“If You Talk, You Are Just Talking. If I Talk, Is That Bragging?”
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“If you talk, you are just talking. If I talk, is that bragging?” PERSPECTIVES OF PARENTS WITH YOUNG GIFTED CHILDREN IN NEW ZEALAND A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education in the University of Canterbury by Lakshmi Chellapan University of Canterbury 2012 Table of Contents Dedication ..................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgement ......................................................................................................................... vi Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ vii Glossary .......................................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Context of the study ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1. Malaysian Gifted Curriculum (PERMATA PINTAR) ............................................................ 2 1.1.2 Overview of Malaysian Early Childhood Education (PERMATA PINTAR) .......................... 2 1.1.3. Who can participate in this camp? ..................................................................................... 4 1.1.4. Researcher’s Concern ......................................................................................................... 5 1.2. Purpose of the study .................................................................................................................... 5 1.3. Justification of the study ............................................................................................................ 10 1.4. The Research questions .............................................................................................................. 13 1.5. The organization of this thesis ................................................................................................... 17 1.6. Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................ 19 2.0. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 19 2.1 What Giftedness means? ........................................................................................................... 21 2.2. Overview of the previous studies on parenting gifted children ................................................ 23 2.3. New Zealand Context ................................................................................................................. 28 2.3.1. Gifted Education in New Zealand ..............................................................................…...30 2.3.2. New Zealand research on families of gifted children…….………………………………………………32 2.4. International Literature on families of gifted children .............................................................. 38 2.4.1. Cognitive characteristics of gifted children….…………………….…………………………………………39 2.4.2. Social and emotional issues of gifted children……….…….…………………………….…………………42 2.4.3. Understanding of gifted children behaviour...…….………………………………………………………..44 2.4.4 Gifted labeling ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…....46 2.5. Parents’ concerns with parenting gifted children ...................................................................... 48 2.5.1 Parents’ beliefs and practices ………....……………………………………………………………………………….52 2.6. Education……………………………………………………………..……………………………………………………………….56 2.6.1. Teachers’ and Parents’ Perspectives...…………………………………………..………….………..……………60 2.6.2 Parents’ Expectations of Teachers and School……………………………………………………………….….65 2.7. Parents Internal and External Barriers …………………………………………………………………….……………69 2.8. Conclusions ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………72 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................. 74 3.0. Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….74 3.1. Current Research Paradigm ……………………………………..…………………………………………………………..76 3.1.1. Qualitative Research ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….77 3.1.2. Theoretical Perspectives …………………………………………..…………………………………………………….78 3.1.3. Rigour in qualitative research ………………………………………………….……………………………………. 81 3.1.4. Research Design ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….… 86 3.1.5. Research Method ………………………………………………………………….………………………………….…….91 i 3.2. The Settings ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………..93 3.2.1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………93 3.2.2. Sample ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………93 3.3. Data Collection …………………………………………..…………..…………………………………………..……………… 96 3.3.1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..96 3.3.2. Methods .………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………96 3.3.3. Semi‐structured Interview …………………………………………………………………………….……………….97 3.4.3. Document Analysis ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….102 3.5. Data Analysis ……………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………….103 3.5.1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………..103 3.5.2. Overview of data analysis …………………………………………………………………………………………….103 3.5.3. Analysis Process ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 104 3.5.4. Document Analysis …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 109 3.6 Ethical considerations ………………………………………………………………..………………………………………..110 3.6.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………110 3.6.2. Explaining the purpose of the research ……………………………………………………………………….110 3.6.3. Privacy, anonymity and confidentiality ………………………………………………………………………..112 3.7. Methodological Limitations ………..…………………………………………………………………………………….. 112 3.8. Summary …………………………..………………………………………………………………………………………………. 113 CHAPTER FOUR: DISCOVERY OF GIFTEDNESS............................................................................... 115 4.0. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 115 4.1. Introduction of families of the gifted children ........................................................................ 116 4.1.1 Janet and Edward ...................................................................................................... 117 4.1.2 Kate and Lou………………………………………………………………………………………………………....117 4.1.3 Sandy and Roger…………………………………..……………………………………………………………….118 4.1.4 Lily and Gary…………………………….……………………………………………………..…………….………118 4.2 Parents’ concern before and after the discovery of giftedness ................................................ 119 4.2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 119 4.2.2 Dilemma before the discovery‐ Parents’ perspectives .............................................. 119 4.2.3 After the Discovery‐ “Should I get excited, or worried?” .......................................... 128 4.2.3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 128 4.2.3.2 Parents’ real life experience .............................................................................. 128 4.3 Outcomes after discovery ......................................................................................................... 131 4.3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 131 4.3.2 Excited and Relieved ................................................................................................. 131 4.3.3 Confusion .................................................................................................................. 133 4.3.4 Frustration, Fear and Anxiety .................................................................................... 134 4.4 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 136 CHAPTER FIVE: THE JOURNEY OF PARENTING A YOUNG INTELLECTUALLY GIFTED CHILD .............. 137 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 137 5.1.1 My child is gifted ............................................................................................................ 138 5.1.2 Commonality: Providing support for the gifted ............................................................. 140 5.1.3 My Child is not gifted one day, but every day ............................................................... 145 5.1.4 Parents’ perspectives towards child’s learning .............................................................. 146 5.1.5 Parents’ perspectives towards their own learning ........................................................ 150 ii 5.1.6 Parents’ perspectives as an advocate ............................................................................ 152 5.2 Living with gifted ........................................................................................................................