MASSEY UNIVERSITY News - August
Brains reign at gifted children’s conference
The pros and cons of cramming after-school hours with relentless activities was among topics high school geniuses discussed with academics at a conference for gifted pupils – the first of its kind in New Zealand.
Aimed specifically at gifted and talented learners, the one-day conference in July attracted 230 senior pupils from nine North Island high schools in Auckland, Hamilton and Dargaville to Massey University’s Albany campus for a taste of tertiary level lectures and discussion.
The conference was organised by the Secondary (Auckland) Gifted Educators (SAGE) to expose children with high potential to a university environment, says the organisation’s chair Sonia White.
“Sometimes gifted children feel a bit like square pegs in round holes, so it is great to create an opportunity to stretch them and to connect them with their peers,” she says. “The conference allowed them access to a higher level of learning in areas of interest than they might get at school, and to help them meet other like-minded students.”
One of the keynote speakers, Associate Professor Tracy Riley, understands what it is like to be young, gifted and possibly out of synch with your peers. She was identified as gifted at high school in Mississippi where she grew up. Now an expert in Gifted and Talented Education at Massey’s College of Education, she delivered an amusing, insightful talk to students about the challenges and opportunities that come with being extremely bright.
“Being identified as gifted or talented can be a challenge for some students who don’t want to stand out, but for me it was an opportunity to find out other things I was interested in, to stretch myself and to find other like-minded people,” Dr Riley says.
There are no figures on how many gifted and talented children there are in New Zealand, but Mrs White says on the most conservative estimate it would be about 10 per cent. “Giftedness is a matter of degree – how gifted? and a matter of kind – in what areas are they gifted? Children gifted in a number of areas are referred to as multi-talented and those who are highly gifted could be as low as five per cent of the population.”
Students attended lectures and workshops by academics from different disciplines and universities, including on law and justice, creative writing, geology, education and activism, philosophy and entrepreneurship.
Massey educational psychologist Associate Professor Steven Little shared findings from his American-based research on how the modern predilection for squeezing numerous activities – music, dance, sport, extra tutoring – between school and bedtime affects children’s achievement and development.
High achieving but not gifted students in the study experienced greater levels of anxiety but gained higher marks. “What we don’t know is what the long-term impact is,” Dr Little says. Young people needed free time to be inventive and develop self-sufficiency rather than be constantly organised and instructed by adults, he says.
“Busyness has become a status symbol,” he said. His concern is that being too busy can lead to stress. For teenagers – gifted or not – this could result in classroom burnout, depression, behaviour problems and drug and alcohol abuse, he told the students.
Massey sponsored ten gifted and talented children from low decile schools to attend the conference.
SAGE is a group of Auckland educators, mostly teachers and professionals involved with teaching gifted children. They met for several years and formed an association in 2009 after the Government cut funding for gifted and talented support within schools.
Women to double fruit & veg intake for bone study
A Massey nutrition researcher wants to find out if eating more fruit and vegetables can improve the bone health of post-menopausal women.
Nutritional science investigator Caroline Gunn is doing the study because she says there is not enough information available on New Zealand post-menopausal women, and the link between their diets, metabolic status and bone density.
She is seeking women from Auckland, Manawatu and Hawke’s Bay aged between 50 and 70, who are at least five years post-menopausal and who are willing to eat nine servings of fruit and vegetables every day for three months – almost double the minimum recommended five-a-day.
“Menopause is a time when bone loss increases,” she says. “Diets high in fruit and vegetables have been associated with reduced bone loss and increased bone mineral density.
“How fruit and vegetables maintain bone health is only partly understood, but what we do know is that fruit and vegetables provide more micronutrients such as vitamin C and K, minerals such as calcium, potassium and magnesium and phytochemicals which are needed to help maintain bone health.”
Ms Gunn says eating more fruit and vegetables is an established long-term dietary strategy for prevention of chronic disease recommended by health organisations such as the New Zealand Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation.
Raising fruit and vegetable intake to nine serves a day is closer to the recommended daily intake in several countries. Australians are urged to eat seven servings a day (two of fruit and five of vegetables), and in the United States the lead federal agency is urging all Americans to increase their intake to between five and nine serves per day. British people are advised that five a day (not including potatoes) is sufficient.
Women in the study will be split into three groups of about 50, with two groups eating nine servings of specific combinations of fruit, vegetables and culinary herbs. Women in the third group will not be asked to make any changes to what they normally eat.
Education: Kristin School
