Don Ambrose

Unified, Insular, Firmly Policed, or Fractured, Porous, Contested, Gifted Education?.

Much like medieval, feudal nations, professional fields such as gifted education can take shape as centralized kingdoms with strong armies controlling their compliant populations and protecting closed borders, or as loose collections of conflict-prone principalities with borders open to invaders. Using an investigative framework borrowed from an interdisciplinary group of scholars in the social sciences and humanities, four scholars of gifted education analyzed four different analytic levels of our field (practice, research, theory, philosophy) to discern whether gifted education is unified, insular, and firmly policed, or fractured, conflict-ridden, and porous. Each disciplinary structure generates unique advantages, disadvantages, and implications for scholars and practitioners.

World-View Entrapment: Moral-Ethical Implications for Gifted Education

Root-metaphorical world views strongly shape our thoughts and actions at the implicit level. The mechanistic world view provided the conceptual foundations for unprecedented technological progress throughout the modern era; however, its basic tenets have serious moral-ethical implications. Sociopolitical trends and issues reinforced by this world view include technological determinism, social Darwinism, and androcentrism. Educational practices reinforced by mechanism include positivistic approaches to curriculum, instruction, and research. The moral-ethical implications of these trends and practices are explored, along with recommendations for developing awareness of root-metaphorical influences on the field of gifted education.

Morality, Ethics, and Gifted Minds

This book builds interdisciplinary bridges between two very broad inquiry domains: ethics and high ability. Studies of ethics delve into conceptions of right conduct and the nuances of moral behavior. Studies of high ability scrutinize the nature and dynamics of giftedness, talent development, creativity, and intelligence. First, this chapter provides some justification for connecting these very complex, divergent bodies of knowledge. Second, it employs a variety of theories and research findings to illustrate the complexity, longevity, and interdisciplinary nature of the body of inquiry pertaining to ethics and morality. Third, it outlines a set of questions that underlie most of the work of the contributing authors. Finally, it provides an overview of the chapters in the volume. Those of extraordinary ability can use their gifts and talents for good or ill (Tannenbaum 2000) so exceptional intelligence, talents, and creativity represent opportunities for both improvement and corrosion of the human condition. In recognition of these opportunities and dangers, prominent thinkers frequently have been attracted to explorations of the nature and nuances of morality. This book is an attempt to expand and clarify our conceptions of morality and ethics while connecting them with high ability (i.e., any blend of intelligence, giftedness, talent, and creativity) by bringing together varying insights from leading minds in diverse disciplines. Some contributors are from high-ability fields (e.g., gifted education; creative studies). Others contribute insights from “outside” disciplines in the social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences. Bringing the ideas of outsiders D. Ambrose ( ) Editor, Roeper Review, Graduate Department, School of Education, College of Liberal Arts, Education, and Sciences, Rider University, 2083 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrenceville, NJ, 08648-3099, USA e-mail: ambrose@rider.edu T.L. Cross Editor, Journal for the Education of the Gifted, Dean’s Office, Teachers College, Room 1008, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306, USA e-mail: tcross@bsu.edu D. Ambrose, T. Cross (eds.), Morality, Ethics, and Gifted Minds, 3 DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-89368-6 1, c

Unifying theories of creativity: Metaphorical thought and the unification process

Abstract Theories of creativity collectively provide a rich but fragmented knowledge base for research. In order to better understand the nature of creativity, investigators must provide a more coherent theoretical foundation by integrating many theories from different disciplines. Unfortunately, interdisciplinary groups of theorists who attempt collaborative theoretic integration have trouble finding common conceptual ground for their unification efforts. The implicit influence of metaphor on thought causes some of these difficulties, but metaphor also holds potential for bridging the conceptual gaps between differing theoretical and philosophical positions. Interdisciplinary teams of theorists can engage in parallel processes of metaphorical exploration and nonmetaphorical verification to illuminate the barriers to integration, and to capitalize on the integrative potential of metaphoric thought.

