Meaning of Exceptional.
Exceptional means Irregular.
Synonyms- abnormal, deviant, distinct, extraordinary, inconsistent, notable, odd, peculiar, rare, remarkable, unique, special, strange,
Antonyms- ok, common, expected, familiar, unremarkable, usual.
Exceptionality can either be positive or negative for example a child that performs far above average is said to be exceptionally good while another child that performs far below average is said to be exceptionally poor
In academic work a child that scores 95-100 in each subject after examination consecutively for three terms is termed exceptionally good while another that scored 1-25 in each subject after examination consecutively for three terms is termed exceptionally poor or weak.
This applies in other aspect aspects of life e.g. sports, music, singing, dancing, talking etc.
In Nigeria we have the likes of Kanu Nwankwo, Rashidi Yekini, in football, in music we have David Adeleke (Davido), Wizkid. In athletics we have Tobi Amusan, Mary Onyali etc. as exceptionally good and excellent in performance. We also have others who are exceptionally poor in those areas mentioned above, they tried but couldn’t excel in those areas.
From the above explanation an exceptional child is one who deviates (is not within) from the average or normal child in the classroom or other activities like music sports etc.
Categories of exceptional children in the classroom
- The gifted and talented
- The behavioural disordered
- The hearing impaired
- The visually impaired
- The learning disabled
- The speech disordered and the mentally retarded
- Physically and Health impaired
- The gifted and talented are those who show exceptional abilities in general development, they learn to read early, mature early in talking and activity. They do well in all class room activities, have superior intelligence. They are all-rounders
- The behavioural disordered. They are described as deviants. They are described as stubborn, rude, and aggressive .Deviants behaviour includes stealing, truancy and fighting. This is grouped into two categories
(a)The emotionally disturbed (b) The maladjusted.
The emotionally disturbed. The do not disturb in the class, always withdrawn they don’t do well in class activities, stay isolated from others.
The maladjusted children are aggressive, always fighting, disturb the orderliness of the class. The usually fail in class activities.
- The learning disabled. They don’t do well and you cannot trace the problem to any specific cause the see and hear well. They are mentally alert but fail to do well in some subjects, such children get bored easily when they do not understand a lesson. The give up trying. They hide their learning problems, copy from the work of bright once.
- Gifted and slow learners. Gifted children perform consistently above average in the classroom work and in some specific non- academic fields such as football, arts dancing singing etc. The have superior outstanding functional ability to excel in most of the things they set out to do. They often come first within the first three in most of the examination in class.
The slow learners are sufficiently below average in intelligence in learning basic subjects such as reading, writing, and so on. When given extra Teacher attention, they can progress in their learning.
Causes of giftedness
- Adequate gene formation transmitted during birth i.e. heredity-the family tends to possess high intelligence.
- Enriched environmental stimulation with the help of the parents as well as opportunity for early acquisition of knowledge.
- Hard working habits of the child.
Causes of slow learning
Generally, the psychological, social and educational factors are determinants factors of intellectual efficiency.
- Inadequate teaching style.
- Inadequate learning environment
- Inadequate learning materials.
- Damage to the central nervous system
- Poor perceptual ability
- Short attention span
To be continued.
Mrs Ezuka P. O.
Vice principal.
Daystar College