slow learners and gifted students in science learning-problems and possibilities

         SLOW LEARNERS AND GIFTED STUDENTS IN SCIENCE LEARNING :

                                               PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES

                                                                  

                                                                                                                                             Reshma Varghese                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              reshmavarghesegpullely@gmail.com                  

  

 A gifted child is one who shows consistently remarkable  performance in any worthwhile line of endeavor.  Such an individual exhibits superiority in general intelligence or posses special abilities of a high order.

      According to witty ,the term gifted or talented stands for those whose performance is consistently remarkable in some potentially valuable activity.some psychologists have defined gftedness on the basis of intelligence quotient.quotient. Terman set IQ 140 as the lower limit of giftedness. But.But a gifted child need not necessarily possess a very high IQ.

NEEDS AND PROBLEMS OF GIFTED CHILDREN

  (A) NEEDS OF GIFTED CHILDREN

In addition to the basic psychological needs like the need for security ,need for love need for belonging and t   the need to be accepted as an individual,the gifted child may have the following special needs:

(a) The need for knowledge and understanding.

(b) The need for creativity and ingenuity.

(c)The need for the development of his exceptional abilities .

(d)the need for self actualisation or self expression.

  (B) PROBLEMS OF GIFTED CHILDREN

The following are important problems  faced by gifted child:

1.Problems arising from the frustration of special needs.

The gifted child needs a proper environment for his development.He wants to be understood carefully in response to his different needs and abilities.If he isnot attended properly he may develop behavioural problemswhich may cause harm to the individual and to the society.when he feels difficulty in the accomplishment of special needs he become disturbed mentaly as welllas emotionally.This brings a sort of maladjustment and he is turned into a problem child.

2 .Problems arising from the lack of   understanding.

Gifted child is exceptionally curious and has athirst for knowledge,he is in thehabit of asking the truth searching questions.the parents and teachers who do not understand the necessity of his urges ,usually snub him.which leads to insecure and rejected feeling to child.

3.Problems arising from undue attention and appreciation.

In case the gifted child gets undue attention and appreciation,he become too much conscious of his superiority and develops a hostile and aristocratic attitude,and he becomes self opinionated.which leads to problems with the fellow students.He does not get recognition from his fellow students,they do not accept his superiority and started to reject him.this makes a sort of social rejection .This makes him perturbed andhe is turned into a withdrawn type of personality,or become aggressive or hostile.

4.Problems arising from non challenging class work.

The clalssroom work is planned for average chld,and it gives to no challenge for the gifted child.therefore ,these children get bored with the routine work of the classroom.as aresult he becomesrestless,careless,inattentive and idle.The curriculum faails to challenge themand they may resort to easy success tactics.He is very quick to comprehend regular class work and has ,therefore alot of time at his disposal.

EDUCATION OF GIFTED CHILDREN

Gifted children are gifted for life.they start out gifted and end up gifted.As a result ,they have similar academic needs throughout their school years.Yhe folllowing are the different administrative provisions for the education of gifted children.

1.Seperate school

Seperate schools with adequate facilities should be provided for the gifted children  in developing their specificabilities and potentialities.service of specially trained and qualified teachers should also be made available for their guidance.But such separation is often criticized and labelled as undemocratic.The students educated in these schools develop an aristocratic attitude that might widen when the gulf between the privilaged and unprivilaged.

2.Ability grouping

 Ability grouping is the placement of children in one classroom into groups based on their ability. The classroom may contain children with a wide range of ability. Children can move in and out of groups as needed. For example, a child may be in the high ability group in reading, but a middle level in math. If the child improves in math, he could be moved up to the high ability in math. In the same way, if the child begins to have problems in reading, he could be moved to a lower group. This flexibility of grouping allows the needs of children to be better met. Ability grouping is not the same as tracking, heterogeneous grouping, or cluster grouping.

3.Acceleration or double promotion

Acceleration refers to speeding up of instruction.gifted childrens are fast learners and require litile repetition of information.

 Strategies for differentiating instruction for gifted students generally fall into two categories: enrichment and acceleration. Enrichment refers to the presentation of curriculum content with more depth, breadth, complexity, or abstractness than the general curriculum. Acceleration refers to the practice of presenting curriculum content earlier or at a faster pace.

 Benefits of acceleration:

1. When gifted students were accelerated, there was an increase in their academic achievement.

Accelerated students tended to outperform students of the same age and ability who are not accelerated.

