Identifying Gifted Urban Australian Aboriginal Children: An Investigation of Cultural Conceptions, and Culturally Relevant Attributes, of Giftedness

Abstract

This study sought to investigate tile conceptions of giftedness held by urban Aboriginal people and to identify behaviours seen by them to be indicative of giftedness. It was anticipated that such knowledge would better inform procedures used to identify gifted urban Aboriginal students by raising educators' awareness of these culturally based perceptions and the implications these perceptions have for the identification process. Frasier's (1992b) research involving the investigation and identification of giftedness in six minority culture groups in the United States served as a basic design model for the research of the thesis. Ten core attributes of giftedness, identified by Frasier, were used to categorise data collected through Aboriginal parent interviews and a state-wide Aboriginal teacher questionnaire. The major findings of the study were: The urban Aboriginal people in this research appeared to hold a multi-faceted conception of giftedness. All of Frasier's (1992b) ten core attributes were described to some extent as indicators of giftedness in both data gathering activities.