Why is it called Gifted and Talented? (2023)

What is the meaning of gifted and talented?

Gifted children are born with above-average natural abilities. Talented children have developed their natural abilities to a high level. Children can be gifted and/or talented in many areas, including sport, art, music, intellectual ability and more.

Children and young people with one or more abilities developed to a level significantly ahead of their year group (or with the potential to develop those abilities). Most recently Ofsted has been using the term 'most able' instead of 'gifted and talented'.

Some schools still refer to high achievers as G&T, but the descriptor is no longer used by the DfE – and there is no official replacement term, nor a fixed percentage of pupils who are considered to be G&T. Many schools use the terms 'more able' or 'most able,' and Ofsted also uses these descriptors.

The term gifted children was first used in 1869 by Francis Galton. He referred to adults who demonstrated exceptional talent in some area as gifted, for example, a gifted chemist. Children could inherit the potential to become a gifted adult, and Galton referred to these children as gifted children.

“Gifted and talented children” means those persons between the ages of four and twenty-one whose abilities, talents, and potential for accomplishment are so exceptional or developmentally advanced that they require special provisions to meet their educational programing needs.

Mildly gifted: 115 to 130. Moderately gifted: 130 to 145. Highly gifted: 145 to 160. Profoundly gifted: 160 or higher.

If you have noticed that your child develops skills much quicker than children of a similar age or excels in a particular area, they may be regarded as 'gifted and talented'.

Although there are no standard IQ levels of intellectual giftedness, some experts suggest the following IQ ranges: Mildly gifted: 115 to 129. Moderately gifted: 130 to 144. ighly gifted: 145 to 159.

What is the difference between Gifted and Talented? Giftedness does not necessarily equate to talent. Giftedness is untrained natural abilities, whereas talents as specific skills are learned capabilities.

Is gifted higher than advanced?

Gifted learners are those students whose ability and achievement scores fall in the 90th to 99th percentile range on nationally normed tests, while advanced learners are those whose ability and achievement scores fall in the 80th to 89th percentile range.

Savants are individuals who perform exceptionally in a single field of learning. More often, the terms savant and savantism describe people with a competence level in a single field of learning well beyond what is considered normal, even among the gifted community.

By definition, people who are gifted have above-average intelligence and/or superior talent for something, such as music, art, or math. Most public-school programs for the gifted select children who have superior intellectual skills and academic aptitude.

The National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC) defines giftedness as “Gifted individuals are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains.

Technically, everyone is not gifted, but philosophically and metaphorically, everyone is a gift. Everyone is equally someone—someone who should not be neglected, or diminished, or overlooked, or relegated to a lesser life by any system of definitions.

The potential for giftedness or a high level of intellectual development begins very early in a child's life. Studies since the early 1970s consistently show that such development is the result of an interaction between the child's genetic endowment and a rich and appropriate environment in which the child grows.

Giftedness falls into one or more of the following areas: intellectual, academic, creative, artistic and leadership.

How can gifted and talented learners be identified?

If you think your child might be gifted, you can see an educational psychologist for an IQ test and a report on your child's advanced learning. This report is likely to focus mostly on academic learning but often includes notes about social and emotional gifts too.

While we like to think everyone is special, some people have extraordinary abilities — intellectual, artistic, social, or athletic. Many experts believe only 3 to 5 percent of the population is gifted, though some estimates reach 20 percent.

"What makes a child gifted and talented may not always be good grades in school, but a different way of looking at the world and learning." - Chuck Grassley.

The research shows that while children are born with the potential to be gifted, the environment and nurture plays an important role in developing those innate abilities. In fact, researchers estimate conservatively that environmental influences can add 20-40 points on measured intelligence.