Who is a gifted child?

 

Everyone is naturally endowed. God is the giver of all children and there is no child without a talent or gift. Both formal and informal environments are responsible for success or failure of any child. Nigeria has a lot of gifted individuals.

A gifted child is naturally endowed with above average intelligence or exceptional ability in a specific sphere of skill or knowledge.  In some states or countries, definition of giftedness has to do with Intelligence Quotient (IQ) of 130 and above.  Some schools or professionals use multiple measures of giftedness and assess a wide variety of talents, including verbal, mathematical, spatial-visual, musical, and interpersonal abilities to determine who a gifted child is.

A child is gifted if he/she is excelling in more than one subject in educational setting. Peers or relatives of this child may give him/her names such as “allrounder”, “efiko”, “omowe”, “igi iwe”, and/or “over-syllabus”.

Gifted children are inexhaustible resources. Their contributions to the society will bring about development if they are identified, nurtured and encouraged. It is the duty of every citizen to put in place measures that will enable gifted children to positively influence our environment and showcase us to the global system.

Try to discover your area of giftedness, thrive to develop it and influence your community. If all of us use our natural traits as expected, we shall sing melodious songs and dance in joy.

 

© Dele Odedele

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: A WAY FORWARD FOR NIGERIA

 

There are persons with special needs in every community in Nigeria. Regular schools have been playing roles of educating learners from basic classes to tertiary levels. Teachers and administrative structures of these schools are doing their best to make sure that education sector in this part of the world remains the best. As professionals are contributing their skills and knowledge, government and private individuals are making efforts to improve this most important unit of the society.

Inclusive education means that all pupils/students attend and are welcomed by their neighbourhood schools in age-appropriate, regular classes and are supported to learn, contribute and participate in all aspects of the life of the school. It is about how we develop and design our schools, classrooms, programmes and activities so that all pupils/students learn and participate together. This ensures access to quality education for all learners by effectively meeting their diverse needs in a way that is responsive, accepting, respectful and supportive. Learners participate in the education programme in a common learning environment with support to diminish and remove barriers and obstacles that may lead to exclusion. Inclusion is about how we develop and design our schools, classrooms, programmes and activities so that all persons can learn and participate together.

Inclusive setting is about ensuring access to quality education for all learners by effectively meeting their diverse needs in a way that is responsive, accepting, respectful and supportive. Students participate in the education programme in a common learning environment with support to diminish and remove barriers and obstacles that may lead to exclusion. Regular classroom is meant for regular learners while inclusion is integration of persons with special needs in the classroom. All children can learn together and relate as brothers and sisters (citizens).

To move Nigeria to a greater level, inclusive education is expected to be implemented and monitored by government at all levels. Professionals should not seat on the fence and those who needs to improve their knowledge and upgrade their certificates should take necessary action.

 

Dele Odedele Wish Nigeria Well

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT SPECIAL EDUCATION?

Education is a means of transferring knowledge and skills to upcoming generation. It is a method of raising responsible and self-reliant youngsters who will eventually become well-meaning adults in the society.

General education is for overall development of individuals in formal settings by teachers/ tutors with the administrative guidance of trained and certificated senior staffs. In this regard, either private or government policy makers and supervisors/curriculum implementers have duties of inspection and recommendations, employment, deployment, retirement and payment of staffs salaries while gratuity and pensions are for local, state and federal governments' workers.

Special education came into existence after second world war in which some Nigerians got injuries. Some soldiers and civilians got injuries and became people living with disabilities. As a result of this, Nigerian government and British nationals established school for the blind in Lagos, Ogbomoso in Òyó and Edo States.

School for the deaf (people with hearing impairment) was established in the eastern part of the country before it came to other parts of Nigeria. We now have special schools, schools for the blind/deaf/handicap, rehabilitation centres and inclusive institutions in some states in Nigeria.

Categories of persons with special needs are:

1. Persons with Hearing Impairment

2. People with Learning Disabilities

3. Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities

4. Persons with Communication and Behaviour Disorders

5. People Who Need Rehabilitation

6. Persons with Physical Handicap

7. People with Visual Impairment

8. The Gifted and Talented Persons

According to Prof. O. A. Fakolade, persons with special needs are differentially wired and they need differentiated programmes or services in order to allow them to fulfill their destinies. E-learning should be embraced by special teachers in the current century. Special education should be seen as a call to serve humanity and not only money making venture.

