Page 55 - 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. 55
Gifted Children’s Drawings and Significant
Others’ Needs
Aikaterini D. Gari
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
agari@psych.uoa.gr
Athina Papakonstantinou
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
ath.la.papak@gmail.com
Ioanna Mandaliou
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
joannamandal@windowslive.com
Vassiliki Nikolopoulou
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
vndd@hotmail.com
Theodoros Kokkinos
University of Thessaly, Greece
theokokkinos@yahoo.gr
The first purpose of this study is to expand previous research on children’s
drawings to the specific case of children with high learning abilities. A sec-
ond aim is to look into the features and needs of the gifted students families
in Greece. A main result is that gifted children’s parents are primarily worried
about finding age-appropriate activities to address their children’s desire for
knowledge and emotional needs. Family and class drawings can be utilized as
an additional source of information available for teachers and psychologists
to assess emotional needs of the gifted children and their families, taking into
account all the relevant limitations.
Keywords: high abilities children, gifted children, parents’ worries, family draw-
ings, class drawings, drawings coding systems, qualitative analysis
Introduction
The definition of giftedness is often an issue located in the centre of a heated
debate. Many different interpretations and models have been proposed, the
majority of which suggests that cognitive abilities – either as general intel-
lectual ability or as specific skills or talents – are necessary but not always suf-
ficient condition for intellectual high-ability indication (Subotnik, Olszewski-
Kubilius, & Worrell, 2012). According to the later form of the Renzulli’s model,
giftedness is constituted by the high mental abilities, high creativity and
53
Others’ Needs
Aikaterini D. Gari
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
agari@psych.uoa.gr
Athina Papakonstantinou
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
ath.la.papak@gmail.com
Ioanna Mandaliou
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
joannamandal@windowslive.com
Vassiliki Nikolopoulou
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
vndd@hotmail.com
Theodoros Kokkinos
University of Thessaly, Greece
theokokkinos@yahoo.gr
The first purpose of this study is to expand previous research on children’s
drawings to the specific case of children with high learning abilities. A sec-
ond aim is to look into the features and needs of the gifted students families
in Greece. A main result is that gifted children’s parents are primarily worried
about finding age-appropriate activities to address their children’s desire for
knowledge and emotional needs. Family and class drawings can be utilized as
an additional source of information available for teachers and psychologists
to assess emotional needs of the gifted children and their families, taking into
account all the relevant limitations.
Keywords: high abilities children, gifted children, parents’ worries, family draw-
ings, class drawings, drawings coding systems, qualitative analysis
Introduction
The definition of giftedness is often an issue located in the centre of a heated
debate. Many different interpretations and models have been proposed, the
majority of which suggests that cognitive abilities – either as general intel-
lectual ability or as specific skills or talents – are necessary but not always suf-
ficient condition for intellectual high-ability indication (Subotnik, Olszewski-
Kubilius, & Worrell, 2012). According to the later form of the Renzulli’s model,
giftedness is constituted by the high mental abilities, high creativity and
53
