Educational Psychology Seminar- understanding the educational needs of exceptional children - gifted and slow learners

1. UNDERSTANDING THE
EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
OF EXCEPTIONAL
CHILDREN- GIFTED
AND SLOW LEARNERS

2. According to W. M. Cruichshank,
“ An exceptional child is he who
deviates physically, intellectually, and
socially so marked by from normal
growth and development that he cannot
be benefited from regular classroom
programme and needs special treatment
in school.”

3. CLASSIFICATION OF EXCEPTIONAL
CHILDREN
Intellectually Exceptional
 Gifted learners
 Slow learners
 Mentally handicapped
Physically Exceptional
 Blind and near blind
 Speech impaired
 Cerebral palsy
 Orthopedically handicapped
Socially Exceptional
 Juvenile Delinquent
 Problem children
Emotionally Exceptional
 Neurotics
 Psychotics

4. NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE OF CARE
OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
 Differ in their interests, motives and aims, which need
special facilities for their development
 Appropriate educational programmes to make them
independent
 Parents and teachers should develop desirable
attitudes to them and their problems
 Deaf, dumb and blind requires special school with
different curriculum and training
 If not studied properly, they may develop behavioral
problems
 Special education helps them to bring in maximum
development of potentials

5. GIFTED CHILDREN

6. DEFINITION
According to Havighurst,
“ The talented or gifted child
is the one who shows constantly
remarkable performance or
outstanding behavior in any
worthwhile endeavor.”

7. CHARACTERISTICS OF GIFTED
CHILDREN
According to Terman and Paul Witty, the characteristics
of gifted children are as follows:
 Keen power of observation and learn more rapidly
than average children
 Curiosity in questioning
 Rich common sense
 Think logically and coherently
 Show rapid physical and mental growth
 Good memory and power of retention
 Great ability to generalize
 Rich vocabulary and general knowledge
 Desire of getting excelled ahead of peers
 Enjoy reading dictionaries and encyclopedias

8.  Possess unusual ideas, strong urge to explore and
create
 Better planning capacity
 Ambitious, hardworking, self confident
 Can read higher class books
 Sometimes emotionally unstable
 Feel boredom in classroom
 May be popular and possess high moral qualities
 Humorous, cheerful, honest, dutiful and trust worthy
 Have friends of higher age
 Good physical health
 Quality of leadership and intermingle with others

9. NEGATIVE CHARACTERISTICS
OF GIFTED CHILDREN
 Restless, inattentive and disturbing
 Become lazy if they find school curriculum
unchallenging and withdraw themselves from
all the activities
 Indifferent to class work when not interested
 Outspoken, sensitive, egoistic, jealous
behavior
 Careless and poor in spellings and
handwriting

10. NEEDS OF GIFTED CHILDREN
Need for knowledge
Need for diversified interest
Need for self expression
Need for creativity

11. EDUCATION OF THE GIFTED
CHILDREN
Separate schools
Special classes
Grade acceleration
Enrichment program

12. GENERAL METHOD FOR TEACHING GIFTED
CHILDREN
Harold .W. Bernard suggest :
 Rather than positive reinforcement or praise,
challenge and criticism are effective to reinforce their
behavior.
 Repetition in teaching should be avoided.
 Should not explain each and every aspects.
 Provision to use library , lab etc.
 Difficult questions to challenge them.
 Independent study.

13. SLOW LEARNERS
OR BACKWARD

14. IDENTIFICATION OF BACKWARD CHILDREN
 Observation Method
 Mental Tests
 Achievement Tests
 Case Study
 Medical Examination

15. CAUSES OF BACKWARDNESS
 Home environment
 Physical defects
 Uninterested method of teaching, lack of proper
guidance, motivation etc.
 Low intelligence

16. PROBLEMS OF SLOW LEARNERS
 Adjustment problems in regular classes.
 Lack of motivation or reinforcement by teachers or
parents.
 Fear of failure and lack of confidence to initiate new
activities.
 Don’t find meaning in learning materials.
 Lack of interest and study habits.
 Not good relation with peers and teachers.

17. METHODS OF TEACHING SLOW LEARNERS
 Make them attend regular class and give more attention.
 Periodical medical examination to analyze physical
status.
 Special classes and minimize class size.
 Special schools
 Create healthy atmosphere in schools.
 Give consideration.

18. CONTD
 Should not assign heavy load of works.
 Use of A.V aids for illustration.
 Inform parents about the progress of their wards.
 No harsh treatment but immediate reinforcement.
 Should be taught with slow speech.
 Teachers should consult experts if need arise.
 Curriculum – according to their requirements.

19. REFERENCES
 R.A.Sharma.”Fundamentals of Educational
Psychology”.Vinay Rakheja Book Depot,2008.
 Mohan,Aruna G.”Educational Psychology”.Neelkamal
Publications,2007.
 Chatterjee,S.K,”Advanced Educational
Psychology.”Books and Allied Central Book
Agency,2000.