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##  Talent Development in Gifted Education. ERIC Digest E610.                    

The last decades of the twentieth century saw the growth of a large             body of research and development around the concept of                          intelligence.  New concepts have facilitated new approaches to                  identifying and developing giftedness in young people. This digest              presents a model for the education of gifted children and youth                 based on the concept of talent development. Specific ways to                    identify and develop talent are also discussed. NEW CONCEPTIONS OF            INTELLIGENCE AND TALENTA longstanding tradition in the field of             gifted education assumes it is possible and desirable to identify               children as "gifted" based on high IQ scores and/or high achievement            test scores. Gifted programming developed from a notion of global               and fixed intelligence and often resulted in exclusive                          one-size-fits-all programs of study. Such an approach disregarded               the individual strengths and potential of some gifted students. 
In            contrast, the work of Sternberg (1991) and Gardner (1983) led to a              diagnostic approach to ability, where specific talents or aptitudes             became the focus for identification and services. Sternberg's theory            proposed a number of components of intelligence in three broad                  categories: metacomponents (planning, monitoring, and evaluation),              performance components (skills and abilities), and                              knowledge-acquisition components (processing and encoding).                     Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence's (originally linguistic,             logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal,             and intrapersonal) also elaborated on the view of human abilities as            multidimensional. 
Gagne's research (1985, 1993) and model for                 talent development explicitly set the stage for a focus on talents.             He proposed an underlying set of aptitudes or gifts that are                    intellectual, creative, socio-affective, perceptual-motor, and other            unspecified abilities.  With these basic abilities the child                    interacts with catalysts such as teachers or parents and                        participates in learning, training, and practice experiences.  With             encouragement and support, a child's talents emerge from these                  experiences. A MODEL FOR TALENT RECOGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT IN                SCHOOLSPrograms, curricula, and services for gifted and talented            youth can best meet their needs, promote their achievements in life,            and contribute to the enhancement of our society when schools                   identify students' specific talent strengths and focus educational              services on these talents. Schools are in a unique position to                  identify and develop the talents of students in four major domains:             academic, artistic, vocational-technical, and personal-social. The              academic domain includes science, math, English, social studies, and            languages. Dance, music, drama, photography, and graphic arts                   comprise the artistic domain.  The vocational-technical areas are               home economics, trade-industrial, business-office, agriculture, and             computers-technology. Finally, in the interpersonal realm,                      leadership, care-giving, and human services are potential areas in              which identification and nurturance of specific talents can be                  carried out. 
Several rating scales and checklists are useful in               identifying talents in all four of the domains. These include the               ten Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior                Students by Renzulli et al. (1997), the Purdue Academic Rating                  Scales and Purdue Vocational Rating Scales (Feldhusen, Hoover, &                Sayler, 1997). A wide variety of aptitude and achievement tests can             be used to identify academic and some of the vocational-technical               talents. Auditions are the preferred mode of evaluating talent in               the performing arts and portfolios in the graphic arts. Portfolios              are also useful in the identification of talents in academic areas              when they contain the results of a child's projects, problem-solving            activities, and creative productions. 
However, the process of                 recognizing and developing talents should not be seen as a one-shot,            one-time determination with tests and rating scales labeling                    students as "talented" or "untalented."  Rather, it is a long-range             process in which parents, school personnel, and the students                    themselves recognize, understand, and work together to facilitate               the development of the students' unique talents. 
As a way of                  involving students, parents, teachers, and counselors in the                    recognition and development of student talent, Feldhusen and                    Wood (1997) presented a system for "growth planning" in which                   students, grades 3-12, plan in late spring their school programs for            the coming year. They inventory and review their own achievements,              assess their own interests and learning styles, and write personal              goals (academic, career, and social).  They then select courses,                extracurricular activities, and out-of-school experiences that are              commensurate with their prior achievements, reflect the goals they              have set for themselves, and are suitably challenging. 
