Gifted and talented children are children who have been identified by professionals due to their outstanding skills, who have an aptitude to do high level work in an area of study because of their talents. For these talented children to be beneficial to themselves and to their societies, they need to be provided with differentiated curricula and services. (Clark, 1997)

Why do gifted and talented students need a differentiated education?

To provide the students with the maximum amount of development and personal success, a differentiated curriculum is necessary. The needs of a student are addressed effectively and regularly with a differentiated curriculum. This creates flexible groups in their education; moreover, the students can be introduced to many different opportunities for learning.

Why is it important to identify and educate these children properly?

When guided at an early age, gifted and talented children will improve themselves faster.

In a competitive world that is based on knowledge and creativity, gifted children are a great economic source in our modern world in areas such as science, technology, art, and service industries. When not led properly or not given the opportunity for self-improvement, gifted and talented children may affect themselves or their environment negatively.

What are the characteristics of gifted and/or talented children?

-They have a high level of physical and mental energy

-They are able to understand and learn quickly, and they are capable of remembering things for long periods of time

-They have a wide imagination and envisionary abilities

-They have an ability to make powerful observations

-They are creative and they are willing to explore and discover

-They have a good memory

-They have strong analyzing and synthesizing abilities

-They are intellectually curious

-They exhibit qualities of a leader

-They are able to communicate with their environments

-They like solving problems or overcoming obstacles

-They have a strong sense of humor

-They pay attention to details

-They have a broad knowledge of words and they are able to speak quickly, fluently, and correctly

-Although they can focus on a single subject for a long period of time, they don’t like routines.

All of these qualities can be observed in all children up to a certain point. However, for these to be a sign of gift and talent, they should be observed at a higher level than it is observed for their peers. A talent can appear in different areas, in different sizes, and at different levels.

Intelligence and Scaling

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-R) is often used to identify gifted children. This test is applied to children who are between 6 and 16 years old. This test measures skills according to verbal skills and performance, the average of this IQ test is 100 and its standard deviation is 15 points.

Gifted children need an education further than what is given to other children in order for them to be beneficial to themselves and to their environments.  Their gifts and interests should be well identified according to their areas of talent, and their academic success should be qualified with different scale.  Both the obvious and hidden talents of the child should be discovered; their motivation should be measured and improved. Intelligence and education aren’t enough to achieve a successful career; these should be supported by cognitive intelligence.

 What Can Parents Do ?

Parents must support learning through experience and high expectations.  The child should be provided with the opportunity to use his/her body, five senses, and intellectual and emotional capacity. Only then he/she will have an enriched life.  Parents who have a gifted child should be careful not to block the development of their children. Children should not be stopped in finding their own ways to perform.  Parents should encourage their children to develop with versatility, in areas such as (but not limited to) creativity, social skills (i.e. communication), logic, cognitive thinking, and academic skills, with a balanced manner.

 Children should be guided by their parents to realize their differences in a realistic way, and they must be helped to develop their skills.  Gifted and talented children need to be aware of their limits without any prohibition or outside teaching, but with experience. Gifted children are willing to test their abilities and compare it with others around them.  Finding an adult who can mentor him/her, who has a good understanding of his/her interests, and who is an expert in the subject that the child is interested in will lead and speed up the development of the child.  Parents should provide talented and gifted children with enriched activities, by providing a relationship with nature, organizing family activities, going to the cinema or theatre, or joining play groups. Gifted cildren should be encouraged to take on many engaging hobbies.

 “Each child is valuable and each has a right to develop his/her talents.“

(Özer, 1997).

What is being done for gifted children?

The 5-year-development plan includes the quotation: “Importance will be given to founding and development of educational organizations in order to provide talented and gifted children with an area that is suitable for their development, and the enterprises of the private sector in this area will be supported.”

 TEV İnanç Türkeş High School

 In 1990, well-known entrepreneur and businessman Sezai Türkeş, created a foundation in order to to establish a school for gifted and talented children who are economically incapable of getting a good education on their own. This school was named after his wife, İnanç Türkeş. Until 1996, this school made its goals a reality: giving a free education to gifted and talented children who are coming from economically undeveloped families. However, in 1996, financial difficulties arose and caused the ongoing construction of the school campus, and education routine was interrupted. In 1997, the school experienced a shift from eight years of education (middle school plus high school) to only four years of high school, and the student resources were limited.

 The school has been continuing its education uninterrupted with the help of the Turkish Education Foundation (TEV), since July 10^th 2002.

The school offers an education in English (except for Turkish Literature, Turkish grammar, and History classes), and activities for gifted and talented children are still offered.   Gifted children, who are Turkish citizens and are in a insufficient economical condition to provide for their own education, are chosen by a dedicated committee. Until 2003, only the talented and economically needy students (as determined by the Turkish Ministry of Education Guidance and Research Centers) had the right to take the second entrance exam to our school without taking the first one. In 2003, all students were granted the right to take the entrance exam, allowing for all students that were suitable to the criteria to take it. The students that perform well on the second exam have a right to join an observation camp that lasts for a week each spring, which serves as the third exam.

 The school, which celebrated its 15^th anniversary in 2009, has 339 graduates, 336 of whom have continued (or are still continuing) their education in Turkish or foreign universities.  71 graduates have continued their education in prestigious universities such as Harvard, Duke, Yale, Columbia, Williams, Stanford, MIT, Johns Hopkins, and Swarthmore. 

Beyazıt Primary School

On June 30^th, 2002, the Ministry of Education and the Istanbul University signed a protocol. According to this protocol, Beyazıt Primary School became an experimental school that aims to provide an education for gifted children. The school chooses students with the help of the Guidance Research Center's decisions. However, some students from different parts of Istanbul are integrated into classes without any examination. The education in the school is organized based on the latest research on the human brain and mind, as well as the needs of gifted students.

 Science and Art Centers (Bilsem)

Science and Art centers are facilities founded by the Turkish Ministry of Education Private Education Counseling and Consulting Department Headmasters. It is a private educational corporation that is formed to help gifted children understand and develop their abilities and capacities, and to provide them a chance to use their talents effectively.

References

Akarsu, F. (2001) Gifted Children

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