 2. accelerated students achieved as well as equally  gifted older students in the higher grades.

3. Accelerated gifted students reported satisfaction emotionally and academically when the curriculum was challenging, provided them with options, and allowed for their input in the design and implementation.

 

4. When course instruction and content was tailored to the individual gifted student’s ability, acceleration was more fulfilling for the student.

4. Enrichment programmes

Enrichment refers to the increased deapth of study of particular topic. On the primary school level, students spend all class time with their peers, but receive extra material to challenge them. Enrichment may be as simple as a modified assignmen provided by the regular classroom teacher, or it might include formal programs such as Odyssey of the Mind, Destination Imagination or academic competitions such as Brain Bowl, Future Problem Solving, Science Olympiad, National History Day, science fairs, or spelling bees.

               Programmes of enrichment activities may also be organised outside the school day (e.g. the ASCEND project in secondary science education). This work is done in addition to, and not instead of, any regular school work assigned. Critics of this approach argue that it requires gifted students to do more work instead of the same amount at an advanced level. On the secondary school level sometimes an option is to take more courses like English, Spanish, Latin, Philosophy, Science, etc., or to engage in extra curricular activities.

5.Tripple track plan

Triple Track Plan which introduces elasticity in the classification of the students is very popular in American Schools. According to this scheme the authorities prescribe a uniform syllabus for all. Average children cover it within the normal period, the dull in a large period and the gifted in a shorter period in comparison to average children.

6.Summer schools

These schools may be planned during summer vacations. These schools are being successfully tried in the U.S.A. Academically talented students are selected from different parts of the country on the basis of psychological, tests, interview and previous school record and are brought together for a special educational programme. The programme is intended to be very challenging and is planned under the expert guidance of a band of talented teachers.The students are provided with the best available books which they may consult for writing their project reports and for holding discussion class.

Usually three areas- science including mathematics, social studies and literature-are covered. After the programme is over, the students return to their regular schools. Students attend summer schools so long as they do not complete their final school leaving examination. Such a scheme may also be planned in our countries.

 SLOW LEARNERS

“A slow learner is a child who is unable to cope with the work normally expected of his age”.

                                                                                Burt

  A state of being below the normally accepted level in learning of things is called backwardness. It is not abnormal which implies the worst level. On the other hand, it is a retrograde measure from the marked level of learning. Such backwardness in a child in most of the contexts make the child feel secluded. Whatever may be the reason for this, the teacher at school as well as the parents at home are expected to know much about children to pay more attention on the issues with the children.

Causes of Backwardness

It is not even possible to recount all the various causes of backwardness, but the main causes are the following:

Ø  Physical Causes

Due to many physical defects and abnormalities, the child lags behind other average children. Such physical conditions would be weakness of the eyes, deafness or being hard of hearing, stuttering, being weak or crippled,etc this also has an adverse effect upon his social adjustment.

Ø  Educational Immaturity

Physical and mental short commands in the child result in educational immaturity. Putting it differently, he has no adequate maturity to grasp the teachings is customary for his age leave.

Ø  Mental Defect

It has been indicated earlier that the backward child has a very low intelligence quotient as compared with that of an average child. Having a low intelligence, his other mental characteristics and abilities also do not compare favorably with the average child.

Ø  Emotional Factors

The child's social adjustment is defeated by his mental and physical abnormalities, and he meets with successive failures. He meets with criticism on every account.

Hence it is natural for him to manifest anxiety tension, depression and there emotional factors Sometimes though every other defect is absent; the child is backward in his class for no better reason than these psychological or emotional factors.

Ø  Atmosphere in  Home

One reason of backwardness can also be the atmosphere in the home. Proper development of the child cannot occur in a virulent family atmosphere. Hence, he falls behind children of his age group. And among the factors that contribute to the defective atmosphere in the home are constant quarrelling and fighting between parents and children, unbalanced diet, peace and calm, poverty, etc.

Ø  Lack of Interest

Sometimes, even though the child is free from all the defects and shortcomings mentioned above and even those that have not been mentioned, he falls behind the rest of the class for the simple reason that he cannot stir any interest in the various subjects being taught this causes repeated failure.

Ø  Factors Concerning the Schools

The school can be a variable storehouse of factors that inhibit the child's development such as inadequate method of teaching, uneducated teachers.

Undesirable atmosphere, inadequate curriculum, defective time table, disgusting relations between students and teachers etc all these causes conspire to make even the average child look backward.

