Page 65 - 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. 65
Gifted Children’s Drawings and Significant Others’ Needs
can be identified as gifted. Mary was described as a curious girl, behaving like
a grown-up, stubborn, having slight peer contacts, yet enjoying company
with older people. She was attending lots of extracurricular activities such
as chess, folk dances, painting, two foreign languages, and advanced math-
ematics at a higher level than that of the first class grade. She was also pur-
suing adults’ manifest approval during social events such as anniversaries,
school celebrations etc. Mother also worried about Mary’s perfectionism at
school. Lately, she was experiencing some fears (of darkness, intense noise,
falling asleep alone in bed without the presence of her mother).
During the session, she often tried to impose her own terms on the pro-
cess. Mary painted her family hastily after the request of the psychologist,
with simplified figures, bold and unrealistic colours e.g., blue, yellow, orange,
grey hair. All family members are included in a house framework whose roof
resembles that of an orthodox church. Starting from the left side to the right,
there is the father the younger sister, Mary, the mother, the paternal grand-
mother and a grandmother’s (Grandma B) family friend. The presence of her
grandmother and her grandmother’s friend reveals the existence of an in-
tense link with the extended family and the importance of the older gen-
eration in family life; such an element may reveal a possible ‘disruptive’ ef-
fect of enmeshed relationships in which the family is exposed (Reynolds,
1978). Some noteworthy features of the drawing is the fact that all the fig-
ures are holding each other with hands that looks like continuous lines and
also the size of Grandma B which is greater than all other figures. The size
is mostly associated with the child’s personal perception of the importance
attributed to the various family members. The larger the size the more sig-
nificant effect or psychological importance (Klepsch & Logie, 1982; Reynolds,
1978).
Using the FDGRS, Mary’s family drawing, scored low on the dimension Vi-
tality/Creativity as it was considered to have poor emotional investment. The
figures look like scribbles (stick figures), designed in an automatic, repeti-
tive way. Dimension Sense of Pride/Happiness scored higher because of the
emotional closeness that prevails among members. Also despite the lack of
details in the background, the drawing depicts a united and happy family.
Mary’s drawing scored high on the five negative dimensions. Specifically, the
size of the figures, the immature design (stick figures), the enlarged hands
and soft body parts (hair), are some of the elements signifying emotions of
vulnerability and ambivalence (Fury et al., 1997). Similarly, previous authors
refer that simplified designs – stick figures – indicate possible defence mech-
anisms released against testing procedures, especially when the drawing is
63
can be identified as gifted. Mary was described as a curious girl, behaving like
a grown-up, stubborn, having slight peer contacts, yet enjoying company
with older people. She was attending lots of extracurricular activities such
as chess, folk dances, painting, two foreign languages, and advanced math-
ematics at a higher level than that of the first class grade. She was also pur-
suing adults’ manifest approval during social events such as anniversaries,
school celebrations etc. Mother also worried about Mary’s perfectionism at
school. Lately, she was experiencing some fears (of darkness, intense noise,
falling asleep alone in bed without the presence of her mother).
During the session, she often tried to impose her own terms on the pro-
cess. Mary painted her family hastily after the request of the psychologist,
with simplified figures, bold and unrealistic colours e.g., blue, yellow, orange,
grey hair. All family members are included in a house framework whose roof
resembles that of an orthodox church. Starting from the left side to the right,
there is the father the younger sister, Mary, the mother, the paternal grand-
mother and a grandmother’s (Grandma B) family friend. The presence of her
grandmother and her grandmother’s friend reveals the existence of an in-
tense link with the extended family and the importance of the older gen-
eration in family life; such an element may reveal a possible ‘disruptive’ ef-
fect of enmeshed relationships in which the family is exposed (Reynolds,
1978). Some noteworthy features of the drawing is the fact that all the fig-
ures are holding each other with hands that looks like continuous lines and
also the size of Grandma B which is greater than all other figures. The size
is mostly associated with the child’s personal perception of the importance
attributed to the various family members. The larger the size the more sig-
nificant effect or psychological importance (Klepsch & Logie, 1982; Reynolds,
1978).
Using the FDGRS, Mary’s family drawing, scored low on the dimension Vi-
tality/Creativity as it was considered to have poor emotional investment. The
figures look like scribbles (stick figures), designed in an automatic, repeti-
tive way. Dimension Sense of Pride/Happiness scored higher because of the
emotional closeness that prevails among members. Also despite the lack of
details in the background, the drawing depicts a united and happy family.
Mary’s drawing scored high on the five negative dimensions. Specifically, the
size of the figures, the immature design (stick figures), the enlarged hands
and soft body parts (hair), are some of the elements signifying emotions of
vulnerability and ambivalence (Fury et al., 1997). Similarly, previous authors
refer that simplified designs – stick figures – indicate possible defence mech-
anisms released against testing procedures, especially when the drawing is
63