Feldhusen              and Wood used the system with several hundred gifted and talented               students and found it to be an effective method for involving                   children and youth in the talent development process. Talented                  students often could engage in learning activities with little or               minimum teacher involvement. Feldhusen reported that the students'              capacity for self-direction in individual and small group work was              very high if their teachers provided good instructional material and            initial directions. The students grew rapidly in their capacity to              carry out self-directed and individualized learning. STRATEGIES               FOR RECOGNIZING AND DEVELOPING TALENTAll students at all ages               have relative talent strengths, and schools should help them                    identify and understand their own special abilities. Those whose                talents are at levels exceptionally higher than their peers should              have access to instructional resources and activities that are                  commensurate with their talents (Feldhusen, 1998).  They need a                 great deal of help and emotional support from parents, extensive                educational input and resources from the school, a supportive peer              environment, and mentors who can demonstrate and model advanced                 levels of expertise and creativity in their areas of talent                     potential (Pleiss & Feldhusen, 1995). 
Teachers and other school               personnel can employ the following strategies to help implement this            model (Feldhusen, 1996). 
* Be alert to signs of talent in the four            talent areas. Point out strengths to the student and parents, and               test to verify possible emerging talent. 
* Structure learning                 activities that will give students the opportunity to demonstrate               their talent potential. 
* Use praise to recognize and reinforce               signs of talent. 
* Help students who have talent in particular                areas set learning goals in that area. 
* Locate resources in the              school and community that can help foster the student's talents. 
*            Enlist parents in identifying and nurturing their children's talents            by providing resources and experiences, and encouraging goal-setting            behavior. 
The ultimate goal of talent recognition and development             is to help students understand their own talent strengths and                   potentials, to know how to pursue and engage in the best talent                 development activities, and to commit themselves to the development             of their talents. REFERENCESFeldhusen, J. F. (June 1998).                 Programs for the gifted few or talent development for the many? Phi             Delta Kappan, 79(10), 735-738. 
Feldhusen, J. F. (1996). How to                identify and develop special talents. Educational Leadership, 53(5),            66-69. 
Feldhusen, J. F., Hoover, S. M., & Sayler, M. F. (1997).               Identification and education of the gifted and talented at the                  secondary level. New York:  Trillium Press. 
Feldhusen, J. F., &               Wood, B. K. (1997).  Developing growth plans for gifted students.               Gifted Child Today, 20(6), 24-28. 
Gagne, F.  (1985).  Giftedness              and talent:  Reexamining a reexamination of the definition. Gifted              Child Quarterly, 29(3), 103-112. 
Gagne, F. (1993).  Constructs and            models pertaining to exceptional human abilities.  In K. A. Heller,             F. J. Monks, & A. H. Passow (Eds.), International handbook of                   research and development of giftedness and talent (pp. 69-87). New              York: Pergamon Press. 
Gardner, H. (1983).  Frames of mind: The                theory of multiple intelligence's. New York:  Basic Books. 
Pleiss,            M.  K., & Feldhusen, J. F. (1995).  Mentors, role models, and heroes            in the lives of gifted children. Educational Psychologist, 30(3),               159-169. 
Renzulli, J. S., Smith, L. H., White, A. J., Callahan, C.            M., Hartman, R. K., & Westberg, K. L. (1997). Scales for rating the             behavioral characteristics of superior students. Mansfield Center,              CT:  Creative Learning Press. 
Sternberg, R. J. (1991). Giftedness             according to the triarchic theory of human intelligence. In N.                  Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of gifted education (pp.               45-54). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. 
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ERIC Digests are in the            public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated, but                please acknowledge your source. This digest was prepared with                   funding from the Office of Educational Research and                             Improvement (OERI), U.S. Department of Education (ED) under Contract            No. ED-99-CO-0026. The opinions expressed in this publication do not            necessarily reflect the positions or policies of OERI or ED.                 **Title:** Talent Development in Gifted Education. ERIC Digest E610.                    **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, Council for            Exceptional Children, 1110 North Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA                       22201-5709. Tel: 800-328-0272 (Toll Free); Fax: 703-620-2521;                   e-mail: [email protected]. For full text: http://www.ericec.org.           **Descriptors:** Ability Identification, Elementary Secondary Education,  Gifted,                 Talent, Talent Development,  Talent Identification, Teaching                   Models, Theory Practice Relationship                                         **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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