Barriers to Aspiration Development and Self-Fulfillment: Interdisciplinary Insights for Talent Discovery.

There is increasing concern about the plight of under-privileged gifted and talented children. Insights from disciplines outside our field can inform educators of the gifted and talented about what hinders talent development among the deprived. A model synthesizing constructs from ethical philosophy, sociology, and education reveals socioeconomic barriers to aspiration development, capacity development, and self-fulfillment. Various hypothetical life trajectories on the model illustrate the influences of these barriers on long-range talent development toward self-fulfillment and either egoistic individualism or relational altruism. Implications for gifted education include the need for more ethical awareness in the field and more realistic appraisals of hindrances to aspiration formation among the deprived.

Confronting Dogmatism in Gifted Education

Will reading habit influence your life? Many say yes. Reading confronting dogmatism in gifted education is a good habit; you can develop this habit to be such interesting way. Yeah, reading habit will not only make you have any favourite activity. It will be one of guidance of your life. When reading has become a habit, you will not make it as disturbing activities or as boring activity. You can gain many benefits and importances of reading.

Socioeconomic Stratification and Its Influences on Talent Development: Some Interdisciplinary Perspectives.

There is growing concern in our field about the plight of high-potential children who suffer from socioeconomic deprivation. Efforts to find and serve these children require in-depth understanding of socioeconomic contexts that shape and subvert talent development. In this analysis, socioeconomic barriers to talent development are explored from the vantage points of Major thinkers and recent research findings in context-sensitive disciplines such as economics, sociology, and ethical philosophy. Insights drawn fron these perspectives provide the basis for recommendations that educators of the gifted clarify conceptions of merit and ability; look for hidden socioeconomic influences on aspirations, motivation, and talent development; and engage in critical activism for deprived high-potential children.

Large-Scale Contextual Influences on Creativity: Evolving Academic Disciplines and Global Value Systems

Creative thoughts and actions are shaped by large-scale contextual influences, such as the nature of academic disciplines and the value systems of nations. Some of Torrances cogent insights about creativity serve as lenses for the analysis of the structure and dynamics of several academic disciplines, as well as global transitions in value systems. The analyses suggest that fractured–porous and unified–insular academic disciplines may exert very different influences on the creativity of scholars and practitioners. In addition, widespread transitions from modern–materialist to postmodern–postmaterialist value systems may have profound influences on the creativity of citizens and policymakers in various nations.

Aspiration growth, talent development, and self‐fulfillment in a context of democratic erosion

Healthy liberal democracies provide strong support for the agency of gifted and talented individuals. Agency entails the development of lofty aspirations, strong talents, and self‐fulfillment over the long term. In contrast, totalitarian sociopolitical environments strongly suppress the agency of most citizens while supporting the ethically warped development of a few privileged insiders. A model of democratic growth and erosion, drawn from syntheses of scholarship from history, political theory, economics, sociology, and ethical philosophy, reveals some dynamics of large‐scale contextual influences on the gifted and talented. Current trends toward ideological polarization and mass deception suggest that democratic erosion is jeopardizing the development of high ability individuals, particularly among disadvantaged populations. Educators of the gifted must become aware of discrepancies in epistemic power and the impact of empathy gulfs while striving to support the development of creative, ethical leadership.

Interdisciplinary Expansion of Conceptual Foundations: Insights from beyond Our Field.

The field of gifted education is very complex, covering broad and deep conceptual terrain. Insights about giftedness and talent are available from diverse academic disciplines and at multiple levels of analysis. These levels are captured in an interpretive framework that moves from the macrolevels of broad sociopolitical, cultural, and economic contexts through the levels of the immediate classroom context and psychology of the individual to the microlevels of organic structure, microbiology and the subatomic realm. From each level, examples of insights of possible relevance to gifted education are provided as illustrations of the potential an interdisciplinary and interlevel search has for expanding the conceptual foundations of the field.