma Machine, Scifi/fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons Socio-emotional: Unaware of his influence on/by others. Shuts-down when not “heard” Physical: 6 th Grader/Big for age/Uncoordinated
Strength-Based Approach
Strengths. . . The greatest gift we can give our gifted children is to believe in the following: That the gifted child is average with gifts, not superior with faults. Anne Marie Roper, 1984
Cost-benefit “Presupposes that capitalizing on one’s best qualities is likely to lead to greater success than would be possible by making a comparable investment of effort into overcoming personal weaknesses or deficiencies (Clifton & Harter, 2003; Clifton & Nelson, 1992).
Perspective “If we ask people to look for deficits, they will usually find them, and their view of the situation will be colored by this. If we ask people to look for successes, they will usually find it, and their view of the situation will be colored by this” (Kral, 1989).
Build on STRENGTHS
Belief Principle An absolute belief that every student has potential. It is their unique strengths and capabilities that will determine their evolving story as well as define who they are - not what they’re not (not, I will believe when I see – rather, I believe and I will see).
Focus Principle What we focus on becomes a student’s reality. Focus on what a student can do as the starting point, not what they cannot. See challenges as opportunities to explore, not something to avoid. Start with small success and build upon them to create a foundation of hope and optimism.
Language Principle Be mindful that the language we use creates a reality – both for the educators and the students (e. g. , Saying – “It looks like you tried doing this exercise another way let’s see how it worked for you. ”; As opposed to saying – “Did you not hear what I told the other students? ”).
Success Principle Belief that change is inevitable and all students can and will be successful. All students have the urge to succeed, to explore the world around them and to contribute to others and their communities.
Authenticity Principle Positive change occurs in the context of authentic relationships. Students need to know that school staff care and will be there unconditionally for them.
Students’ Story Principle What a student thinks about themselves and their reality is primary – it is their story. Therefore, educators must value and start the change process with what is important to the student. It’s the student’s story that’s important, not the expert.
“Start where they are” Principle Students have more confidence and comfort to journey to the future (or to the unknown) when they are invited to start with what they already know
Capacity Building Principle Capacity building is a process and a goal. Effective and sustainable change is a dynamic process one supports in cumulative ways that leads the youth to write the next chapters of their story in meaningful ways.
Collaboration Principle It is important to value differences and the essential need to collaborate. Transformational change is a collaborative, inclusive and participatory process – “It takes a village to raise a child”.
What are our STRENGTHS? 1. Do we provide care and support? 2. Do we set and communicate high expectations? 3. Do we provide opportunities for high quality participation? 4. Do we allow/encourage pro-social bonding? 5. Do we set clear and consistent boundaries? 6. Do we teach life-skills?
“Education is what survives after what has been learned has been forgotten. ” B. F. Skinner
Practical Advice. . . It’s much harder to keep gifted children “under control” than it is to allow them to use their brains and energy to pursue subjects that arouse their interest and curiosity. Getting into power struggles with gifted children is useless. It’s better to negotiate and allow some mutual decisionmaking so that children become your allies as well as your students. When teaching a gifted child, the goal should be to encourage, not deflate, the child’s enthusiasm, curiosity and originality. Positive words encourage positive thoughts in both the speaker and the listener. Highly gifted kids are as different from “normal” kids as “normal” kids are to SPED kids. Barbara Clark feels that teachers of the gifted should have an “uncommon ability” to empathize with and inspire students; share enthusiasm, a love of learning, a joy of living; be authentic and humane; be alert, knowledgeable, and informed; tolerate ambiguity; and value intelligence, intuition, diversity, uniqueness, change, growth, and selfactualization.
If we ask people to look for deficits, they will usually find them, and their view of situations will be coloured by this. If we ask people to look for successes, they will usually find them, and their view of situations will be coloured by this (Kral, 1989).
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