Educating Gifted Persons who are Caring and Concerned

Abstract

The paper emphasises the importance of attending to a dimension of giftedness which involves the development of caring, concerned, compassionate, committed individuals who develop and use their giftedness for society's benefit as well as for self fulfilment. The writer argues for the importance of developing leadership motivated to bringing about world peace. Since gifted children have greater sensitivity in social, moral and ethical awareness, we must nurture these sensitivities through appropriate curricula, understanding of real-life problems, awareness of worldwide news, and direct communication with other gifted children around the world.

Hopelessness Level and Future Expectations of Gifted Students

“…These overexcitabilities may lead to negative statements. Passow, (1988) claimed that gifted students worry about the future, because of their sensitivity to world problems. According to the research, it is concluded that gifted students have positive expectations and were not hopeless about future.…”

“…Due to the fact that gifted children take more initiative about the future, outcomes of what they did could be greater (Lovecky, 1992). They consider possible, probable, and preferable futures (Passow, 1988). The issues mentioned above may contribute to future hopes and expectations of gifted students.…”

“…Many gifted adolescents fell into discouragement, hopelessness, insecurity, and a sense of meaninglessness (Kline & Short, 1991;Kerr & Cohn, 2001). In addition, gifted students may worry about the future because of their sensitivity to world problems (Passow, 1988). Awareness of being different and being morally more sensitive than others (Silverman, 1994) can affect their future expectations.…”

Üstün Yetenekli Öğrencilere Küresel Vatandaşlık Eğitimi

“…Araştırmacılar, üstün yeteneklilerin dünya problemlerine ilişkin yüksek duyarlılığa sahip oldukları, çözüm için bir şeyler yapma konusunda kendilerini sorumlu hissettikleri ve aksi durumda kaygıya kapıldıklarını belirtmektedirler (Tallent-Runnels ve Yarbrough, 1992). Ayrıca, sosyal ve etik problemlere karşı derin ilgilerinin olduğu vurgulanmaktadır (Passow, 1988). Diğer çocuklarla kıyaslandığında, bu duyarlılığın üstün yetenekli çocuklarda daha yüksek olduğu görülmektedir (Silverman, 1994).…”

“…Üstün yetenekli bireyler, gelişmiş ahlakın sonucu olarak adalet duygusu, güvenilirlik, ahlaki tutarlılık, dürüstlük gibi davranışlarda daha kararlı bir tutum sergilemektedirler (Gross, 1993;Freeman, 1994;Karnes ve McGinnis, 1995). Böyle bir kararlı tutum, üstün yeteneklilerin ahlaki konularla ilgilenme potansiyellerinin yüksek olduğunu göstermektedir (Passow, 1988). Bu nedenle üstün yeteneklilerin eğitimlerinde ahlaki ikilemlere ve temel ahlaki prensiplere yer verilmesi gerektiği vurgulanmaktadır (Sisk, 1982).…”