Dear Readers,
A lot of questions come to my mind when I think of the “gifted” designation a person receives or achieves. What does it really mean to be gifted? Is it a matter of discovering your gift(s) earlier on? I am not, nor have I ever been, considered a gifted person. I, like many people around the world, have different interests. Usually, we are more knowledgeable in our areas of interest and less so in other areas. Are gifted people abnormal, and is this designation a method to stroke the egos of their parents?
Although there are many organizations, like the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), that define and set standard measures when determining giftedness, would these be the only measures for identifying one’s gifts? According to the NAGC’s definition, one must present exceptional ability to reason and learn or one could show documented performance or achievement in the top 10 percent. What does this mean, and how could it potentially change someone’s life? Surely, there are many questions that would arise from this topic.
With that in mind, our Zealousness team took the challenge; you will find articles which uncover topics pertaining to the pitfalls of gifted education, information on how to become a gifted-education teacher, examples of gifted programs and more. As always, you will find all our traditional sections, such as Why? – Series and Education Around the World.
In this issue, we present several engaging ideas. Once again, we encourage an open mind as you explore the gifted no matter what your interests are. We hope you will enjoy the articles and find those pearls of wisdom that will help you achieve your personal learning goals.
Dive into your Zealousness issue 17!