“If you talk, you are just talking.If I talk, is that bragging?”: perspectives of parents with young gifted children in New Zealand

摘要

Investigating parental and family environments is not a new subject, butis a growing interest amongst psychologists, counsellors, andeducationists. The purpose of this study has been to provide a richdescription of the perspectives and experiences of parents raising giftedand talented children in New Zealand.Parents who live and care for a child with special talents or abilities facea great number of different stressors compared with parents who have a‘normal’ or ‘average’ child (Clark, 2008; Delisle, 2001; May, 2000).Research suggests that recognizing and dealing with gifted children’sadvanced intellectual, social, emotional and motor skills which aredifferent from average ability children pose challenges in parenting giftedchildren (Moon & Hall, 1998; Moon, 2003; Moon, Jurich & Feldhusen,1998; Silverman & Kearney, 1989).There has been little research conducted into the experiences of parentswith young gifted children in New Zealand. This thesis therefore seeks tofind out the parents’ views on and their experiences of having younggifted children and understand how and what meaning they constructaround living with their children. The purpose of this study therefore hasbeen aimed at listening to the voices of parents whose children areidentified as intellectually gifted and also to look at the actual experienceof these parents who have the greatest influence in their gifted children’slives.Using a qualitative phenomenology study, four parents with a youngintellectual gifted child were interviewed about their parentingexperiences. The perspectives and experiences of these parents havebeen analyzed from multiple perspectives. In-depth interviewing andanalytical memos have provided a rich picture of the experiences andperspectives of these parents with their gifted and talented children. It isixfrom these insights that some clarity has been gained about theunderstanding and challenges that these parents faced when raisinggifted and talented children, and how they are interpreted by theparticipantsThis thesis explores the participants’ understanding of parenting a youngintellectually gifted child, discusses similarities to and differences fromgeneral parenting, and describes the outcomes of the four parents in thisstudy. It highlights four systematic problems that complicate theirparenting: (a) community lack of support (b) education inequalities (c)difficulties in the gifted support service, and (d) social stigma. This thesisalso draws attention to the need for counsellors, psychologists, andexpertise in gifted education to address the issues and get anunderstanding of the challenges that the parents of the gifted childrenare faced with when they are parenting a child with special needs.