Characteristics of slow learners

In general, slow learning students may exhibit some or all of these characteristics,

depending on their age and degree of problems acquiring knowledge at school.

Ø  First, slow learners are recurrently immature in their relations with others and do poorly in school.

Ø  Secondly, they cannot do multifaceted or complex problems and work very slowly.

Ø  They lose track of time and cannot convey what they have learned from one

               task to another well.

Ø  They do not easily master skills that are academic in nature, such as the times tables or spelling rules.

Ø  Perhaps the most exasperating trait is their inability to have long-term goals.

Ø  They live in the present, and so have considerable problems with time management perhaps due to a short attention span and poor concentration skills.

Identification of slow leaner in  class

Early diagnosis of slow learner child is very necessary between the ages of 2 to 6 years. How teacher or parents could identify, that the child is slow learner, with a careful observation they could easily identified signs of slow learner, 

1.Speech defect

2.  Language development problem (broken sentences)

3. Assessments the level of vocabulary (vocabulary limited)

4. verbal abilities

5. Short sentences, grammatically incorrect

6. Child Behaviour

7. Spelling Mistake8. Interaction with other children

9. Class room Discussion

10. Reading problem

11. Interest

12. Slow response / decision making

REMEDIAL TEACHING FOR SLOW    LEARNERS

Remedial teaching is identifying slow learners and giving them the necessary guidance to help them overcome their problems, after identifying their areas of difficulty. Contrary to what is said, remedial teaching is done perfunctorily without identifying their areas of difficulty and underlying cause for lagging behind. Some students are unsympathetically branded as `block heads' without an earnest attempt to know the real cause of their slow learning.

Role of the teacher in helping Slow Learners with special needs:

1.      Data Collection:

Maximum information about such children should be secured and their interests should be discovered.

2.      Special Classes:

Special classes for slow-learning children. 

3.      Partial Segregation:

It has been stated, “The children should be included in the total school set-up, regularly participating in assembly programmes, organized play, and other activities enjoyed by all children. “ The problems should be clearly explained.

4.      Short Assignments:

Assignments given to the students should be broken up into short and simple units.

5.      Drill Work:

Sufficient drill work should be done.

6.      Summarises:

Frequent summaries of the important points of discussion should be used.

7.      Praise:

Pupils should be praised occasionally when they have done their assignments well.

8.      Proper Evaluation:

Good set of tools should be provided for proper evaluation.

9.      Close Supervision:

Supervision should be very close.

10.  Audio-Visual Aids:

Auditory and visual aids facilitate learning among slow learners. 

11.  Opportunities for Creative Expression:

Opportunities should be provided to slow-learning children for expression of creativeness with their hands.

12.  Diagnostic Tests:

Diagnostic tests should be used in working with slow-learning children.

13.  Curricula According to Interests:

Courses and curricula should be selected by the students on the basis of aptitude, interest and need with the help of their counselors.

14.  Vocational Programmes:

Vocational programmes should not be forced upon slow-learners as such children do not always have the necessary  aptitude to acquire vocational skill.

15 . Equality of Opportunity in Recreational Programmes:

            Recreational programme athletics, music, art, dramatics, etc., should be opened to all on an equal basis.

16. Remedial Teaching:

Remedial teachers may be appointed who meet such students twice a week.

17. Cooperation of All Agencies:

            All agencies engaged in the children’s welfare work should co-operate to help and guide slow learners.

Educational programmes for Slow Learners:

1. Remedial Instruction
2. Healthy Environment
3. Periodical Medical Check-up
4. Non-Promotion
5. Motivation
6. Individual Attention
7. Special Methods of teaching
8. Home Visits by the teachers
9. Maintenance of Progress Record

Conclusion:

            Attempts have been made to chalk out the remedial measures and some guidelines for the teachers. But problems are not easy to surmount. A Teacher may be the first diagnostician rather than an instructor. But educational psychologists, social workers and state authorities should take interest in discovering and rectifying the causes of slow learning.

Reference:

Ø  Special Education of Backward Children

            www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Ø  School Education - Teacher Education

            www.teindia.nic.in/Files/Reports

Ø  DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT OF SLOW LEARNING ... www.scribd.com/doc/25376434/Characteristics-of-Slow-Learners

Ø  Wikipedia

Ø  Psychological base of education/exceptional children

QUESTIONS

1.As a teacher what are the strategies to guide a gifted student in your classroom?

2.which are the methods adopted to identify  slow learners?

3.write a essay about the problems and possibilties of gifted students?