P3 - Special treatment for a genius
In-depth questions:
1. In their monograph, Subotnik and colleagues talk about talent development leading to
'eminence' as being the essence of giftedness education. The authors identify two
stages in this process: talent identification and talent promotion. How does 'acceleration'
as an educational strategy relate to both stages of talent development and to the aim of
reaching eminence?
2. In the single study by Kroesbergen and colleagues, the authors investigated the well-
being of gifted children. To identify these gifted children, they used three different
‘indicators of giftedness’. How do these indicators relate to the different 'perspectives on
giftedness' that are discussed in the monograph by Subotnik et al. (page 6: "high IQ;
emotional fragility; creative-productive giftedness; talent development in various
domains; unequal opportunities; and practice, practice, practice")? And based on which
indicator will young children most likely be nominated for acceleration?
3. Are there any differences in the conclusions on the effects of acceleration between the
articles of Subotnik, Hu-Steenbergen, and Hoogeveen? And how do the articles differ in
the kind of justification that they provide in support of their conclusion?
4. In the news article from the problem, the mother of Duuk Niemantsverdriet tells that she
was worried that her son might not 'fit in' with the older children when he would be
accelerated. Do you think her worries were justified, given the evidence you have read
on the effects of acceleration? And which evidence do you think is most relevant for
Duuk's situation?
, NOTES
Subotnik, R. F., Olszewski-Kubilius, P., & Worrell, F. C. (2011).
Rethinking giftedness and gifted education: A proposed direction
forward based on psychological science. Psychological Science in
the Public Interest, 12, 3–54.
AIM: monograph → a detailed written study of a single specialized subject or an aspect of it; aim is
to summarize what we have learned about giftedness from the literature in psychological science
and suggest some directions for the field for gifted education
General conceptions of giftedness:
1. {HIGH IQ} The primary and most concentrated attention to giftedness → high
intellectual abilities
- Giftedness is seen as an innate quality of an individual that needs to be revealed and
recognized through some type of cognitive assessment or IQ test
- Gifted ppl are presumed to possess reasoning abilities making them successful
across academic domains and they remain gifted whether or not they actually
achieve
2. {EMOTIONAL FRAGILITY} High-IQ children presumed unique emotional fragility
resulting from their innate sensitivities → so maybe need special programming, ongoing
socioeconomical support and understanding
3. {CREATIVE-PRODUCTIVE GIFTEDNESS} Renzulli → proposed a dichotomy between
school-house giftedness (manifested by high test scores) and creative-productive
giftedness (manifested in recognized high level performance and innovative ideas) →
usually the creative-productive giftedness are ignored in schools
4. {TALENT DEVELOPMENT IN VARIOUS DOMAINS} Gifted individuals in athletic and
other competitive domains and the arts were and continue to be educated mainly outside
of school, with private lessons from tutors or coaches and supported by dedicated
practice → exemplary in combining e.g. psychological strength training and
coaching → such training is seldom discussed
5. {UNEQUAL OPPORTUNITIES AND PRACTICE} Giftedness seen based on 2
environmental factors → practice and unequal access to opportunities → Gladwell
highlighted the importance of 10,000 hours of practice in the development of expertise
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In-depth questions:
1. In their monograph, Subotnik and colleagues talk about talent development leading to
'eminence' as being the essence of giftedness education. The authors identify two
stages in this process: talent identification and talent promotion. How does 'acceleration'
as an educational strategy relate to both stages of talent development and to the aim of
reaching eminence?
2. In the single study by Kroesbergen and colleagues, the authors investigated the well-
being of gifted children. To identify these gifted children, they used three different
‘indicators of giftedness’. How do these indicators relate to the different 'perspectives on
giftedness' that are discussed in the monograph by Subotnik et al. (page 6: "high IQ;
emotional fragility; creative-productive giftedness; talent development in various
domains; unequal opportunities; and practice, practice, practice")? And based on which
indicator will young children most likely be nominated for acceleration?
3. Are there any differences in the conclusions on the effects of acceleration between the
articles of Subotnik, Hu-Steenbergen, and Hoogeveen? And how do the articles differ in
the kind of justification that they provide in support of their conclusion?
4. In the news article from the problem, the mother of Duuk Niemantsverdriet tells that she
was worried that her son might not 'fit in' with the older children when he would be
accelerated. Do you think her worries were justified, given the evidence you have read
on the effects of acceleration? And which evidence do you think is most relevant for
Duuk's situation?
, NOTES
Subotnik, R. F., Olszewski-Kubilius, P., & Worrell, F. C. (2011).
Rethinking giftedness and gifted education: A proposed direction
forward based on psychological science. Psychological Science in
the Public Interest, 12, 3–54.
AIM: monograph → a detailed written study of a single specialized subject or an aspect of it; aim is
to summarize what we have learned about giftedness from the literature in psychological science
and suggest some directions for the field for gifted education
General conceptions of giftedness:
1. {HIGH IQ} The primary and most concentrated attention to giftedness → high
intellectual abilities
- Giftedness is seen as an innate quality of an individual that needs to be revealed and
recognized through some type of cognitive assessment or IQ test
- Gifted ppl are presumed to possess reasoning abilities making them successful
across academic domains and they remain gifted whether or not they actually
achieve
2. {EMOTIONAL FRAGILITY} High-IQ children presumed unique emotional fragility
resulting from their innate sensitivities → so maybe need special programming, ongoing
socioeconomical support and understanding
3. {CREATIVE-PRODUCTIVE GIFTEDNESS} Renzulli → proposed a dichotomy between
school-house giftedness (manifested by high test scores) and creative-productive
giftedness (manifested in recognized high level performance and innovative ideas) →
usually the creative-productive giftedness are ignored in schools
4. {TALENT DEVELOPMENT IN VARIOUS DOMAINS} Gifted individuals in athletic and
other competitive domains and the arts were and continue to be educated mainly outside
of school, with private lessons from tutors or coaches and supported by dedicated
practice → exemplary in combining e.g. psychological strength training and
coaching → such training is seldom discussed
5. {UNEQUAL OPPORTUNITIES AND PRACTICE} Giftedness seen based on 2
environmental factors → practice and unequal access to opportunities → Gladwell
highlighted the importance of 10,000 hours of practice in the development of expertise
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
