Do you know someone with Giftedness?

A Brazilian experience

Mayara Tatibana Bortolotto

Stop and think about the people you know. Among them, is there someone with standout abilities? Someone with a "natural talent" for math, arts, music, and/or sports? Do you recall someone who has a lot of ease in learning, above-average creativity, and great sensitivity? Among your acquaintances, is there someone who has difficulty socializing, tends to be introverted and isolated? Did you think of anyone? Well, know that this person may exhibit traits of giftedness.

There is no consensus on the definition or global term to refer to people with giftedness. In the USA, each state has autonomy to choose the term and definition for this student profile. According to a study conducted in 2021 by Rondini and Reis[1], the terms most commonly used by Americans are gifted, talent, and high ability student. Currently, the most used terms in Brazil are Altas Habilidades (High Abilities) or Superdotação (Giftedness) and Altas Habilidades/Superdotação (High Abilities/Giftedness).The definition in Brazilian legislation in the Política Nacional de Educação Especial (National Politics for Special Education) [2] (2008) describes people with Giftedness as those who:

demonstrate high potential in any of the following areas, isolated or combined: intellectual, academic, leadership, psychomotor, and arts. They also present high creativity, great involvement in learning, and performing tasks in areas of their interest.

According to the experiences in workshops of the pro bono project Genius [3], it was possible to observe that, in addition to the characteristics mentioned above, gifted people have a high degree of empathy, sensitivity, and curiosity.

The identification process is complex and multifaceted and involves a variety of tests, evaluations, and criteria. Just as there is no universal consensus on the definition of giftedness, there may be variations in identification criteria and data collection methods among different studies and organizations. The indication of giftedness traits can come from family, colleagues, teachers, or self-nomination. From the indication, one can start the evaluation process that will culminate or not in identification.

GIFTEDNESS IN THE BRAZILIAN SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

The school is the environment where children and young people with high potential usually stand out, either because of above-average performance and/or behavior problems. Being among people of the same age group and in daily contact with education professionals, the school environment is currently the greatest ally in identifying people with giftedness. However, the number of identified students is still very small in Brazil [4]. The invisibility caused by the lack of identification of students with giftedness causes great psychological and emotional suffering for children and young people, their families, and communities. The most severe cases can lead to aggression, school dropout, and even suicide.

The giftedness area is part of Special Education and has the right to Specialized Educational Assistance guaranteed by law, carried out in resource rooms located in public schools. In addition to students with giftedness, Special Education encompasses those with disabilities and global developmental disorders. For many people, it may seem counterintuitive to offer specialized assistance to students who have above-average potential, especially in Brazil, where we have a deepening of social inequalities. It is myths like these that complicate the adequate care of students with giftedness. It is important to highlight that people with giftedness have high POTENTIAL and need appropriate stimuli and resources for the full development of their abilities. Resource rooms are dedicated to the development and improvement of intellectual, creative, social, and cognitive skills of students identified with giftedness or in the identification process. In addition to Specialized Educational Assistance, there is the possibility of acceleration, which allows for advancement in school grades or the completion of the school curriculum in less time, provided that learning is demonstrated.

LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® AND CURRICULUM ENRICHMENT IN BRAZIL

According to the "Three-Ring Model" proposed by Joseph S. Renzulli [5] (1970), giftedness is the convergence of three components: above-average ability, high levels of creativity, and task involvement. According to this theorist, there are two types of giftedness: academic and creative-productive. The academic profile is easily measured by Intelligence Quotient (IQ) tests and identified in schools, while the second type, creative-productive, is less recognized in the school context. Students of both profiles require special programs to develop their potential, and Renzulli's Curriculum Enrichment Model is the theoretical basis adopted by the Ministry of Education (MEC) in Brazil.

The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP®) methodology has proven to be an innovative tool for the educational enrichment of students with giftedness. The Genius’ workshops, facilitated between 2019 and 2022 in public educational institutions in Brazil, had significant results both individually and collectively. It was possible to observe how the activities proposed during the meetings positively impacted students of both profiles. In addition to the benefits of creating a safe speaking environment where each participant has their time to speak and listen, there is an opportunity to express themselves authentically and without judgment. Through sharing, the construction of bonds between participants was observed, and cases of suffering and violence that had not been reported previously were identified. From this, referrals could be proposed for specialized professionals who could provide assistance in overcoming these issues.

Looking at each profile, it is clear how the workshops can be allies in the process of developing skills and educational enrichment of students. Academic gifted students can benefit from LSP® methodology workshops as they provide a new way to approach their thoughts and feelings, although these students may initially resist building with bricks. The organization of these meetings helps to build a secure structure for academic gifted children to navigate, as this group may have difficulty with social interaction. During the proposed activities, they are invited to reflect and share their perceptions about themselves and the proposed subject. Like this, the student is provoked to move away from the abstraction of thoughts and interact with other participants.

Regarding creative-productive gifted students, it was observed that they were more open to the methodology and expressed their feelings and thoughts through highly creative models and metaphors. In this group, the modulation of activities with blocks of time and clear instructions for task development helps in managing focus and frustration. Creative-productive gifted students may exhibit hyperfocus capacity and resistance to interruption, as well as impulsiveness, and the rounds of construction and sharing help to exercise resilience. By offering an organized system with a beginning, middle, and end, the workshops help in ordering thoughts, as they may have difficulty organizing ideas in a certain sequence, or focusing attention on a specific point. LEGO® bricks, being a concrete material, help to moderate high standards of self-demand and perfectionism while offering easily manageable resources with stimulating possibilities for executing their creativity.

The education of children and youth with giftedness is still a mystery for most schools, and few of them are willing to look at this group, prepare their professionals and join efforts to welcome, stimulate and support the development of the potential that resides in each gifted student. The Genius workshops have provoked reverberations in students and other participants, demonstrating that LSP® methodology makes it possible to have deep conversations about sensitive topics. With each meeting, the conviction is strengthened that this work is capable of producing significant changes in the lives of gifted students, their parents, teachers, schools, and communities.

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Article originally published in the LSP Magazine on July 1st 2023

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[1] RONDINI, C. A; REIS, V. L. dos. Termos, conceitos e contextos da superdotação. In: RONDINI, C. A; REIS, V. L. dos. Altas Habilidades/Superdotação: Instrumentais para identificação e atendimento do estudante dentro e fora da sala de aula comum. 1ª edition. Curitiba: CRV, 2021. p. 119-139.

[2] Política Nacional de Educação Especial na perspectiva da Educação Inclusiva. Brasília: MEC/SEESP, 2008a. Decreto nº 6.571, from September 17th, 2008.

[3] Genius: voz para crianças e jovens com Altas Habilidades is a pro bono project that offers workshops to gifted students from public schools in Brazil. The workshops use the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology to discuss the education of identified or in the process of identification children and youth.

[4] BRASIL. Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais Anísio Teixeira (Inep). Resumo Técnico: Censo Escolar da Educação Básica 2021.

[5] RENZULLI, J. S. O Que é Esta Coisa Chamada Superdotação, e Como a Desenvolvemos? Uma retrospectiva de vinte e cinco anos. 2004. 57 f. Educação, Porto Alegre, ano XXVII, n. 1 (52), p. 75 – 131, jan./apr. 2004.