High Cognitive Minds

"Intellectual giftedness is an intellectual ability significantly higher than average." Wikipedia

"Children identified as gifted typically have mental abilities in the upper two and one-half to three percent of the population." Guiding the Gifted Child

Gifted child--"any of various children who are naturally endowed with a high degree of mental ability. Since little is known about special abilities, the term is usually confined in psychological and educational writings to a child whose innate general ability rises above a certain specified borderline." britannica.com

There are many kinds of giftedness, but as the above quotes indicate, popular use of the word and the technical use are not the same. Pick out any half dozen or so studies of gifted children and you will find that the focus is on mental abilities. Some studies have included musical, artistic, dramatic, and other talents, but generally in a context of how those abilities are affected by intelligence.  

Individuals with talents in art, music, etc., are usually identified fairly early, and even if schools don't necessarily respect and serve those talents, there are outside resources for their nurture and development. In contrast, there are rarely any resources, in school or out, for the intellectually inclined. Until recently, intellectual giftedness has been equated with academic giftedness. The assumption has been that those who do well academically are intellectually gifted, and that the intellectually gifted will do well academically. That assumption is giving way to a more realistic view, but with no effect on curriculum.

The problem is that academic giftedness means little more than high levels of achievement, most specifically excellent grades. But grades are almost exclusively considered a measure of learning. For the intellectually gifted, particularly those in the higher ranges, learning is only one part of their mental functioning. Even the small sops that are given to critical thinking, far more often as lip service than any substantive curriculum item, are insufficient for the development of intellectual abilities.

Search as far and wide as you choose, the internet, libraries, book stores, professional journals, you will find little or nothing about intellectual giftedness. Only when you escape the confines of "giftedness" is it possible to find information of real use in developing the mind and its abilities. The goal of this blog is to provide a background understanding of "giftedness" and bring together scattered resources for those who want to go beyond the label.