Availability of persons with disabilities in the families and society is not a curse. Parents are expected to seek for early intervention and diagnosis before educational placement.

Federal College of Education-Special, Òyó became first teacher training college for persons with special needs in subsaharan Africa after University College of London in Ibadan, now the premier University.

Reasonable number of learners with Hearing Impairment (HI), Visual Impairment (VI), Learning Disability (LD), Communication and Behaviour Disorders (CBD),  Physically Handicapped (PH), Rehabilitation (RE), Intellectual Disability (ID) and The Gifted and Talented (GT) few years back are now professionals within and outside Nigerian institutions and government agencies. One of them got a reputable political office this week.

Special education is special because special education facilitators see persons with special needs as integral part of the society that must not be neglected. Supreme being is in control of all things and this is why core specialists in this discipline don't discriminate.

Some handicapping conditions are age-related while some are prenatal or perinatal. Some could be due to injury at home or in the society or medication.

Till another class, disability can occur anytime or anyday. Let us always treat persons with disabilities the way we treat persons without special needs.

Inclusive education/inclusion/inclusiveness should be embraced by non-governmental and governmental organizations.

Thank you so much for reading this.

© Délé Odédélé 

GOOD NAME, SILVER AND GOLD

From onset of the world, some people have known the value of gold. As natural and expensive gifts from God, gold, diamond, silver, pearl and other natural resources are made available for human survival and beautification. 

Without silver, many home appliances and utensils will not be in existence.

Besides, human resources have manipulatory and mental control on all mineral resources and so on.

Our parents taught us about right attitude to work, patience, hard-work, cheerful giving, communal services, extended family love and love for others. All these virtues are products of good name.

Many youths and some adult of today have neglected integrity and honesty and embraced laziness, wrong attitude to work, and hatred for fellow beings. 

To have a sane society and live a better life, we need to be mindful of good name.

A lot of us are enjoying the good names of our fathers, mothers, foreparents and people. Don't let us create bad name for incoming generations. God may not forgive us in this regard.

Good name is better than silver and gold.

Délé Odédélé Wish You Happy New Week

READING CULTURE AND SOCIAL MEDIA AS DETERMINANTS OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG YOUTHS IN NIGERIA

 

Nobody on earth will ever plan to fail or remain on same position for long time. People are always mindful of happenings around them and they use human reasoning to calculate and measure their levels of achievement. Life is in phases while step by step and day by day efforts usually determine success or otherwise. There is no shortcut to academic excellence level. The road to success is always rough and only those who are serious-minded do drive towards neighbourhood of greatness.

Information and Communication Technology (I.C.T) is the brain-box of socioeconomic advancement in today's literary world. Reading is an important skill to be developed by individuals with vision and mission. In Africa, foundation of reading culture was laid on the rock and beneficiaries of those days were well-meaningful in all facets of life. A good number of Nigerians benefited immensely from western standard education. Those who are around now are living legends.

Reading culture is drastically fading in Nigeria because of leadership influence at home, in the school, religious gatherings and society. Some youths don’t see value in getting educational certificates without lucrative jobs. Idle person is a workshop of any dangerous activity. The advent of social media (Google, 2go, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pintrest, Telegram, Ticktalk, WhatsApp etc) has caused a lot of evil than good to youths in educational institutions. Instead of using these useful tools to enhance their lives, majority of them are using social media to advertise indecent and corrupt lifestyles.

Academic performance is the outcome of teaching and learning after short or long period. Good teachers in basic, senior and tertiary institutions are now wondering and getting disturbed about what may happen in nearest future due to lack of seriousness and academic failure among children and persons in today's classrooms. Curriculum has been watered down by few people who have little or no interest in western education and well-being of fellow citizens.

To adjust the tune of this dangerous music, parents, siblings, teachers, stakeholders, well-meaning people, religious and political leaders need to implement measures to reduce the rate of moral and academic decadence ongoing in our society with the use of social media devices and information.

 

DELE ODEDELE WISH YOU WELL