Piirto's Gifted Construct

Reference


Piirto, J. (2007). Talented children and adults: Their development and education (3rd ed.). Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.

They Are All Stars!!!

Why the name "jejune stars" for a blog about students?  Trust me...I am a very deliberate person, and this title selection came after nearly an hour of intense thought.  I just happened to have music playing in the background, and I heard the phrase, "we are jejune stars!"

That's it!!!  The word "jejune" can mean dull, insipid, uninformed, uninspired, or possibly, lacking nutrition.  There are schools that can be described as jejune, teachers that can be described as jejune, lessons that can be described as jejune and, consequently, students that can often become jejune.  

When I first began teaching in public schools nearly a decade ago (after a number of years in the military, followed by several years teaching in private school), I had two job offers:  one from a rather comfortable school in north Georgia, in the county that I grew up in and knew very well, in a fairly stable community; the other also in north Georgia, from a school in a low-income area, with nearly 90% of students on free or reduced lunch, in a district in which every school, with one exception, was designated a Title I school.  I was given tours of both schools, met teachers and students from both, and was even shown my classroom at both schools, assuming I accepted the jobs there.  However, from the moment I walked into the dilapidated building that housed the students, faculty, and staff of Rossville Middle School, my mind was made up.  These students - and I'm generalizing here - were incredibly savvy, tough, built to survive...but in desperate need.  They were unlike the students I remembered when I was in school, those I'd encountered during my student teaching, and certainly those at the boarding school I'd worked at for the previous three years (although there were more similarities there, at the boarding school, than in any of my other experiences).  This would be a challenge, but this place was a true mission field...the kind of mission field that was custom made for those who, wanting to change the world, answer the call to be educators in the first place.  These were the kind of students I wanted to serve.  Jejune stars!  Students who, though beaten down by poverty, dysfunctional home lives, the temptations of sex and drugs, and in many cases, educators who couldn't relate to them, were desperate to find a way to achieve, to find someone who would care, to shine!!!

This blog was initially going to be about my thoughts and impressions on education for the gifted and talented.  In some ways, it still is.  One of my doctoral professors at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Dr. Caryl Taylor, has encouraged me to think broader.  How can insights on gifted and talented education be applied in such a way that students, in general, might benefit?  After reflecting, I agree.  Who are the gifted, after all?  Can't an argument be made that, in some ways, practically all students are gifted or talented?  Aren't all students capable of shining in some way, regardless of how jejune they might be?  This is, essentially, the argument of Jane Piirto (2007).  One of the great difficulties in gifted and talented education is that the very notion of "gifted" or "talented" is lacking in uniformity.  Each state defines "gifted and talented" in their own way - a student could, theoretically, be identified as a gifted student, move to another state, and no longer qualify.  The designation "gifted and talented" has been variously construed to incorporate intelligence, interpersonal ability, athletic ability, motivation, a particular aptitude for music, art, writing, etc.  All too often, definitions of "gifted and talented" are autobiographical, reflecting what an educator or a school system values.  These definitions, ultimately, do a disservice to a large number of students whose talents and gifts go unnoticed and/or unserved.

Don't get me wrong.  I would not advocate abolishing gifted programs, honors academies, or the like.  They serve an important purpose for students with very distinct educational talents and needs.  I'm simply endorsing Piirto's (2007) argument that schools would benefit from a new gifted construct with accurate terminology: "All kinds of talent make up the giftedness construct.  When calling a person 'gifted,' we should be accurate in our language.  If we mean high IQ, we should say 'high IQ.' If we identify a child's talent potential by means of an academic achievement test, we should say 'academic talent'...If a child can relate with skill and grace to others, enhancing their lives with his or her presence, we should call that talent 'relationship talent'" (p. 45).

Piirto's giftedness construct, and Dr. Taylor's advice, are right on target!  The thoughts and impressions recorded in this blog might be of use or interest to teachers of the "gifted and talented," but I hope that they might be of some benefit to all educators.  When I watch students walking the halls of the school, going to their lockers, entering and leaving classrooms, I can't help but notice how jejune many of them have, for one reason or another, become.  I hope that what little I am able to say or do helps because, beneath the tough outer surface, they are, each of them, shining stars...

References

Piirto, J. (2007). Talented children and adults: Their development and education. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.