James R. Delisle

The Gifted Adolescent at Risk: Strategies and Resources for Suicide Prevention among Gifted Youth.

Despite the widely held belief that gifted children are virtually immune to mental problems, recent research indicates that the incidence of psychosocial problems among gifted youth is at least as prevalent as in the general population. Furthermore, there is an increasing awareness of the potential for suicide among gifted, creative, and high achieving youth. Reminding us that gifted children are “children first, gifted second,” this article reviews techniques that have proven useful in curricula for suicide prevention among a general population of students: bibliotherapy, positive self-talk, self-concept activities. Ideas gleaned from Youth in Crisis (Barrett, 1987) are presented as being particularly relevant to the phenomenon of youth suicide. Finally, a program of guidance designed with the specific social and emotional needs of gifted persons in mind is recommended. This program would address such issues as perfectionism, societal expectations, and premature or dissynchronous development.

School, curriculum, and the good life: Knowing the self

This article describes an action plan that is helpful for all students and adults to promote development of their Selves—their inner voices. But, what does it matter or mean for a gifted learner to develop the Self in a controlled environment called school? This question cuts to the heart of ones meaning for the Good Life and leads down a path of self‐reflection and meaning‐making. Regardless of the pedagogical style or methodology used in a classroom, there are a core set of standards, or precepts, that should be addressed if learning is to occur. These Guiding Precepts and the process of Deliberative Artistry are presented to provide: direction as viable means to engage everyone in the learning process; recognition of the individuals responsibility to take charge of their learning; and, an especially appropriate guide to put gifted students onto the path to Self discovery.

Educators of Gifted and Talented Students: Common Bonds, Unique Perspectives.

Approximately 350 educators involved with gifted child education completed surveys regarding (a) their professional background and training, (b) their perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of their chosen field of study, and (c) suggestions for improving services for gifted and talented children. Results of the surveys showed that teachers, program coordinators, university and state‐level personnel shared many concerns regarding the present “state of the art” of gifted education. Problems mentioned most frequently by all groups included “attitudes of society and school personnel toward gifted education” and “lack of comprehensive gifted programs.” Among the most common suggestions for improvement were “in service education” and “improved delivery services to gifted children.” Anecdotal data received by the survey respondents added much depth to the specific responses given.

Au Contraire: Dealing with the Stereotype of Underachievement

he best description I ever heard of the word “lazy” is “people who are not motivated in T ways you want them to be.” This same description could also be given to the word “underachievement,” one of the most overused and misapplied terms used in our field. Reams of articles and books have been written on the “problem” of underachievement and its resolution but, with one notable exceptionJoanne Rand Whitmore’s Giftedness, Conj7ict and Underachievement, now, sadly, out of print-most of the remaining work on this topic is vapid, void of either substance or respect, and filled with techniques to coerce “underachieving” students into performing at levels that cause adults to smile. While pretending to have the best interests of underachievers at heart, authors on this topic do their best to zap out of these often creative children the very essence of what has kept them alive, intellectually speaking: their nonconformity and their refusal to accept mediocrity in their education. Why am I so against the idea of underachievement and the subsequent plans given to ameliorate it? First, because much of the research is based on an erroneous (or at least suspect) assumption: the presumption of guilt. If a teacher or parent or national expert so much as hints at the possibility that a particular student is an underachiever, then that’s as far as it goes-he’s labeled. No counter claims or trails-nothing. Just a sentence. Next, a whole army of strategies is employed, most involving contracts, verbal agreements and subsequent losses of privileges to the offending underachiever for promises unkept. “Solutions” surround the underachieving student, becoming the educational equivalent of white blood cells amassing around an open sore to prevent infection. “Catch it quick,” we’re told. “Keep underachievement from spreading!” Solace is offered the underachieving student via

Reaching Those We Teach The Five Cs of Student Engagement

In the quest for solutions to make school as rigorous and relevant as possible, one particularly vibrant source of information is often omitted: the opinions of our students. Yet, by posing specific questions about curriculum, classroom climate, and teacher competencies and attitudes, a rich database of usable suggestions emerges. The author of this article highlights specific ideas for improving school conditions for gifted children and adolescents, which were gleaned from more than 10,000 individual responses to an online survey of gifted students from the elementary through high school age. Clustering these comments into five categories termed “The 5 Cs of Student Engagement”—control, complexity, common bonds, choice, and caring teachers—the author invites readers to implement some of the suggestions offered by education’s primary consumers: our students.

Gifted Education in China.

China has one-fifth of the worlds population, with 350 million children under the age of fourteen—many of these children have specific gifts and talents, and Chinese educators have taken steps in the last decade to ensure appropriate educational opportunities for children with advanced abilities. This article describes specific options for gifted and talented children in China, provides a brief history of Chinese education, and addresses some concerns related to the implications of Chinas social policies on educational attainment.

Career Development for Gifted and Talented Youth: Division on Career Development (DCD) and The Association for the Gifted (TAG). Position Statement.

EDUCATORS, PARENTS AND LEADERS from all segments of society must be concerned with appropriate career development for youth who are gifted and talented. Although such development cannot guarantee that these youths will always attain personal and career-related satisfaction, it does seem obvious that early and continuous exposure to career-oriented activities will provide a sound foundation from which they can make decisions regarding their vocational options. Such

Gifted education in transition: The dawn of a new era

As education of gifted students becomes more established in public schools, it also becomes more sophisticated. Thus where once existed only a resource room setting for gifted fourth through sixth graders, now can be found more comprehensive programs spanning al (or most) grade levels. After decades of debate on how “best” to define giftedness, researchers are now presenting evidence that there is no single conception of giftedness, for the many ways that exist to express talent require that our definitions of giftedness be individualistic and malleable rather than fixed. Also as the field matures we are finding a greater emphasis is being placed on meeting the needs of those groups of gifted students who hove historically been the least recognized: underachievers, gifted adolescents, and intellectually able persons with handicaps. The focus of this article is to concentrate on these recent modifications in our conception of giftedness, gifted children, and gifted programs. Recent and historical research ...

Gifted Girls: Who's Limiting Whom?

I am the father of a son, a legal-age young man whose career pursuits cause many of my adult friends to cringe. Matt wants to be a writer, an artist, a creator. Math and science, early talents both, did not hold Matts interest once he discovered the more ethereal life options of film and painting and prose.

Quasi-Experiments in Gifted Child Education; A Confounding Problem

Teachers are social scientists and, as such, the benefits of their classroom practices can only be inferred, never proven. Knowing this, teachers often turn to educational research for verification that how they teach or what they teach has merit. Then, based upon the inferential logic of probability data and statistics, teachers may change a technique or adopt a particular style or strategy. In gifted child education, this link between practice and theory occurs frequently. For example, when a school district wishes to implement an identification scheme or program model, a base of research detailing the merits of particular models i s often examined. Also, when adrninistrative design is at issue-acceleration vs. enrichment options-practitioners often look towards educational studies that have compared grouping procedures. Since many practices in gifted child education are based (at least partially) on educational research, then it is important to examine the statistical merits ofthis research. The purpose of this article is to review some general and specific issues in the design and methodology of research studies within gifted child education. In addition, suggestions are made to improve the overall quality of both educational theories and practices that result,