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Abstract

Is it sufficient for gifted youth and their parents and teachers to simply know that they are gifted? On the basis of identification that a child is gifted, can schools plan and provide educational programs and services that will meet the educational needs of gifted youth? Or is it necessary to know the specific talents and aptitudes of youth as a prelude to planning and providing effective services for them? Recent research by Bloom (1985), Csikszentmihalyi, Rathunde, and Whalen (1993), and Achter, Lubinski, and Benbow (1996) clearly suggests that specific talents should be identified and used as the basis for educational planning and services. Long-range career goal setting on the part of gifted youth should also grow out of youth's awareness of their own talent strengths and be linked to areas of expertise and/or creative achievement that are logical outgrowths of specific talents.

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References

Achter

J. A.

Lubinsky

Benbow

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(1996). Multipotentiality among the intellectually gifted: “It was never there and already it is vanishing.” Journal of Counseling Psychology, 431 (1), 65–76.

Bloom

B. S.

(1985). Developing talent in young people. New York: Ballantine Books.

Csikszentmihalyi

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Whalen

(1993). Talented teenagers: The roots of success and failure. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Feldhusen

J. F.

(1991). Saturday and summer programs for the gifted and talented. In Colangelo

Davis

G. A.

(Eds.), The Handbook of gifted education (pp. 197–208). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Feldhusen

J. F.

Wood

B. K.

Dai

D. Y.

(1997). Gifted students' perceptions of their talents. Gifted and Talented International, 12(1), 42–45.

Parent Identification of the Talents of Gifted Students

Abstract

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References