Gifted pupils in South Africa are presently attending special programmes designed to) realize the individual pupil's particular potential. The library plays an important part in (this, being required to put sources of information at the disposal of gifted children. The library as an institution thus plays a very important supporting role in the total education of the gifted child by developing his library reference skills, media experience and research methods.
The only restriction on these children should be their own restrictions, and not the non-availability of information. If these needs for information can not be completely satisfied, it could contribute to underachievement, frustration and underdevelopment of the pupil's potential. This study is intended as a contribution to the knowledge of the information problem of the gifted pupil.
The Transvaal Education Department (TED) created a special need for information sources by identifying gifted pupils as a special group. The question that arises from this is:
a) how does the TED itself provide for the satisfaction of the information needs of
this identified group, and
b) what other institutions exist that can and are willing to provide in the needs for
information of the gifted pupil?
The information requirements of this special group of gifted pupils may be described as
follows:
From the syllabi of the Extra-curricular Centre for Gifted Pupils, a unique need for
information arises. The programmes themselves do not cover school subjects and the
school library does not specifically acquire sources covering the themes of the
programmes. The level of difficulty and the themes themselves are more extensive
than the information usually available in a school library .
It must therefore be determined what the actual information requirements of the gifted pupil are, to what extent the existing facilities could be developed and which libraries may satisfy the specific needs for information in order to support the educational programme for gifted children.
Comparative and empirical research conducted in Potchefstroom and Heidelberg (West Germany) was undertaken to establish what the information needs of gifted children are and what library facilities were available for the satisfaction of those needs.
In Heidelberg it was found that gifted children had access to a wide variety of different libraries and their facilities. In Potchefstroom, however, libraries, including school media centres, are not as readily accessible to gifted pupils and no special provision is made for their information needs.
It is recommended that educational authorities negotiate with libraries in order to obtain improved library access for gifted pupils and that libraries be made aware of the specific information needs of these children. / Skripsie (MBibl)--PU vir CHO, 1990.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/7634 |
| Date | January 1989 |
| Creators | Venter, Hester |
| Publisher | Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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