Dabrowski's theory of positive disintegration has been associated with the psychology of giftedness for four decades, and Sal Mendaglio has significantly contributed to the thoughtful understanding of the theory throughout those 40 years. In this interview, Mendaglio discusses the relationship between the theory of positive disintegration and the…

This essay traces the author's embodied practices toward the creation of an evening-length, spontaneously composed solo. Specifically, the author focuses on her work to release superficial and deep abdominal musculature to discover a new movement vocabulary, and greater access to the mobility of the pelvis/belly, ribs, and spine. The author…

This research aims to highlight the importance of developing creativity in the school environment by promoting quality education to gifted students, with contributions from Vygotsky and Piaget. For Vygotsky creativity is inherent in the human condition, and it is the most important activity because it is the expression of consciousness, thought…

The authors argue that childhood played a special role in the cultural-historical theory of human culture and biosocial development made famous by Soviet psychologist Lev S. Vygotsky and his circle. Th?ey discuss how this school of thought has, in turn, influenced contemporary play studies. Vygotsky used early childhood to test and refi?ne his…

This paper stems from research in Australia examining pre-service teacher and mentor teacher experiences on the practicum. The paper focuses on findings from the research, highlighting the tendency among the pre-service teachers to either valorise or demonise their mentor teachers, reflective of what we describe, following Kristeva and Britzman,…

In the theory of positive disintegration (TPD), Dabrowski described overexcitabilities (OEs), manifestations of inner energy with a developmental purpose that appear more common in gifted individuals. Unfortunately, most studies present OEs outside of the context of the original theory as if they were standalone traits applicable to gifted…

The practice of make-believe has traditionally been viewed as valuable by psychologists and philosophers more or less exclusively as a mechanism for social initiation, a tool for everyday problem solving, or a method for children to learn about adult responsibilities. This instrumentalist approach has influenced the development of a wide variety…

Three variations of experience identified in the educational literature entail different ways of thinking about and developing learners' imaginations. The relationship between these different imaginative modes resembles shifts between different kinds of understanding in Kieran Egan's theory of imaginative development. From this theoretical…

We set out to investigate Miller's curious assertion--curious for a deconstructionist committed to a critique of the old metaphysics of presence--that literary works preexist their being written down. We find a basis for this sense of the preexistence of the literary work in Miller's insights about the performative dynamics of reading and writing.…

Young children are keenly motivated to inquire into and make meaning about their worlds. This article discusses "working theories", one of two indicative learning outcomes of the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, "Te Whariki". Working theories occur as children attempt to find connections between their experiences and…

This chapter investigates digital methods of signification in order to examine the impact of the digital medium on poetic expression. Traditional poetry criticism is problematised with reference to its suitability for application to online works in order to develop a comprehensive ePoetry rhetoric that explores not only what is being said, but…

There are indications of a positive trend in education. International comparative investigations on academic achievement and longitudinal studies on life courses prove the need for and the importance of children's high intellectual knowledge. At the same time, new research initiatives and projects comply with the demand that aesthetic/cultural…

There are many prominent examples of artists with autism. However, even when confronted with evidence of these accomplished "autistic savants", pragmatic aesthetic theories cannot adequately account for the work of these accomplished artists as "artists". This article first examines the nature of autism and explores a prominent psychological…

Science education researchers recently turned their attention to exploring views about nature of science (NOS). A large body of research indicates that both students and teachers have many naïve views about the NOS. Unfortunately, less attention has been directed at the issue of exploring the views of the scientists. Also, the little research in…

Imagined interaction (II) theory has been productive for communication and social cognition scholarship. There is, however, a yet untested assumption within II theory that the 8 attributes are related to all 6 functions and that II functions can be compared and contrasted in terms of II attributes. In addition, there is little research exploring…