Joseph Renzulli
Three Ring Model
Renzulli
When Renzulli came to develop his own model, he wisely affirmed what was now widely accepted - that giftedness was multi-dimensional and could be sited in any area of human ability. However, he placed a new and strong emphasis on the role of creativity and introduced a third factor, which he termed ‘task commitment’ - ‘perseverance, endurance, hard work, dedicated practice, self-confidence and a belief in one’s ability to carry out important work’ (Renzulli, 1986, p. 69). Task commitment is a very specific form of motivation focussed on the task in hand.
How does Renzulli define giftedness? ‘Giftedness consists of an interaction among three basic clusters of human traits - these clusters being above average general abilities, high levels of task commitment and high levels of creativity. Gifted and talented children are those possessing or capable of possessing this composite set of traits and applying them to any potentially valuable area of human performance. As noted in the Schoolwide Enrichment Model, gifted behaviors can be found "in certain people (not all people), at certain times (not all the time), and under certain circumstances (not all circumstances)."Children who manifest or are capable of developing an interaction among the three clusters require a wide variety of educational opportunities or services that are not ordinarily provided through regular instructional programs’ (Renzulli, 1978, p. 261).