Talent Development During the High School Years

Abstract

The author stresses the need for adequate career guidance for gifted youth to clarify their life goals. He also outlines the organisational strategies that can be used to provide extracurricular activities for youngsters who need greater challenge.The high school years are times of rapid intellectual and emotional development for gifted students and times of rapid social change (Robinson and Noble, 1991). Suddenly the world is circumscribed chiefly by daily contact with other students, and time interacting with adults is minimised. This is unfortunate for gifted students because we know that they need a lot of time talking and working with adults if their talent is to develop and flourish. We also know that the development of their gifts is even enhanced further if they can talk and work with adults who have achieved some degree of fame or excellence in the student's talent area (Zorman, 1993).If there is limited opportunity to interact with high achieving adults our next best hopes are for chances to work with other very bright, gifted or talented students or with other students who are both talented and somewhat older. The latter condition means that gifted students profit from being challenged by peers who are older and strong in intellectual capacity (Feldhusen, 1991).To accomplish this opportunity to work with older and more challenging peers, gifted adolescents should move through high school more rapidly than normal (Benbow, 1991). Thus, they may get into advanced courses a year or two early, enter high school early by condensing junior high or middle school, or take summer or Saturday courses. Several states and school districts also encourage gifted students to take college courses while in high school and earn both college and high school credit simultaneously (Feldhusen and Cobb, 1989). Such arrangements for gifted youth help them avoid the boredom and demotivation which often afflicts them in junior high and high school (Feldhusen and Kroll, 1991), and they can still participate actively in sports and extracurricular activities. Counselling Gifted youth need special counselling in middle and high school to help them 1) develop better understanding of their own talents and abilities 2) Clarify their career goals and define suitably high level occupational goals 3) Plan appropriate educational routes to their goals 4) Deal with personal-social challenges of being gifted. It seems clear that many gifted youth do not get a clear understanding of their own special talents and abilities, and thus they cannot plan for suitably high level, creative or challenging careers. Counsellors can assist the gifted in small groups and individually to interpret test results and performance information to recognise the full extent of their emerging abilities (Silverman, 1993).Gifted youth especially need exposure to careers at a level commensurate with their talent potential since much career education information focuses only on middle range careers. The appropriate level careers involve creative activity and intellectu...

A Lack of Awareness and Emphasis in Preservice Teacher Training

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Will We Ever Close the Gender Gap Among Top Mathematics Achievers? Analysis of Recent Trends by Race in Advanced Placement (AP) Exams

“…Advanced classes offered at high schools, such as AP courses, have also served as a natural curricular option for gifted and talented students because most secondary schools cannot offer beyond these options (Sytsma, 2000). In the field of gifted education, AP courses have been well regarded by researchers and educators as an appropriate option to accelerate talented students through advanced resources (Feldhusen, 1995;Hertberg-Davis et al, 2006;Kettler & Hurst, 2017;A. Robinson et al, 2007).…”

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“…Advanced curricula, such as Advanced Placement (AP) and the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBD) Program, have been recommended by scholars in gifted education as appropriate service options for gifted learners in high school (Feldhusen, 1995; Foust et al, 2009; Kettler & Hurst, 2017; Southern & Jones, 2015; Van Tassel-Baska, 2001). The pace, rigor, access to like-ability peers, and complexity of course content have been touted as benefits that appeal directly to the advanced cognitive development of gifted learners (Foust et al, 2009; Van Tassel-Baska, 2001).…”