The education of students identified as "gifted" has had a highly problematic history, having been judged as conceptually confused, socially and ethnically discriminatory, and educationally exclusive. Despite this, it is argued that contemporary research and scholarship critiquing the concepts of giftedness and gifted education…

Despite extensive research, questions underlying the nature and nurture of talent remain both numerous and diverse. In the current paper, we present an account that addresses 2 of the primary questions inspired by this debate: (a) the very existence of innate talents and (b) how exceptional abilities are developed. The development of exceptional…

This article examines implicit social and political assumptions underlying "The Bell Curve." The book's suggestion that there is increasing stratification between the "IQ haves" and the "IQ have-nots" is critiqued, noting that the social construction of reality is obscured in the book's schema. Sociologists and gifted…

This article presents a critical overview of leadership theory and curriculum and suggests alternatives to meet the challenges of a changing global society. The inclusion of paradigms and perspectives often excluded from traditional leadership theories and programs is proposed, including nature theories, nurture theories, communitarian theories,…

This paper offers a model of the nature and development of talents, which views genetic factors as determining potential strengths and setting limits and views abilities, aptitudes, and intelligences emerging as a result of experiences, motivations, and styles. Specific talents are characterized by precocity, creative insight, a functional…