Special Educational Need of the Gifted and Talented Students in Saudi Arabia: A Review Paper

Abstract

Giftedness refers to proficient distinctive intelligent knowledgeable abilities, due to high IQ which possess talent, excellent performance abilities and skill in diverse field of learning. The gifted children’s style of learning is quite different as they need special academic, scientific support and input since they are characterized by actively metacognitive thinking skills and learning strategies. Due to the complexities of twice-exceptional gifted students, educators lack the experience in dealing with the unique needs of the gifted students. In Saudi Arabia, there is a need for the government to restructures the educational system in order to refine gifted student’s talent to their educational needs. This is a review paper aims at reviewing relevant literature on the special educational needs of the gifted and talented students in Saudi Arabia. From the available literature reviewed, the general need for gifted and talented students identified are cognitive needs, social and emotional needs, psychomotor needs, affective and intuitive needs, the needs of diverse gifted populations. The Study also identified the four major special educational needs of the gifted and talented students which comprises; the need for challenging education, need for true peers, the need for the responsive parenting, the need for adult empathy.