Page 39 - Kukanja Gabrijelčič, Mojca, and Maruška Seničar Željeznov, eds. 2018. Teaching Gifted and Talented Children in A New Educational Era. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
P. 39
Exploring Dutch Students’ Implicit Theories of an Intelligent Person
pictures showed more variety; there was no dominant stereotype detected.
They drew men as well as women; not all women were drawn as an adult. In
another study, Räty et al. (2010) compared images of intelligence in Finland
with images of intelligence in Russia. Children were asked to draw pictures
of an intelligent and of an ordinary pupil. They often pictured an intelligent
pupil with glasses. The Russian boys and girls emphasized excellent grades
and positive class activities in their pictures of intelligent pupils. Finnish par-
ticipants tended to stress equality between ordinary and intelligent pupils.
Often, the only difference between an ordinary pupil and an intelligent pupil
were glasses.
Pictures provide important clues, but according to Schibeci and Lee (2003),
pictures alone are not sufficient as a research tool. Aljughaiman et al. (2012) in-
vestigated and compared implicit theories of an intelligent person in Kenya
and in Germany. They suggested that adolescents have differentiated per-
ceptions of characteristics accompanying an intelligent person. To explore
their assumption, students were first asked to draw an intelligent person
within five minutes and afterwards, they had the opportunity to give more
information in a questionnaire. The participants were seventh graders. As in
the research of Räty and Snellman (1997), they all tended to draw an intelli-
gent person as a grown up. A majority of the Germans pictured a male. In
Kenya about half of the participants drew a male. Working hard was con-
ceived as an important characteristic of an intelligent person, ranked first by
both cultures. Interesting was the difference in sociability and popularity, re-
garded of more importance by the Kenyan participants (Aljughaiman et al.,
2012). Aljughaiman et al. concluded that students have different implicit the-
ories of intelligence and they recommended a cross-cultural, longitudinal,
focused investigation of relationships between individual theories of intelli-
gence and learning behaviour among gifted students.
Dutch prototypical views of an intelligent person have not been investi-
gated yet. Realizing the impact of implicit theories on learning (Burkley et al.,
2009; Chany et al., 2011; Dweck et al., 1995; Ommundsen, 2001; Stoeger, 2009;
Ziegler et al., 2013), Dutch students’ implicit theories of an intelligent person
were examined. The research of Aljughaiman et al. (2012) was followed in or-
der to detect what characteristics and talents Dutch students attribute to an
intelligent person.
There are differences between Germany and the Netherlands, but both
cultures are western and individualistic. Although the rating of ‘hardwork-
ing’ could differ – the Dutch consider the Germans as being more disciplined
(Paul, 2005) – not much difference in attributions between Dutch and Ger-
37
pictures showed more variety; there was no dominant stereotype detected.
They drew men as well as women; not all women were drawn as an adult. In
another study, Räty et al. (2010) compared images of intelligence in Finland
with images of intelligence in Russia. Children were asked to draw pictures
of an intelligent and of an ordinary pupil. They often pictured an intelligent
pupil with glasses. The Russian boys and girls emphasized excellent grades
and positive class activities in their pictures of intelligent pupils. Finnish par-
ticipants tended to stress equality between ordinary and intelligent pupils.
Often, the only difference between an ordinary pupil and an intelligent pupil
were glasses.
Pictures provide important clues, but according to Schibeci and Lee (2003),
pictures alone are not sufficient as a research tool. Aljughaiman et al. (2012) in-
vestigated and compared implicit theories of an intelligent person in Kenya
and in Germany. They suggested that adolescents have differentiated per-
ceptions of characteristics accompanying an intelligent person. To explore
their assumption, students were first asked to draw an intelligent person
within five minutes and afterwards, they had the opportunity to give more
information in a questionnaire. The participants were seventh graders. As in
the research of Räty and Snellman (1997), they all tended to draw an intelli-
gent person as a grown up. A majority of the Germans pictured a male. In
Kenya about half of the participants drew a male. Working hard was con-
ceived as an important characteristic of an intelligent person, ranked first by
both cultures. Interesting was the difference in sociability and popularity, re-
garded of more importance by the Kenyan participants (Aljughaiman et al.,
2012). Aljughaiman et al. concluded that students have different implicit the-
ories of intelligence and they recommended a cross-cultural, longitudinal,
focused investigation of relationships between individual theories of intelli-
gence and learning behaviour among gifted students.
Dutch prototypical views of an intelligent person have not been investi-
gated yet. Realizing the impact of implicit theories on learning (Burkley et al.,
2009; Chany et al., 2011; Dweck et al., 1995; Ommundsen, 2001; Stoeger, 2009;
Ziegler et al., 2013), Dutch students’ implicit theories of an intelligent person
were examined. The research of Aljughaiman et al. (2012) was followed in or-
der to detect what characteristics and talents Dutch students attribute to an
intelligent person.
There are differences between Germany and the Netherlands, but both
cultures are western and individualistic. Although the rating of ‘hardwork-
ing’ could differ – the Dutch consider the Germans as being more disciplined
(Paul, 2005) – not much difference in attributions between Dutch and Ger-
37
