Apparently there's a book being released next year about giftedness and EducationNews.org recently interviewed the author of the book's foreword-- Carol S. Dweck, Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Dweck tells us:
The essence of this book is that giftedness and talent are much more multi-faceted than we ever realized. They can grow in different children in different ways, under different circumstances, and at different ages. Talent is not simply something that a child is born with and that blossoms naturally throughout life.This is crucial because it changes the whole enterprise. The enterprise used to be one of measuring and identifying giftedness--deciding who was gifted and who was not. Now, the enterprise is one of fostering giftedness and talent-creating the conditions in which it will flourish for as many children as possible.
Ah yes--nature vs. nurture. The debate continues. Still, I found what Dweck had to say quite interesting. Essentially, she said there are ways that a child who's gifted early-on may lose that edge. A child may initially find work extremely easy, fail to develop good work habits and stumble later on when work becomes more difficult. Or, a child who's repeatedly told he or she is gifted/extremely intelligent may become so invested in that label that he or she may become afraid to take on challenges ("What if I mess up and don't look gifted?"). And, some potentially gifted children may not see their gifts come to fruition if they don't have encouragement and opportunities, she said.
Fordham of course did its own study on gifted children earlier this year...though ours was a bit different in that it examined the academic progress of gifted students in the era of No Child Left Behind.