However, I do believe that we often have the wrong people assessing students for giftedness in specific subjects, and I believe that when it comes to recognizing early giftedness in specific areas, we need to find a way to bring subject masters into the process--not master educators necessarily, but people who understand the subject with the kind of depth that allows them to recognize brilliance even where there are "gaps". I believe that it takes someone with enough understanding of the subject to really get at the depth of a student's thinking, especially since that thinking is likely to be somewhere outside of the box. I'm not sure how that would work in practice, but I am not impressed with our current assessment methods and think that most educators are better equipped/trained to recognize bright high achievers than they are to recognize gifted learners.
I, too, want to apologize if my earlier comment about the level of MEd candidates in the grad school I attended was offensive. Maybe it was a slow bunch
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I totally agree with the above comment, on another topic. I've generally found that this is where high intelligence in teachers is relevant. Yes, I've seen some very good teachers who are not likely well, well above average in terms of intelligence. It doesn't take genius to understand elementary school subjects, as you said, and someone of average intelligence should be able to understand with enough depth at least elementary work to be able to teach it. Having a knack for teaching and an average IQ is probably better for most kids in terms of a teacher than a brilliant person who doesn't have a real touch for teaching.
However, when dealing with gifted kids, having a very intelligent teacher increases the odds of the child being more accurately ided and understood, at least from what I've seen. Perhaps those who are seeking MEds in gifted education ought to be held to a higher standard in terms of grad school admission so they can truly understand their future students. I, too, have seen artistry overlooked in favor of technicians when the average teacher is trying to determine who is gifted or who is really good at a subject.
