Gifted stuff, again!

[Shaun Hately]

Bringing this across from the main group.

On 6 Jun 2002 at 13:20, davewitley wrote:

> We have been having a spirited discussion over on OT-Chatter about 
> the measurement of intelligence, and the best way of educating 
> profoundly gifted (PG) children, who may roughly be characterised as 
> the top 1 in 5000 on the IQ scale (properly defined).  <SNIP>
> One thing that struck me about the discussion was the number of HPFGU 
> people (certainly much more than 0.02% of the list membership) who 
> were able to identify with the experience of PG children.  It is of 
> course not possible to identify which list members fit the criterion 
> precisely.  I wondered if there was any connection.
<SNIP>
> So: is there something about HP which attracts people who are very 
> gifted, or perhaps feel they do not fit in with the educational 
> system as they find it?  Vulgarweed's post suggests an obvious 
> possibility.  But don't we all to an extent feel that way?  Is that 
> any different from the appeal to the other hundred million Harry 
> fans, who can all take Harry's magic as a metaphor for their own 
> individuality and giftedness in the wider sense?

The following are a coupl of thoughts on if, and why, Harry Potter appeals to gifted 
children. I have others as well - but lack the time to write them all down now. It's 
something that has been discussed on various gifted discussion forums for quite 
some time now. It's hard to be precise but Harry Potter was a big thing in the gifted 
community almost the instant it was released - I saw discussion of the Philosopher's 
Stone on gifted discussion lists well before I saw it elsewhere. In fact, I started 
reading the Philosopher's Stone because some of the kids I mentor were raving 
about it, well before I had heard of it anywhere else - I had to search it out, 
bookshops hadn't heard of it yet (-8 - I read it, thought it was OK, but nothing 
spectacular, put it away on a shelf and forgot about it - later on, when I saw more 
raving, I went out and bought Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets from a 
bookshop, and was slightly puzzled as to why the first book seemed so familiar. (-8 
This post is also serving as notes for an article I may be writing on this for a gifted 
magazine.

The appeal of the novels is obviously very wide, certainly not limited to gifted kids. 
But I do think there are some reasons why certain aspects of the books especially 
appeal to many gifted kids. Not all - these kids are not an homogenous group with 
identical interests - not universally.

Many of the reasons these books appeal to gifted kids are obviously the same as 
many other kids - well written stories, etc. So I'm just going to look at a couple of 
specific reasons these books might have a special appeal to the gifted - this is not 
to say they wouldn't appeal to others for the same reasons as well. I'm looking at 
general tendencies not absolute.

Hermione. I have to put her first. Here we have a character who is smart, and 
doesn't seem to be afraid to show it. Indeed her intelligence is a very significant part 
of her character. As many children tend to like books that have characters they can 
identify with, Hermione's presence is something that a lot of gifted children do relate 
to. Especially as Hermione is not a one trick pony. She isn't defined by her 
intelligence alone. She is courageous, resourceful, etc. She is multidimensional - 
not a stereotype. She also faces a problem of not fitting in - and is isolated because 
of it. Unfortunately, this too is something that many gifted children can relate to. 
Hermione's intellect is not shown as being a wonderful gift with no negatives 
attached to it. We see the negatives - we also see that she is able to overcome 
them, and that her friends - true friends - will see past the superficial first 
impressions to the real person underneath. For a gifted child in a situation where 
they lack friends - as it all too common - this can be very comforting.

Hogwarts. One of the biggest problems faced by gifted children can be 
inappropriate schooling. Education that is not matched to their very special 
educational needs. And then we have Hogwarts - a school that is, very much, 
matched to a very special educational need for a very special group - Witches and 
Wizards. In Hogwarts, we see a school that is very much based around educating 
children to reach their potential, albeit in a very specific field. A school which has 
teachers of the calibre of Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonnagal. Where 
teachers seem to know their stuff (even Snape, with all his faults, seems to be a 
genuine expert in his field) - DADA teachers and nutty Divination professors, aside. 
A school which is designed to address students needs, where academic 
achievement is worthy of praise (along with other achievements) and not something 
which is considered suspect, where there are competent and caring teachers... 
given how rare these things can be for many gifted kids, is it any wonder that 
Hogwarts has a special appeal. Speaking for myself, as someone who endured 
utterly inappropriate schooling until age 12, and then finally just after I turned 13 
found myself in an environment that even partly met my needs, and felt like I had 
gone to heaven, I see great parallels with Harry finding Hogwarts. To finally find 
somewhere where you belong after years of not fitting in everywhere - what bliss - 
and no wonder the idea might appeal. Now Harry's case is unusually bad - he 
doesn't even have a loving home - so the feeling of finding home planet must be 
even stronger for him. But it does appeal - it must have a special appeal to children 
who for whatever reason do not feel they fit into their schools. Whether that's from 
giftedness or something else.

Davewitley:
> If not, is there something about HPFGU which appeals to the very 
> gifted? (I think answers to this may have to go back OT)

I think both could apply.

I'm on a lot of e-mail lists - over 50. I tend to join them in the hope of finding 
intelligent conversation - something I can get my teeth into. HPFGU, and its sub 
lists, certainly fits. People who join these lists want to do more than just read - 
there's nothing wrong with just reading, but they want more for some reason. And 
they get it through these lists.

And considering how many lists devoted to HP, there are, those who come to 
HPFGU don't just want basic discussion - they want depth and breadth. They get it.


Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately |webpage: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       |email: drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in
common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter
the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen
to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who:
The Face of Evil | Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia