“Someday, in the distant future, our grandchildren's grandchildren will develop a new equivalent of our classrooms. They will spend many hours in front of boxes with fires glowing within. May they have the wisdom to know the difference between light and knowledge.”
I got an email from my sister pointing to an online resource on Intellectual Giftedness. Here's the link.
Now I've seen this and that about giftedness but I was intrigued by a "legal definition" from Texas, to wit, (legalese momentarily used here):
[The phrase] "gifted and talented student" means a child or youth who performs at or shows the potential for performing at a remarkably high level of accomplishment when compared to others of the same age, experience, or environment, and who
(snipped)
excels in a specific academic field." (74th legislature of the State of Texas, Chapter 29, Subchapter D, Section 29.121)
Nice to know that government extends formal recognition to children who could perhaps contribute immensely to human development and the national economy. And I'd like to believe that the giftedness label could be useful for allocating educational budgets to congressional districts. But I wonder if this would really promote meritocracy. For example, how would students with both giftedness and learning disabilities fit in. Perhaps insights from this book could help?
Image credits: atarimagazines.com
