Self-Concepts Of Gifted Children Grades Five Through Nine

Abstract

As our society changes, the need for persons who have the intelligence and abilities to meet the requirements of the ever-expanding world in which we live increases. It is with this need in mind that gifted children have become a major focal point of education today. To ensure the educational opportunities for gifted students, schools have developed special classes to challenge these bright children and enhance their intellectual fluency. The push for academic excellence is great. In an attempt to heighten these gifted children's abilities, it has become evident that their self-concept is a vital factor in their ability to reach their potential (Lundy, 45:8). While many experts have studied this topic, no unified conclusion has been established as to what extent gifted children's self-concepts are effected by the fact that they are intellectually superior. The numerous opinions on this subject are greatly varied. This study attempted to disclose an answer to this problem, through the comparison of the self-concepts of gifted children to the selfconcepts of "average" children. In doing so, new informa­tion was discovered about how giftedness effects the children's self-concept. Teachers as well as parents must concern themselves with gifted children's affective as well as cognitive well-being. "The psychological needs of the gifted must be more adequately understood and more satisfactorily managed if the potentials inherent in the individuals are to be fully realized." (Lundy, 95:5).