Gifted and Talented: Guiding Exceptional Children in Education and Life

By Avery Nightingale

In "Gifted and Talented: Guiding Exceptional Children in Education and Life," delve into the evolving landscape of gifted education and talent development. Drawing on decades of research in psychology, this enlightening book explores the nuanced experiences of gifted children, offering profound insights into their educational journey and holisti

• Language: English
• Publisher: Creative Quill Press
• Release date: May 3, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869358288

Book preview

1

Introduction

Through its efforts to understand human experience, psychology has contributed greatly to understanding exceptional human mental experience. Education psychologists and developmental psychologists working in the field of gift and talent development have gained significant insight into the educational experiences of gifted children as they grow and develop in the past 30-40 years. Education researchers and practitioners now have knowledge not only of what the needs of gifted children are as they pass through various stages of school but also how to support them through those needs. However, many gifted children continue to underachieve or live unfulfilled lives. One reason for the gap between our knowledge and its non-implementation has been identified to be the reductionist nature of the guiding paradigm, focusing purely on the cognitive aspects of human experience. As we aim toward an improved understanding of life, such limitation is likely to stymie future development in the field of gifted education. It becomes necessary for the field to broaden its horizons to include a wider range of experiences in our understanding of developing talent. Therefore, the concept of talent is an important new horizon in the study of giftedness.

Policies on gifted education and talent development are taking shape in countries across the world in response to the increasing understanding of the need for a holistic mode of development to help individuals reach their potential. Giftedness, the psychological construct, is harmonizing with talent, the observed excellence in performance, in the study of exceptional human experience. This is a novel development in the psychology of talent development. Children observed to be advanced in their intellectual skills in the past might not be understood to be talented if they do not consistently demonstrate exceptional performances. The holistic talent development framework provides a rich, inclusive context for the well-being of all individuals. By recognizing the holistic nature of giftedness and talent development, the new identification systems not only look out for children of eminence in established disciplines but also help other children benefit from potential talent in other fields. This then moves forward the field of psychology of giftedness and talent development.

2

Identifying Gifted and Talented Children

Cognitive characteristics determine the abilities that a person has and are therefore necessary but not sufficient for successful performance in personal and professional goals. However, intellectual ability such as intelligence is necessary but by no means sufficient. The non-cognitive characteristics that cannot be measured through standardized written tests play by joint accounts. Further, non-cognitive characteristics have been extended to predict important life outcomes over and above those based on background of cognitive test scores. Once the intellectually talented and the intellectually gifted are identified, we can tailor opportunities that will enable them to develop those superior abilities. Intelligence was measured using revised versions of Standard Progressive Matrices test in which individuals are asked to identify the image that completes a pattern (i.e., the missing piece). For Prove It, children were asked to identify