Social and emotional development of students with gifts and talents

Honoring the leadership of Dr. Joyce Van Tassel-Baska, this book includes major strands of work central to defining the field of gifted education and discusses relevant trends and issues that have shaped or will shape the field. This comprehensive resource outlines three major sections: conceptions in gifted education such as intelligence, creativity, and eminence; linkage of theory to practice through curriculum and instruction, professional development, and assessment; and the infrastructure of gifted education that relies on research, policy, and leadership directions within and outside the field. Showcasing contributions from leading senior scholars in gifted education, this book is sure to be an invaluable resource for policymakers, scholars, researchers, and practitioners who are interested in research-based practices to better serve gifted students.https://scholarworks.wm.edu/educationbookchapters/1018/thumbnail.jp

Challenging an Idea Whose Time Has Gone

In this response to Sternberg’s article, “ACCEL: A New Model for Identifying the Gifted,” we agree that IQ testing may have outlasted its usefulness as an identification tool for gifted students. The field’s commitment to an imperfect formula has neglected the evolution of offerings in schools and theoretical underpinnings that are moving us away from an outdated conception of giftedness. IQ testing should be reserved for finding specific forms of high ability and as a diagnostic tool, not as a gatekeeper that continues to perpetuate the underrepresentation of some groups

Clinical and Mental Health Issues in Counseling the Gifted Individual

Research over the past several decades has identified several unique characteristics and experiences of gifted individuals that have implications for counselors. This article describes internal and external factors that contribute to gifted individuals\u27 nonnormal lived experience and that may require counselors\u27 specific attention to work effectively with gifted clients on clinical and mental health issues. These factors are applied to 4 issues: unhealthy perfectionism, anxiety, depression, and suicidality

Maximizing potential: A school-based conception of psychosocial development

Optimal talent development can only occur when high ability students are willing to take opportunities for growth in a domain and are able to persist when presented with challenges that accompany performance or production at the highest levels. This paper proposes the use of Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development to provide a framework through which schools can pursue a parallel path of psychosocial supports to reinforce the development of talent in any domain. Ego strength can be fortified by an active program of professional development, curricula, and research based on Erikson’s psychosocial stage theory. In addition to the age-based components, ego strength can be promoted by activities that support the essential strengths of hope, will, purpose, skill, fidelity, and love

Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Students: Introducing the School-Based Psychosocial Curriculum Model

This column introduces the school-based psychosocial curriculum model. The model incorporates Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development and applies it to a planned program of talent development

The school-based psychosocial curriculum model

Content-Based Curriculum for High-Ability Learners (3rd ed.) provides a solid introduction to core elements of curriculum development in gifted education and implications for school-based implementation. Written by experts in the field, this text uses cutting-edge design techniques and aligns core content with national and state standards. In addition to revised chapters, the third edition contains new chapters on topics including special populations of gifted learners, critical thinking, leadership, and university-level honors curriculum. The text identifies fundamental principles of curriculum that support advanced and high-potential learners: accelerated learning within the core content areas, use of higher order processes and products, and concept development. These emphases form threads across chapters in core content areas including language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, world languages, and the arts. Additional chapters explore structures to support implementation, including alignment with standards, assessment of learning, counseling, and promoting exemplary teacher practice through professional development.https://scholarworks.wm.edu/educationbookchapters/1016/thumbnail.jp

A Study of Unmet Needs Among Highly Intelligent Individuals

This report describes the findings of a study requested by the Mensa Foundation and conducted in a partnership between the Foundation and researchers at the William & Mary Center for Gifted Education. The purpose of the research is to identify the unique challenges and needs of gifted individuals and provide better support and resources. To address the research questions, the study collected information from American Mensa members and other highly intelligent individuals around the world through an online questionnaire. Interviews were conducted with Mensa members. The final dataset included 3,443 participants. These were diverse in terms of age, gender, geographic region, occupation, and disability status. The large majority of participants (87%) were White or European. Ten Mensa members representing five age groups participated in the interviews. In the academic domain at both the K-12 and college levels, the highest level of need was for mentors in participants’ areas of interest. Lessons in academic skill development, such as time management and study skills, were the next highest rated unmet need. An adequate education, offering choice in pacing and subjects at an appropriate level of challenge was the next greatest area of academic need. In the career development domain, participants reported most needing access to information about careers and lessons in career planning. They also need support and positive social connections with others in the workplace. The highest levels of need in the social and emotional domain were in the areas of social and emotional learning (e.g., lessons in self-regulation, goal setting, etc.) and opportunity for interaction. The greatest need areas in mental health as young, middle-aged, and over 55 were for a trusted other who could help them with mental health concerns and effective strategies for dealing with failure, upset, anxiety, and frustration. Open-ended comments allowed for rich expressions of participants’ needs in the four domains. Not all participants reported having high levels of need. Based on their responses, they could be classified as having Low (1/4 of the sample), Moderate (1/2 of the sample), or High (1/4 of the sample) levels of need. Recommendations for possible Mensa Foundation actions to address these unmet needs are in six areas: Improve Societal Attitudes toward High Intelligence Support Academic Skill Development Support Academic and Career Planning Provide Financial Supports for Academic and Career Opportunities Foster Social Connectedness Provide Mental Health Support

Maximizing Student Potential Versus Building Community: An Exploration of Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation, and Preferred Practice Among Supporters of Gifted Education

Social dominance orientation (SDO), right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), and socially desirable responding were examined among a sample of self-identified supporters of gifted education (N = 341), 70% of whom had an official role in gifted education as researchers, teachers, or gifted-talented (G/T) trainers. The sample was primarily female, White, well-educated, and upper middle class. The relationship of SDO, RWA, socially desirable responding, and support for various gifted education practices such as testing for identification, curricular differentiation in a heterogeneous classroom, and cooperative learning was explored through latent class analysis and logistic regression. Two distinct groups, communitarians and individualists, were found on the basis of their support for different gifted programming. Higher deference to authority among communitarians predicted support for an inclusive social norm, compared to a preference for maximizing potential without regard for inclusion among the individualists, who were less likely to defer to authority