Parenting the Gifted Patricia Haensly, Ph.D
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Parenting the Gifted Patricia Haensly, Ph.D. The Ongoing Riddle of Which Nurture is Best for What Nature: Parents Promoting Gifted Potential att Ridley, an Oxford-trained zoologist and science writer whose latest book is Nature via Nurture: Genes, Experience, and What MMakes Us Human (2003a), wrote such an impressively clear and fascinating piece on “What Makes You Who You Are” that I decided to use it to introduce the continuing pursuit of “What do I do to best promote the gifted potential that I am seeing in my child?” While I don’t often suggest works that don’t have A Map Metaphor the imprimatur of publication in the pro f e s s i o n a l journals and books of our field, this piece by Ridley So, let’s play with the geneticists’ map metaphor, is not only interestingly presented, but informative which describes the places and routes available on our and visually clarifying re g a rding an issue that has individual journeys of life, and apply it to the real boggled scientific minds from Kant and Galton to time travels in which we often engage: Pa v l ov and Fre u d . “Hey, hon, this map indicates we need to take Summarizing his argument in a Time m a g a z i n e Hannegan Road over to Mt. Baker Highway, and a r ticle, Ridley (2003b) wrote, “Genes are not static then this should take us directly to Heather Meadows blueprints that dictate our destiny. How they are up to the heart of Mt. Baker, a nice straight shot of e x p r e s s e d — w h e re and when they are turned on or mountain driving. Remember, we said Mt. Baker is off and for how long—is affected by changes in the our travel goal this year.” w o m b , by the environment and by other factors” “Yes, but what if, instead, we take that little side ( p. 56). Note also that the title of Ridley’s book jaunt over to explore the neat old steam railroad does not use the comparison of nature ve r s u s n u r- engine at Sedro Wooley. I’m kind of interested in t u re, but via n u r t u re, a comparison that conve y s learning more about the history of railroads in succinctly the sense of his article and of my column Washington as it applies to the transportation engi- for this month. Ac c o rding to this view, it is not a neering that I’m involved in, and we could still make question of whether our childre n’s genes (nature ) good time up to the mountain top, our goal for will single-handedly determine their potential for today!” gifted development, but how the complex routes by “Or, better yet, let’s just go up to Horseshoe Bend which our efforts (nurt u re) and their fortuitous cir- and walk that terrific trail along the Nooksack River cumstances might work together to activate those past the falls. It’s such a beautiful hike, and the g e n e s . scenery makes me feel at one with nature; we can even 28 WINTER 2004 • VOL. 27, NO. 1 sit on the rocks and have our picnic These basic ecological ideas are central not Mt. Baker this time, but a medical lunch at that halfway point as we watch because they remind prospective teach- career, life as an astronaut, or becoming the river tumbling by. Maybe we won’t ers that there are a multitude of environ- a child care specialist? Are there some even want to go on up the mountain mental factors and rich interactions side routes (as in exploring Nooksook today.” between factors that they (as do you) Falls or the steam engine) where our And so the conversation goes, prob- need to consistently think of as unend- children might experience different, but ably similar to ones you’ve had on one of ing possibilities for switching on a hid- relevant adventures? Would some of the your travel days. den talent, supporting an existing one, side routes intriguingly reveal or lead to I recall the adve n t u res my husband or even redirecting a natural ability no critical discoveries about things most and I had after one of the World Gi f t e d matter what esoteric nature it might rep- i m p o rtant to our children for their C o n f e renc es in Amsterdam, when many resent. future, as in horse camp this summer, a of the conference attendees decided Subotnik, Ol s zew s k i - Kubilius, and shadowing experience with a scientist, or they must make diligent use of their Arnold (2003) described Bro n f e n b re n n e r’s even a summer of great daydreaming at time in Eu rope after the conference by system of hierarchical levels or spheres of a summer cottage? Does it really matter whizzing through all of seven or eight our environment from the microsystem of whether we reach that original destina- d i f f e ren t countries in the we e k’s time child and parent, to the mesosystem of tion we thought so attractive from the they had allotted. We instead decided to family and school and immediate commu- tour books, if in fact we find something meander through Holland for two n i t y, to the macrosystem of cultural and else more compelling as we ve n t u re weeks since that’s where we we re and even global options. Further, we are along our way? pause as different places suggested reminded that all this is affected by a We may find through these adven- w o r thwhile exploring. We felt re i n v i g o- c h ronosystem in which we live. For exam- tures that a child has an acute intensity rated rather than exhausted, eve n ple, just think about how most of us don’t and sense of observation of insects, along though we only cove red the nort h we s t compute mathematical problems with an with artistic ability focused on animals, quadrant of Holland, such a minimal abacus as once was done, or as was later which can lead him or her to become an p a r t of the Eu ropean continent. So, too, done with a slide rule, or even with incredible biologist/naturalist/illustrator we will need to think about not only mechanical calculators; instead, can now or even give joy for the moment. As my which re s o u rce s to make available for re s o rt to a tiny handheld computer for 5-year-old granddaughter said in thank- our extraordinarily developing childre n , instant verification. Lerner, on the other ing me for a dragonfly book, “I like it but also the rate at which we supply or hand, reminds us that we as parents are because I like bugs.” How many of us have laid out our travel map with preci- insist that the re s o u rces be used. also affected by our environment, which sion and perhaps even made reservations Use this map and trave l i n g leads to a re c i p rocal, dynamic pro c e s s ahead for the stops we will make for metaphor to think about the extraordi- b e t ween the factors that shaped us and exploration, discovery, recreation, and nary development we envision for our those that are shaping our children. We revitalization, that is, just plain laundry children and how we might creatively can then see this re c i p rocal process in the and food gathering, and then found that and sensibly help attract ordinary and way in which an educated and economi- serendipitous resources were guiding the extraordinary pieces of environment to cally stable family can afford special pro- journey more effectively than we had the development of that potential. grams for their children or in how envisioned? Or, in the case of a child’s Useful to your thinking at this point homeless families who must focus on sur- development, that available options may would be information on the ecological v i val rather than enrichment might have to be guiding our child to an unplanned, theories of Bronfenbrenner and Lerner withhold those re s o u rces for their chil- fortuitous type and level of talent devel- regarding how we might envision the d re n’s emerging talents. opment? host of environments and their convo- Returning to our traveling map luting interactions that our children will metaphor, the questions we ask of our encounter. A description of these critical map are numerous, and we begin to see Wise Planning e n v i ronmental factors and how to their relevance for how we might man- of Specific Resources enhance or impede talent development age or manipulate the journey of our and Diverse Possibilities is clearly presented by Su b o t n i k , children through life. What is the most Ol s z ew s k i - Kubilius, and Arnold in direct route to get to the specific desti- Howe ve r, in applying this metaphor Rethinking Gifted Education ( 2 0 0 3 ) . nation we or they think so desirable— to the journey for our childre n’s lives, we GIFTED CHILD TODAY 29 Which Nurture is Best for What Nature may need to re s o rt to a modicum of use of whatever environment we could f o rtuitously by the environment into d reaming to realign our thinking about p rov i d e .