Page 59 - 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. 59
Gifted Children’s Drawings and Significant Others’ Needs
Table 1 The List of Dimensions and Their Description of the Family Drawing Global Rating
Scale FDGRS
Scale Description
Vitality/Creativity Emotional investment – embellishment, use of details and creativity. It
reflects the existence (or non) of emotional closeness between family
members
Family Sense that the child feels a member of the family group that is sup-
Pride/Happiness ported by its members, that he/she feels happy in it. This dimension
seeks to capture the overall sense of belonging and pride in the family
that the child feels.
Vulnerability Sense of vulnerability, uncertainty and emotional ambivalence between
mother and child. It is reflected in the size of the figures, the position of
the figures in the drawing and the excess parts of the body/facial prox-
imity likeness, chaotic or confusing background.
Emotional dis- Emotional distance and feelings of loneliness that is reflected through
tance/Isolation covert expressions of anger, negative or neutral interaction, distance
between child and mother. Figures of the child himself/herself or
mother’s figure may be missing.
Intensity/Anger Anger and tension implied by crowded or overlapping figures look-
ing like scribbles, poor in colours and details. Errors in start-ups and
smudges.
Role reversal Suggestions of role reversal, inferred from relation of size or roles of
drawing figures.
Bizarreness/ Underlying disorganization expressed by unusual signs, symbols, fan-
Disorganization tasy, themes.
General Overall degree of negativity reflected in global organization, complete-
pathology ness of figures, and use of colour, details, affect and background to the
scene.
Notes As referred by Fury et al. (1997).
Purpose of this Study
Despite that international literature offers a significant number of studies ex-
amining the dynamics of gifted children families, there are no such results
about the Greek gifted and talented children; therefore, the purpose of this
study that is conducted in the Athens University’s Laboratory for Creativity
Development is an effort to fill this gap. The study consists of two parts: The
first part seeks to outline characteristics of families of children nominated as
gifted – either by their teachers or by their own parents or in cases that they
were identified by specific psychodiagnostic services set out of school sys-
tem. The second and main part includes four case studies of children with an
emphasis on the analysis of their ‘Family’ and ‘Class’ Drawings. The extent to
which the high ability children’s drawings could be a useful ‘tool’ in the hands
57
Table 1 The List of Dimensions and Their Description of the Family Drawing Global Rating
Scale FDGRS
Scale Description
Vitality/Creativity Emotional investment – embellishment, use of details and creativity. It
reflects the existence (or non) of emotional closeness between family
members
Family Sense that the child feels a member of the family group that is sup-
Pride/Happiness ported by its members, that he/she feels happy in it. This dimension
seeks to capture the overall sense of belonging and pride in the family
that the child feels.
Vulnerability Sense of vulnerability, uncertainty and emotional ambivalence between
mother and child. It is reflected in the size of the figures, the position of
the figures in the drawing and the excess parts of the body/facial prox-
imity likeness, chaotic or confusing background.
Emotional dis- Emotional distance and feelings of loneliness that is reflected through
tance/Isolation covert expressions of anger, negative or neutral interaction, distance
between child and mother. Figures of the child himself/herself or
mother’s figure may be missing.
Intensity/Anger Anger and tension implied by crowded or overlapping figures look-
ing like scribbles, poor in colours and details. Errors in start-ups and
smudges.
Role reversal Suggestions of role reversal, inferred from relation of size or roles of
drawing figures.
Bizarreness/ Underlying disorganization expressed by unusual signs, symbols, fan-
Disorganization tasy, themes.
General Overall degree of negativity reflected in global organization, complete-
pathology ness of figures, and use of colour, details, affect and background to the
scene.
Notes As referred by Fury et al. (1997).
Purpose of this Study
Despite that international literature offers a significant number of studies ex-
amining the dynamics of gifted children families, there are no such results
about the Greek gifted and talented children; therefore, the purpose of this
study that is conducted in the Athens University’s Laboratory for Creativity
Development is an effort to fill this gap. The study consists of two parts: The
first part seeks to outline characteristics of families of children nominated as
gifted – either by their teachers or by their own parents or in cases that they
were identified by specific psychodiagnostic services set out of school sys-
tem. The second and main part includes four case studies of children with an
emphasis on the analysis of their ‘Family’ and ‘Class’ Drawings. The extent to
which the high ability children’s drawings could be a useful ‘tool’ in the hands
57
